Nashville has been good to me.
Within two weeks I saw Lionel Messi twice live and Jason Isbell in between.
I also attended a Tennessee Titans NFL game and the Grand Ole Opry, whose eight performers were headlined by “The War and Treaty” — the Michael Trotter Jr.-Tanya Trotter duo who sang a soulful version of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of Saturday’s Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami game.
Trace Adkins sang the national anthem at Sunday’s Titans game, confirming what I’d been told: You’ll see stars perform ahead of Nashville sporting events.
The on-field NFL action entertained, including touchdowns from an interception and a 67-yard punt return in the first quarter — a “15-minute” period that underscored a major difference between attending football and soccer.
While watching soccer played with rhythm, as it does at its best, commercials don’t interfere.
During the Titans game, we had four TV timeouts of more than two minutes each in the first quarter, which was followed by another TV timeout. The country trap rapper Breland took the field to entertain us while TV viewers watched commercials. By the time the second quarter began, as much time had passed as between kickoff and halftime of the MLS game at Geodis Park the night before.
When the Titans score, the PA responds with Johnny Cash‘s “Ring of Fire.” Before Nashville SC players take the field, Cash’s haunting “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” fuels the dramatic buildup — with the floodlights turned off while fireworks launch from the roof and on-field flares spew sparks and smoke into the sky. Quite spectacular.
Saturday marked Messi’s fourth Nashville appearance. He scored a hat trick in the final game of this year’s regular season, a 5-2 Inter Miami win on Oct. 18. Nashville SC needed to beat Inter Miami on Saturday to force a Game 3. That required ending a six-game losing streak against Miami that featured 10 Messi goals.
I bought the least expensive tickets to both games. Opting to sit in the stands with my wife over a press box seat, I paid $100 apiece for Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami tickets in the nearly full 30,000-seat Geodis Park. The Tennessee Titans vs. Los Angeles Chargers ticket in a 69,000-seat stadium that looked half full cost $23.
The ticket for the Titans, 1-7 before losing to the Chargers, was a SeatGeek resale purchase; the NSC tickets a Ticketmaster standard sale. The least expensive tickets for Messi’s Oct. 18 visit were in the $200 range on the secondary market.
Crowds for Inter Miami’s recent Nashville visits included a good amount of Messi fans, wearing his Inter Miami, Barcelona and Argentina replica jerseys. One family of four included each of them — the parents sporting La Albiceleste No. 10 shirts.
A man in his late 20s wearing an Argentina Messi jersey was denied entry into the Nashville SC supporters’ section, which doesn’t permit “wearing opposing team colors or logos.” After a polite discussion in which he tried to dispute the usher’s interpretation of the rule, he headed to the merchandise store to purchase an NSC shirt.
Messi had scored twice in Inter Miami’s 3-1 Game 1 victory in Florida, upping his total against Nashville to 12 goals in eight games in all competitions. He’s played more games and scored more goals against NSC than any other MLS foe since arriving in 2023.
For Saturday’s playoff game, the area’s Messi fans were scattered throughout the stadium. A contingent of about 50 traveling Inter Miami fans marched into the stadium and through the concourse with a police escort to their designated section.
The fans around our upper-deck seats included several Messi fans. But the overall crowd delivered emphatic support for the home team, which was looking for its first playoff win since 2021. The 3-1 victory over Orlando City came the season before Geodis Park opened in 2022 and was played at Nissan Stadium.
The Titans’ home is linked to Lower Broadway (aka Honky Tonk Highway, Broadway Historic District, Nashvegas and Lower Broad) by the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge that spans the Cumberland River. Geodis Park, the nation’s largest soccer-specific stadium, is just four miles south.
On Saturday, Nashville SC came out strong. For its part, Inter Miami’s petulant behavior — persistent griping at referee Allen Chapman and lashing out at Nashville players for offenses less egregious than their own fouling — overshadowed the talent led by three World Cup winners.
Sam Surridge opened the scoring for Nashville SC with a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Josh Bauer made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime following a goal area scramble created by Hany Mukhtar’s corner kick.
Nashville didn’t fizzle in the second half as it did two weeks earlier and looked likely to cruise to a victory. But in the 90th minute, Messi took a pass from his 2022 World Cup-winning teammate Rodrigo De Paul and displayed his familiar brilliance: His feint swung Bauer the wrong direction before his deft instep touch prepared his searing left-footed shot into the top corner of the net from 17 yards.
It marked Messi’s sixth goal on Nashville turf in four games.
But Nashville survived the seven minutes of stoppage time to ensure a Game 3 on Saturday in Florida — and end a 10-game winless streak against Miami. But before the stadium emptied, there would be more music.
Nashville players lined up arm and arm in front of the supporters’ section as the PA played the club anthem, “Never Give Up On You” — a Judah & the Lion tune in the vein of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Nashville SC fans went home after enjoying the best of both worlds — witnessing the world’s greatest player score while watching their own team win.
Mike, as great as Nashville is for entertainment, the shoot out in that game should have decided who progresses. You know full well, three games, it’s too much. Some players will have run 36 kilometers, almost a marathon (~42km), and will have covered 10% of that distance, 3.6 km at close to top speed, after playing a full season. It will be the fifth time the teams have played this year, and it’s not a derby. It is simply madness. No matter how much lipstick you put on it, it’s a pig.
Wonderful article. Does a wonderful job evoking the passions that soccer and music ignite. I hope you had a chance to visit the great Johnny Cash Museum while you were in town.