Did the self guided tour. Beautiful old church turned auditorium with tons of history. The tour features a short video explaining the history, exhibits with clothing worn by inductees, with more history, and a photo on the stage is included.
Having toures this iconic venue twice, I've always wanted to see a live show here. Stars alighend and we finally had the chance to do so to see LITTLE BIG TOWN perform their Christmas show.
THE EVENT
Of course LBT were amazing, as always, and the Christmas show included some backstory about the group which was cool to be privvy to, and they also performed about 3 or 4 of their biggest non-Chritsmas hits, sprinkled in here and there.
THE VENUE—POSITIVE
The venue is superb for so many reasons, not the least of which is the energy of a place which has hosted the best of the best (in country music, rock music and more) and is truly deserving of the title, the 'Mother Church of Country.' Visibility is amazing from most seats (I would avoid the back half of the lower tier beneath the balcony as the low ceilking height and poles can both cause limited visibility) and stick to either the front half of the lower level OR any of the balcony seats which are all phenomenal. Sound is excpetional throughout the audiotorium, and the feeling of intimacy ios second to none.
THE VENUE—NOT SO GREAT
Those pew bench seats! This is literaly the ONLY downfall of thios place.... but it's a big one. While this style of seating 100% fits the vibe and I would never replace them, they are however, like sitting on concrete for 2-3 hours. I was fidgeting in my seat within 30 minutes, genuinely in pain from my hips down my thoghs, with my sciatic nerve feeling like it was being squeezed by a vice. The couple next to us, a lot younger then we, actually got up and left after 45 minutes. Next time we go to a show here I AM BRINGING A STADIUM CUSHION to sit on. Something so simple would make all the difference, and I'm not sure why they don't invest in some permanent cushioning in the first place. It would literally transform this from a 'good show, but man, it was hard to sit there' to a 'great show, period!' (BTW, even Little Big Town commiserated and made a comment along the lines of, 'We're sorry you have to sit on those hard-ass pews.')