While we were waiting for some major NHL news to break last week in Seattle, Sportsnet reporter Elliott Friedman was laying down some great advice for whoever might eventually bring professional hockey to the Pacific Northwest.
Pay attention to what the Nashville Predators have done.
He wasn’t talking about what they’ve done on the ice, which has been impressive enough to reach the Stanley Cup Final this year before being eliminated in six games. He was talking about what they’ve done around the ice, about an atmosphere that Nashville is uniquely positioned to provide.
Prior to last Wednesday’s press conference, in which Oak View Group was officially selected to move forward with an NBA/NHL arena renovation at KeyArena, and at which Jerry Bruckheimer and Dave Bonderman were announced as OVG’s major NHL investors, Friedman said the following to KJR’s Ian Furness.
Every team in the NHL should take their game ops people to a game in Nashville and say “what do they do?” What they do is turn it into a party that fits their city. If you’ve ever been to a game here you know that the arena is right downtown, right next to a street called Broadway, which is all their famous country music saloons and stuff. it’s a party atmosphere.
I think when Vegas comes in next year, they’ve gotta follow it. If Seattle gets a team, the one thing I think you need to do is say to people “You’re coming here. You’re not just getting a hockey game. You’re getting an event that fits the city of Seattle.” That’s what they do here in Nashville, and I think that’s what you’ve got to do in sports nowadays. If you’re asking for people to take three hours of their time, you can’t always give them a great game. There’s going to be games during the year that are bad, and years where your team isn’t good. What else are you going to give them to entertain them? Nashville has done that very well.
In addition to pre and post-game musical integration with the local bar scene, the Predators make music a huge part of their in-game fan experience. Unlike some franchises that traditionally have the same artist perform the national anthem at every game, Nashville has had a different major musical group sing it at every playoff game. Team president Sean Henry told the Tennessean he likes to keep the artists’ identities secret until the last minute.
Simply put, Henry loves to build the anticipation. And that's exactly what he's done during the Preds' deep postseason run. In what's become a growing (and uniquely Nashville) tradition, a different Music City star or group has sung the "Star-Spangled Banner" before each playoff game. The secret singers have delivered memorable performances, helping to work the home crowd into a frenzy before the puck ever drops.
“The temptation is to announce and get people further hyped up,” he said. “I think it’s so much more special when people get surprised.”
The live music doesn’t stop with the Star Spangled Banner. The Predators have a house band that plays at intermission. During the playoffs, they’ve had some pretty big acts perform with that band. NBC Sports points out the following.
The Nashville Predators have reached their first Western Conference final in franchise history and that has spread hockey fever far beyond their arena and the team’s loyal legion of fans. Stars from Carrie Underwood to Lady Antebellum are lining up to sing the national anthem and the likes of John Hiatt to Lee Greenwood are singing with the house band during intermissions.
The penchant for live in-game music isn’t excluded to the playoffs. Though the acts aren’t always as famous, the Predators have different artists perform the anthem and at intermission throughout the the season, and have a process in place for local musicians to show off their act.
So let’s review. A city with a rich and proud musical tradition infuses that tradition into the in-game experience at NHL games, and it’s a huge success to the point where Predator fans are becoming known as the loudest in the league.
Is there another city with a rich and proud musical tradition that could do something similar if it were awarded an NHL expansion franchise? Seattle may not be as big as Nashville from a music recording perspective, but our city takes a back seat to very few places in the world in regard to music history and passion.
Could Seattle put together some pretty amazing acts to sing the national anthem and to do mini-concerts during intermission? During playoff runs when the weather warms up, could we have pre-game concerts in a neighboring courtyard the arena that often hosts massive music festivals? Could an ownership group that partners with Live Nation have access to artists for these things that most teams can only dream of? The answers seem self-evident.
But Seattle isn’t Nashville, and we’d have to do it with our own flavor.
While Nashville focuses primarily on country acts, a Seattle team would need to seek music that more accurately reflects the variety of our region. From smaller local acts to World touring groups, Blue Scholars, Minus the Bear, Macklemore, Brandi Carlile, Modest Mouse, Robert Delong, and Pearl Jam represent just a sliver of the diversity at our fingertips.
Of course, with Live Nation in the mix, we wouldn’t be restricted to local talent. Bonderman could even snag someone like Paul McCartney, as he did for his 70th birthday party in the video below.
To “turn it into a party that fits” the Seattle culture, it might even need to go beyond music. The beverages served should reflect the proud culture of local breweries in the Emerald City. From a more regional perspective, the wines of Eastern Washington could also be served.
There are a million different things that could be done, and these are the kinds of things local arena and team investors need to be thinking of to capture the hearts of our region.
Comments
Luke Bryan performing before Game 6 made me want to turn off the game.
Music + hockey would be great, but holy moly, Seattle best do it better.
Give me some Nirvana and Soundgarden!
Wait, what?
By pklym on 06.13.17 7:17am
We'll be stuck with Pearl Jam
By cortone on 06.13.17 7:25am
If by stuck you mean
Seeing one of the greatest live bands of all time. Oh that would be terrible. Simply amazing live.
By bosshogg18 on 06.13.17 10:05am
I have seen them live
In my concert experience, they don’t rate that highly, but big time concert-going ended in the 90s for me, which is when I saw them, twice. They were fun shows, but the one with Neil Young was better, although still not one of my all-time favorites. Undoubtedly they’ve gotten better since then. Now, I’ve never thought they were that great period, and have always been amused that they are viewed as such a titan from the Seattle scene, so maybe I’m just missing the hero-worship that would mold my impression of their concerts. That’s a big element of anyone’s concert preferences, although I don’t like the Stones all that much, but 1981 at the Kingdome was epic.
I’d rate Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Sky Cries Mary for early 90s bands from Seattle above Pearl Jam on my list.
By cortone on 06.13.17 11:43am
The Aquabats are the best live band in the world
By Taylor Bartle on 06.13.17 11:46am
C'mon, that's not really a fair comparison.
I thought we were talking rock concerts, not supercosmic music-making entities.
By cortone on 06.13.17 12:03pm
I should add, those are Seattle bands I saw live
There are lots of Seattle bands I would rate higher than PJ, but I didn’t see them live.
By cortone on 06.13.17 3:01pm
I grew up here and generally like some of their songs, but despise EV
his voice sounds like an inbred cross between Scott Stapp and Chad Kroeger, with a helping of Hetfield’s signature inflections, but not as "good" as any of them. (Yes, I’m aware of what I just said, and it should be shocking).
By Throbert Bedford on 06.13.17 5:35pm
Listening to him strain his vocals through those High Numbers/The Who covers
was the final nail in my lack of appreciation.
By cortone on 06.13.17 9:54pm
They'll want to give Macklemore a call......
By snovalleyhockeyfan on 06.13.17 7:29am
good article
this area where Nashville has succeeded is an area where my team in South Florida has whiffed big time and one of a handful of reasons why hockey has fallen off here after the bloom wore off the rose.
and yes, Luke Bryan sucked the big one. Should have had Sturgill Simpson or Jason Isbell out there,
By Todd Little on 06.13.17 7:35am
With some Chris Stapleton too
But those guys are "Music Row" enough …
By maruk14 on 06.13.17 10:24am
"aren't"
Wish you could edit …
By maruk14 on 06.13.17 10:31am
I listened to the segment.
And trying to figure out ways to make the game more about the experience/event rather than just a game. Music is good for sure, the challenge (Maybe Benefit?) is this city has a pretty proud tradition of all different styles of music. Also maybe more culturally appropriate acts as well based on our heritage in the region.
By Otto Rogers on 06.13.17 7:45am
If an incoming NBA/NHL team wanted to build a connection between the game an event then they should ask the Sounders
Having the Nashville stadium on Lower Broad obviously helps the team. Lower Broad is a massive tourist attraction/drinking stop that has been refashioned to be a country music version of Beale Street in Memphis. So that is a massive help as people arrive at the stadium pre-juiced. Then they add the music stars on top of it, and it is a party.
Seattle could easily replicate that atmosphere. In fact, it already does. It happens 17 times a year when the Sounders play, and 8 times a year with the Hawks play. For successful teams Seattle fans are very good at bringing the noise.
An NHL team would have to work to introduce themselves to Seattle, but I think they would eventually get to the point where they are consistently selling out an arena in SODO or Lower Queen Anne. They just have to win. Should the Sonics return it would instantly be the hottest ticket in town, with everyone clamoring to get in the building. The atmosphere for the first OKC game would be amazing, even more electric than the return of the Lakers or a visit from the Blazers.
By TheTrialist on 06.13.17 8:33am
That is a great point
I believe Ian mentioned it (About the Sounders). You have to make it an event, you can’t just come in and try to do it on the cheap. There will be competition for the sports dollar, don’t just expect people to pay 150-200$ for a glass seat.
By Otto Rogers on 06.13.17 8:53am
A Side Note...
Paul Allen is an owner of both the Sounders (minority) and Seahawks (majority) and they both play at CLink. This is why I think if Key ends up with NHL through its ownership group, we’ll see some of the same names appear for NBA ownership making revenue-sharing a non-issue with one facility.
By bgramer on 06.13.17 12:31pm
Paul Allen owning a minority share of the sounders
is why we were able to get a MLS team with out having to built our own soccer stadium.
By gstommylee on 06.13.17 1:18pm
The Sounders
are actually a big reason CenturyLink got built.
By Taylor Bartle on 06.13.17 1:29pm
That too
but the revenue sharing thing was a big deal too though. It was mainly the big reason why MLS wanted teams to have their own stadiums so they can control the revenue stream but with Paul Allen as a minority owner, it takes care of that issue.
By gstommylee on 06.13.17 1:34pm
Likewise
with Arthur Blank in Atlanta.
By Taylor Bartle on 06.13.17 1:46pm
Yep
Atlanta too
By gstommylee on 06.13.17 3:42pm
I dream of that first home game against OKC
and there is nothing that will keep me from being there in person. Even if I have to brave the dreadful Mercer mess to get there!
By itsanospreybich on 06.13.17 9:44am
I would like to see the NHL team have a fight song
something along the lines of "Go Cubs Go," that could be a tradition going into the third period.
By Taylor Bartle on 06.13.17 8:58am
You Have Full Permission...
… to appropriate any of the Aussie Rules club songs for this.
Especially either the Richmond Tigers (seriously, go and look that one up on YouTube or something), or the North Melbourne Kangaroos, featuring the immortal lines "out we come, out we come, out we come to play, just for recreation’s sake to pass the time away".
By MartinHughes on 06.13.17 7:55pm