1957
Demolition of the Bijou
Another theater, the Bijou, was used by African-American audiences prior to desegregation. It was torn down in 1957 to make way for the Municipal Auditorium.
Key Dates/Timeline
1957
Municipal Auditorium Construction Begins
Construction of Municipal Auditorium
1962
The Outside of the Municipal Auditorium
Auditorium Opens with a Church of Christ Revival (October 7, 1962)
1963
Dick Clark Performs
August 4, 1963
1963
Harlem Magicians game
A souvenir program from the 1963 Harlem Magicians game (now known as the Harlem Globetrotters)
1965
Herman's Hermits (July 29, 1965)
Newspaper photo of Herman's Hermits, caption says "Fantastic Herman's Hermits in Nashville Tonight!"
1967
Country Music Awards
The Country Music Awards was hosted here before they moved onto the Ryman Auditorium.
1972
The Rolling Stones (November 16, 1972)
Advertisement for the Rolling Stones concert. The Rolling Stones concert sells out in seven hours.
1973
Elvis Presley (July 1, 1973)
Elvis Presley in singing in concert
1974
David Bowie
The iconic tour passed through the auditorium as Bowie set out to make history!
1976-1985
The Charlie Daniels Band "Volunteer Jam"
The Charlie Daniels Band held their concert series at the Auditorium 9 years in a row! Guests included Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Prine, Roy Acuff, Tammy Wynette, Amy Grant, and many more!
1977
Fleetwood Mac with special guest Kenny Loggins (May 21, 1977)
Fleetwood Mac Promotional poster
1978
Grateful Dead (December 16, 1978)
Backstage pass from the Shakedown Street concert
1979
Halloween show featuring Parliament (October 31, 1979)
Advertisement for the 1979 Halloween show featuring Parliament
1981
South Stars Hockey team begins playing at the Auditorium
Hockey puck with the Nashville South Stars logo on it
1983
Kiss (January 30, 1983)
KISS fills the Municipal Auditorium on Superbowl Sunday. Above picture taken from the "Living" section of the Tennessean.
1984
Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie comes to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium for the first of his two shows
1988
Aerosmith
Aerosmith rocked out at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 1st, 1988
1991
ZZ Top
ZZ Top brought their famous rock sound and guitars to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium
1994
United States Gymnastics Championships
1994-2001
Professional Bull Riders
The Professional Bull Riders "Bud Light Cup" was hosted at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium from 1994-2001!
1996
Tour of World Figure Skating Champions Broadcast on CBS
2000
Bullnanza (June 2-3, 2000)
After performing to incredibly large crowds, Bullnanza is forced to move to Gaylord Entertainment Center
2000
Longhorn Rodeo
2000
Belmont Basketball
Belmont Basketball moves to Auditorium as a temporary home while the Curb Events Center is being built
2002
Monster Truck Show
Fans of all ages were thrilled to see the monster trucks absolutely crush it at this event!
2003, 2015, 2020
American Idol Auditions
American Idol found their season two winner "Ruben Studdard" when they held their auditions at the NMA!
2005
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters took on the Nashville Municipal Auditorium as they made their way across the USA!
2005
Weezer
Weezer visited the Nashville Municipal Auditorium during their "Beverly Hills" tour!
2007
TNA Wrestling
TNA hosted their "Slammiversarry" pay-per-view event and wrestlers faced off in music city!
2008
Ohio Valley Conference Basketball
Teams faced off in the historic auditorium after prior appearances in 1989, 1994, 1995, and 1996! The OVC tournament continued to come back from 2011-2017!
2010
Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper
The two iconic rockers performed at the Auditorium for their "Halloween Hootenanny."
2010
Grand Ole Opry with Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood plays at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium for the Grand Ole Opry
2010-2016
Nashville Rollergirls
The Nashville Rollergirls skated around the floor at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium!
2011
Ke$ha
Ke$ha made her Nashville appearance during her "Get Sleazy" tour.
2011
Katt Williams
Katt Williams came to the auditorium in 2011 (one of his many performances here)!
2012
Lady A
This popular country trio won "Top Vocal Group" at the ACM's the same year that they played at our Auditorium!
2013
Mary J. Blige
This is just one of many performances for Mary J. Blige at the Municipal Auditorium!
2013
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age performed at the Auditorium before moving onto Ascend Amphitheatre in later years.
2017
Sting
Sting stopped at the Auditorium for his "57th & 9th" tour.
2017
Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne made his Nashville debut during his "Kloser 2 U" tour.
2018
Slayer
Slayer said goodbye to Nashville on their "Farewell Tour."
2018
Post Malone
Post Malone rocks out at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium!
2019
Bastille
Bastille kicked off their "Doom Days Tour Pt. 1" in Nashville!
2021
Playboi Carti
Playboi Carti performed at the Auditorium during his "Narcissist" tour.
2022
CMT Awards
This was the 56th edition of the award show!
2022
Jack Harlow
Jack Harlow kicks off his "Come Home The Kids Miss You" Tour at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium!
2022
All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling brought their matches to Nashville in November!
2022
Lil Nas X
During his rise to fame, Lil Nas X performed at the auditorium during his "Montero" tour.
2022
Ric Flair's Last Match
Ric Flair showed off in the last match of his career!