Bridgestone Arena Set to Host Abundance of Anticipated Events in 2019

The start of a new year means another year of Nashville Predators games, concerts and local events for Nashville to look forward to at Bridgestone Arena. Regardless of your fandom, your music taste or even your age, Bridgestone is looking forward to a diverse and exciting roster of events in 2019.
Nashville knows it wouldn't be Bridgestone Arena without the Preds. Apart from the second half of the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, some of the most highly anticipated Preds events happen off of the ice.
The morning of Feb. 23, the Preds' beloved mascot GNASH will lead runners on the
Fangtastic 5K
, a race supporting the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. That night, the team will also face the Colorado Avalanche at home for the first time in 2019, following an intense six-game series in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On March 7, the Preds will host the
Eighth Annual GnashVegas Casino Night & Auction presented by King Jewelers
, where fans will get the opportunity to meet and play casino games with players, coaches and broadcasters, and all for a great cause. The proceeds from GnashVegas will benefit hundreds of nonprofit organizations across Middle Tennessee.
Some Predators events also offer opportunities for friendships to continue long after the season has come to a close, like the
Preds Craft Beer Festival
in June, or
PredsFest
- the season kick-off celebration - in September. Both of these returning events promise to be even bigger and better than the previous year.
"Our fans love the people that they sit next to in the stands, and they have these relationships," Bridgestone Arena Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Marketing David Kells said. "Folks may live in Hendersonville and Murfreesboro and not see each other during the week, but 41-plus times a year, they sit next to each other and cheer on and have the same emotional responses to the Preds wins and losses, and they become friends over the years.
"They know each others' kids and who's going to college or who's broken a leg, and they've had these interpersonal relationships for over 20 years, so those summer events are like a reunion. That's a lot of fun seeing those people coming together."
Hockey isn't quite your sport? That's no problem either, as Bridgestone Arena will host the
2019 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
from March 13-17.

"It is neat to see the arena set up in basketball mode," Kells said. "Because we're so in hockey mode all the time, we come in and we know what the rink looks like, that's familiar to us. But you come in for the basketball tournament, it's something special and something different."
Being centrally located in the heart of Music City means some big-name, chart-topping artists will also make stops at Bridgestone Arena in 2019. Among them are
Travis Scott on March 20
,
Mumford & Sons on March 22
,
Ariana Grande on June 7
and
Shawn Mendes on Aug. 2
.
Stopping in Nashville for the first time in nearly a decade,
Metallica
will bring their WorldWired Tour to Bridgestone on Jan. 24. Pop icon
Cher
will also perform at the arena for the first time in five years on Jan. 31 as part of her "Here We Go Again" tour. Then
Jeff Lynne's ELO
will drop in on July 3.
After the biopic film "Bohemian Rhapsody" achieved tremendous success at the box office and the Golden Globes, fans have been clamoring for Queen - the song recently became the most streamed song released in the 20th century. On Aug. 15, those fans will get the chance to see
Queen + Adam Lambert
live in concert at Bridgestone.
And fellow British rock band
The Who
recently announced a stop at Bridgestone for May 16 as part of their "Moving On!" tour, supporting the band's first upcoming studio album in 13 years. As part of the tour, founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend will perform alongside a full orchestra at each stop.
Bridgestone Arena will also bid farewell to several artists who decided to stop by Nashville on their extensive final tours.
After a successful first leg of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour,
Elton John
will return to Bridgestone Arena one last time on Oct. 28. The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman and Catman will also make a pyro-filled appearance at Bridgestone on
April 9 as KISS
says farewell on their "End of the Road" tour.
Of course, it wouldn't be Music City without country, and Bridgestone hasn't forgotten that for 2019 either.

Country music star and Predators superfan
Dierks Bentley
will play to the home crowd on Feb. 22. On
March 28, Zac Brown Band
will take the stage for a show, and on April 1, country songwriting legend
Loretta Lynn
will perform.
Carrie Underwood
will return to Bridgestone with her "Cry Pretty Tour" on Sept. 27. On
Oct. 12 Thomas Rhett
will make the final stop on his "Very Hot Summer" tour at Bridgestone.
But, in addition to music and Predators events, Bridgestone also caters to younger fans, who may be making first concert memories at the arena. Some child-friendly events for 2019 include the
Harlem Globetrotters on Jan. 26
or "
Sesame Street Live: Let's Party!" on Feb. 24
.
"When we have events like Sesame Street Live and the Globetrotters, that's somebody's first event," Kells said. "That creates an early childhood memory for somebody, so that's awesome to see as well."
Click here
to see Bridgestone Arena's full calendar of events.