Panorama from the stage at Starwood Amphitheater, circa 2014.
Last year, on an overcast September afternoon, The Spin may or may not have trekked out to nearby Antioch for a little urban exploration at the site of the old Starwood Amphitheater, while reporting this story for the Scene. There, we may or may not have taken some eerie-as-fuck photos capturing what's left of what was once Middle Tennessee's premier concert venue. And now, seeing as how one year has passed and thus so has Tennessee's statute of limitations on misdemeanor criminal trespassing, we are now able to share said pictures with y'all.
Starwood, (known as First American Music Center in 1999 and AmSouth Amphitheater from 2000-2004), closed its gates for good in 2007, and of course, after an eight-year wait, Nashville recently got a totally sick new shed downtown. But for 22 summers between 1985 and 2006, Starwood was the shit, hosting (in many cases) multiple appearances from rock legends the likes of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Guns N' Roses, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, Steely Dan, Journey, Metallica, Motley Crue, KISS, Coldplay, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Tina Turner, Van Halen, Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Luther Vandross, Rush, Rage Against the Machine (w/Wu-Tang Clan), No Doubt (w/Weezer), R.E.M. (w/Radiohead), Iron Maiden, INXS, Skynyrd, Phish, Pantera, Bel Biv DeVoe, The Beach Boys and The motherfuckin' Spice Girls. In the '90s and early Aughts, the amphitheater also played host to repeat visits from traveling festivals a la Ozzfest, Warped Tour, H.O.R.D.E, Lilith Fair and the like.
That all changed when Live Nation sold the 65-acre Starwood property to Vastland Realty Group, which planned on developing a mixed-use townhouse-and-retail development called Starwood Commons. Didn't happen. Short story short, a California LLC acquired the property in a 2013 foreclosure sale, and so it sits, dormant and dilapidated, to this day. The seats were ripped out and structures like the the amphitheater's roof, green rooms, restrooms and concession stands were razed in 2007. But the stage (with its black paint peeling), the concrete footprint (now cracking) where reserving seating once stood, the paved parking lots and access roads (also now cracking), the general admission lawn (reclaimed by overgrowth and home to wildlife like bunny rabbits and deer), twisted wrought iron and other rockin' ruins remain. Or at least they may or may not have when The Spin may or may not have checked in 53 weeks ago.
Yes, per usual, The Spin arrived late. We missed all the shows, but we did almost fall into an uncovered five-foot-deep drainage catch. There's an abundance of them throughout the site, and the ones without weeds and trees growing out of them are easy to miss. There's also broken glass and other debris everywhere — it's a deceptively treacherous place, people. See for yourselves after the jump.
The Murfreesboro Road entrance to Starwood Amphitheatre in 2014
Stage entrance at Starwood Amphitheater, circa 2014.
The view from the stage, or what's left of it, at Starwood Amphitheater, circa 2014.
Seeing zero faces, and rocking them all.
The remnants of a pillar that once held up the roof of Starwood Amphitheater, circa 2014.
Lawn view at Starwood Amphitheater, circa 2014.
FOH view of the still-standing Starwood Amphitheater stage, circa 2014.
Starwood Amphitheater in better days.
