Amy Grant Looks Back on First Bridgestone Arena Concert 25 Years Later

Amy Grant has been to Bridgestone Arena countless times over the last 25 years, both as a spectator and performer, but she holds a distinction few others share with her when it comes to the building.
Along with her now-husband Vince Gill, as well as CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith and Gary Chapman, Grant took to the stage for Amy Grant's Tennessee Christmas - the arena's debut event, on Dec. 18, 1996, with over 13,000 in attendance to witness the start of a new era in Nashville.

The white, fluffy precipitation that fell outside that night - a rarity for Middle Tennessee in December - may have been almost too perfect of an accompaniment to the holiday spirit and the excitement that came with a new venue, but as Grant recalls, they made the show that much better.
"[On top of everything], a light snowfall came that night, and it was just like, 'Cue the flakes,'" Grant said last month prior to hosting one of her annual Christmas concerts with Gill at the Ryman Auditorium. "It was unbelievable… The whole night was magical."
That was the first of so many extraordinary evenings Bridgestone Arena has seen over the past two-and-a-half decades at 501 Broadway in the heart of downtown Nashville, and artists like Grant have enjoyed concerts and award shows just as much as Predators hockey, now a staple of the Music City experience.

Grant and Gill have been Preds Season Ticket Citizens since the beginning, and as Nashville residents, they've seen what the arena has done for the city, both in the spotlight and the stands, inside and out.
"It's hard to believe it's been 25 years, and I love that there are kids who are trying to select their colleges right now, and they do not remember a Nashville without the Predators," Grant said. "Nashville has always been a great college sports town, and I just love how ready we were for a professional team. And I mean, we just took that hook, line and sinker. I feel like Nashville is legendary for the fan support, and the Predators, just what a great presence."
Grant noticed the building - then known simply as Nashville Arena - was special from that first night, and not just because it was a shiny, new facility that was a game changer when it came to attracting concerts, shows and events to town.
"Vince was on the panel of musical experts to make sure that the construction [was done in a way that] they took care to create a massive structure that would actually sound amazing," Grant said. "And for the first performance to be the Nashville Symphony, I mean, all the extra effort that went to it was worth it. And that show proved it."
All these years later, Grant is still a regular inside Bridgestone Arena for all sorts of occasions. And for all there is for the senses to take in once through the doors, she still comes back to a couple of items from that first night that stay with her now, especially if there are a few flakes flying.
"I remember the first time being backstage, it just seemed so massive because all we had here really was the Opry House, TPAC, the Ryman - those are all kind of tight quarters," Grant said. And I just remembered it goes on forever. That's how it felt… And then all the staffing of who's in the elevators to the people greeting you at the door, the people hosting all the different stations on the concourse - it is just a top-notch experience… It's magical. And we kicked it off pretty magically that night with the cued snowflakes."