The great Compton, California poet Coolio once said “Ain’t no party like a Music City party.” Of course, I am paraphrasing but that statement was once again proven to be true on Saturday when Nashville once again showed everyone why they are the current reigning, defending party-thrower champion of the world.
The NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning came to town to join forces with the Nashville Predators for the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. The 2022 version of the annual game, where a hosting team moves from the indoor comforts of their home arena to play one of their rivals in an outdoor stadium, was announced for Nashville June 28th of last year after the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes asked to move their game to the 2022-23 season.
The three-time Stanley Cup champions came into the game third in the Eastern Conference with 72 points while the Predators entered the game with 64 points that was fifth best in the Western Conference. The hometown team came into the game as a big underdog and would need to play a great game to send the Preds fans home happy. Unfortunately, the Predators came up short in a 3-2 defeat to the Lightning that saw them come out of the first period with a 1-0 lead. The Predators looked extremely flat and fatigued after the first intermission that was delayed due to the entertainment between periods and they could never fully rebound after Tampa Bay scored two Power Play goals in the 2nd period.
Despite the Predators taking the L at Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, the true winner of the game was the city of Nashville as it once again proved that it could take on any event and knock it out of the park. Ever since the New York Times declared the state capital the ‘It city” in 2013, Nashville has taken the proclamation and ran with it. Week in and week out thousands come to Nashville for vacations, bachelor parties, concerts, sporting events and so much more.
Nashville has hosted the CMA Music Festival for decades now and watched it grow to where nearly 200,000 people attend each year. At some point over the last decade, Nashville has become the ‘Bachelorette Party Capital of the World.’ You cannot walk down Broadway Ave. at any time of the day without seeing multiple groups of ‘woo girls’ wearing their matching t-shirts and bedazzled cowboy hats.
Both the Titans and Predators put the sporting world on notice with how they managed large events. Nashville hosted the 2019 NFL Draft and welcomed over 600,000 people to the event. The routinely uneventful draft quickly became another extension of the NFL’s drawing power. Fans and critics raved about how the event was run by the city, and every hosting city since was put on notice as they know they will be compared to the 2019 addition.
The Predators were up first to show the NHL and the entire world Nashville’s ability to throw a good time. The 2017 Stanley Cup Final went through Nashville as the Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins battled on the ice inside Bridgestone Arena. Games 3 and 4 were hosted by the Penguins, but fans rallied inside and out of Bridgestone Arena to cheer their team on. 13,000 plus watched from inside the arena as over 50,000 crowded the street of Broadway between 5th and 7th Avenue for each game.
Those three big events and the many others the city has hosted recently set up the Predators for success to pull off the Stadium Series. 68,619 were in attendance for the game and many of those took part in the massive pre-game event outside of Nissan Stadium.
Fans were encouraged to download the NHL Fan Access App to view the events schedule and to win some amazing prizes. Truly Hard Seltzer, Bud Light, and Jägermeister were on hand to keep the adults in the crowd ‘hydrated.’ The all-ages party had various skills games for people to try their hand at including puck shot challenge, air hockey, and the old-school bubble hockey games. Food vendors and food trucks had something for everyone to eat while they walked around the grounds. Truly Hard Seltzer had a massive ice luge on site for partygoers to sample any of their seltzers.
It wouldn’t be a Nashville party without music. The Nashville Predators SMASHVILLE Experience included a karaoke stage and Applebee’s favorite singer Walker Hayes performed his hit “Fancy Like” and others on the Tik Tok stage. There were photo opportunities throughout the pre-game party including various hockey themed blowups, murals, and the Stanley Cup itself.
The party moved its way into Nissan Stadium where fans were greeted by live music by the house band, The Stadium Biscuits. The sold-out crowd came for the game, but was gifted with performances by some of the best up and comers in country music. Frankie Ballard, Chayce Beckham, BEXAR, Jackson Dean, Lindsay Ell, Morgan Evans, Emerson Hart, Josh Hedley, Tiera Kennedy, and Ajay Popoff all took turns entertaining the crowd throughout the night.
The biggest stars were saved for the first intermission. 14-time Grammy Award nominee Dierks Bentley and 3-time Grammy Award winner Miranda Lambert performed during the break between periods finishing with their interpretation of the ZZ Top hit “Gimme All Your Lovin’.” The live music highlight for many was when members of the alternative band Lit played their double platinum hit “My Own Worst Enemy” in the third period and then quickly had to sing the Predators’ version of the Tim McGraw song “I Like It, I Love It” after Filip Forsberg scored a power play goal seconds after a break in action resumed.
Despite the visiting team pulling out a hard fought victory everyone involved came out a winner. Fans witnessed a fun and entertaining game; the NHL had the sports world’s eyes on them for the night and Nashville showed that they are not ready to hand over the “It city” title just yet. In terms of sporting events, Nashville is undefeated when on the big stage and they have one more big event on the horizon in 2022. On July 30th, thousands and thousands of professional wrestling fans from all over the world will be in attendance for the biggest event of the summer, WWE’s SummerSlam. Vince McMahon, you’re up next.
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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