The Pinnacle — Local services in Nashville-Davidson

I came away with very mixed feelings about this new venue in Nashville. The building, hallways, and floors are very nice and fresh looking with cool decor and lighting, but one of the escalators (going up) was not working. They do have elevators with seated operators, and they do have ample restrooms and even drinking fountains.

We had gone to see JJ Grey and Mofro - they did not disappoint! Their show was phenomenal, as always, and everything was meticulously produced, including the sound and lighting. Unfortunately, JJ was co-billed with a very old band that was absolutely sub-par in every way. It was gruelling to have to sit through about 10 long drawn-out songs by that band. JJ didn't hit the stage until around 9:15 p.m. (on a Sunday night).

At first we thought it was great to see that the Pinnacle had bars along the walls of each floor. Sadly, they weren't actually "bars," but more like concession stands with mostly canned low-alcohol offerings. I initially ordered one of the canned red wines. It was so bad, I asked for ice in a cup, but I still couldn't drink it. Even my son couldn't drink it! I took it back up to the bar and told them about it, while I purchased three more drinks for our party. The attendant took the wine off my hands but made no offer to even slightly discount my next purchase. We all were shocked by that. My son and I ordered a tall can of some cold beverage that tasted a bit like apple cider, and his date ordered a small cocktail made with rum and a tiny can of pineapple juice. Prices are high.

I don't understand why the bigger venues in Nashville refuse to announce the artists before they start. It's so annoying. The musicians just start playing and you sit there wondering "who is this?" The Pinnacle was no better in that regard.

The concert we attended had assigned seating, but I read that some of their concerts are just general admission. Fortunately for us, we got seats in an elevated section right behind the floor seating (all folding chairs - but padded somewhat). I would have liked to have been a couple rows higher though, since people on the floor stand up and block the view if you are sitting. If you are short like me, you won't see a thing with floor seating once people start standing.

Parking nearby is very expensive. We found a cheaper lot and walked a few...

I was impressed by the staff at the venue, they walked through the line to pass out wristbands before you got inside, and condensed the line without complaints around 5:30 to keep people out of the street- allowing anyone who had been there since noon to put up their lawn chairs and coolers without losing their spot. The Yards have a small lawn in front of the venue doors with food trucks, corn hole, and live music. Which is great if you’re in line and need dinner or don’t want to wait in line and just want to hang out before or after going inside.

Once the doors opened - things moved FAST. The security team will check bags and you’ll go through a metal detector. They have a bag size restriction but it doesn’t have to be clear. Once inside you need to have your AXS tickets pulled up in the AXS app on your phone- do not have them added to your apple wallet, they need the QR code. I wasn’t the only person to make this mistake haha. There were people running to the front and lots of employees yelling NOT to run. I had spoken with people in the line that directed us to the third floor for the track and I’m glad they did because most people assumed the second floor was the upper level and it’s not.

The floor has removable seats, so depending on who you see there may be chairs or a pit. I personally get really claustrophobic and uncomfortable in a concert pit so I was really excited about the venues “Track” which is a walkway with a rail that goes all the way around the pit on the second floor. This is built specifically as a standing room only section, it was two people deep but not uncomfortably tight.

If you want to be on The Track you need to go immediately upstairs to the third floor. The main floor/ Pit are elevated on the second floor so go all the way to the top if you want The Track or upper riser seating. Once you’re on the upper floor go all the way to the front.

A few last notes on this completely unsolicited review:

BATHROOMS Ladies can you remember the last time you went to a concert and didn’t have to wait in line for the bathroom? They have a great set up at the Pinnacle, I was shocked I was able to walk right in.

PARKING They have a garage at the venue, but I parked at the main library garage- two blocks over- and was in and out...

Came here on opening night. You’d think they’d be on their A-game, but crowd control was disorganized and lazy. The general admission line had two official lines, but because there was no security implementing crowd control, the two official lines started fragmenting into additional smaller lines. I saw what was happening and anticipated a crowd collapse. I spoke to management to let them know what was happening and they couldn’t have seemed less concerned. 10 mins later, line 2A got absorbed into line 2. There was a couple in Line 1 behind me that saw what happened and the girl got frustrated and started running to line 2 but her boyfriend stopped her and pulled her back. Understandably she was frustrated because she had been waiting way longer than the random people that started forming the unofficial line 2A that got absorbed into line 2. I went to speak to management and security once more and when I asked them how many OFFICIAL GA lines there were supposed to be, they didn’t know. I told him it was definitely TWO lines because there were only 2 security checkpoints with metal detectors. I told him the two lines were forming into crowds and that they should send someone over to implement crowd control, he just shrugged and said they’d see what they could do. They never sent anyone. The 2 official GA lines collapsed into one massive crowd, and people who had waited in line for hours were now in “line” (read: crowd) standing next to people who had just showed up. Y’all had one job. Instead y’all had 20 security guards standing up against a wall by the main entrance when I warned y’all this...