With the longer days and warm evenings already upon us, now is a perfect time for Huntsville to graciously usher in its newest, most talked about performance venue.

As the finishing touches were ever closer to completion, the local media enjoyed a comprehensive walk through and tour of The Orion Amphitheater, by far one of the most attractive and well-thought-out music venues in the region.

According to Ben Lovett, CEO of tvg hospitality, there is nothing quite like The Orion currently being built in America. In fact, it’s the only venue of this magnitude.

It’s clear that nothing has been left to chance, which is entirely by design. Much thought has gone into the guests’ as well as the performers’ overall experience and enjoyment. Accessibility, convenience, creature comforts, along with the many nods to Huntsville’s illustrious and space-race based history. There’s even actual furniture in the greenroom, gleaned from of NASA’s vintage surplus. What’s more, no matter where you sit in The Orion, the seating is ideal, and the view is breathtaking.

The most noteworthy consideration is the audience-eye view of the stage. Concertgoers to The Orion will certainly be wowed.

“Now, with sound systems the way they are and rock and roll bands wanting to be the way they are, we had to modify the seats to make sure there was optimal sightline,” said Lovett. “This is just an example of where we thought very carefully how to optimize. We wanted to make sure that no one had a bad seat in the house,” said Lovett. “And we now feel very confident that we can say to anyone buying a ticket, even in the 300 section, there is not a single bad seat.”

It was suggested to the team that perhaps having less ideal, yet less expensive seating available might be worth considering. However, that idea was quickly dismissed.

“Why would we have cheaper bad seats in a building that we had to design from the ground up?” said Ryan Murphy, Orion’s General Manager. “A lot of thought and intent have gone into it.”

Murphy boldly takes on his role with a career foundation that’s based on proven experience. In 2018, Murphy left his position after a decade as the County Director for Cultural Events in St John’s County, FL.

Charged with the Saint Augustine Amphitheater, also known as the Amp, Murphy was responsible for bringing in the talent. For well over a decade, the Amp has produced a large number of shows annually and has consistently ranked among Pollstar Magazine’s Top 50 Amphitheatre Venues Worldwide. Musical icons including Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, John Legend, Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and hundreds more have performed at the Amp over the years.

“For 10 years prior, Ryan and a number of the people that Ryan’s brought over from the most successful boutique amphitheater in America, in St. Augustine, FL,” said Lovett. “Most successful, not subjectively, but it had the most amount of shows, and so Ryan’s bringing all of that wealth of experience to the table.”

Meanwhile, hardhat clad workers sporting brightly colored safety vests buzzed around the amphitheater in final preparation for The Orion’s first big event: The 2022 Huntsville Classic, featuring performing artist Jake Owen. After two years of pandemic-based cancelations, the third time was a charm for Owen and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

This coming weekend, May 13th through 15th, The Orion Amphitheater will celebrate its Grand Opening with The First Waltz, featuring Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Emmylou Harris, Waxahatchee, and John Paul White.

Here’s a great opportunity to come out and celebrate The Orion and enjoy high caliber performances in the round, in a spacious outdoor venue that seats anywhere between 6,000- 8,000 concertgoers, depending on the configuration. In addition to great seating, there are also ample amenities throughout the interior concourse to reduce the bottleneck that often happens at special events.

Once the City has the surrounding park completed and fully landscaped, it promises to be gorgeous. Meanwhile, the shining gemstone of The Camp is surrounded by a variety of additional venues and activities for anyone to make an entire day of it.

Images provided by Lori Conners.