MACON, Ga. — Macon was rocking and rolling all night Sunday with the first concert at the Atrium Health Amphitheater.
ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd headlined opening night, with more than 6,300 people flooding into the venue. More than 100 employees met the crowds to scan tickets, patrol or work concessions.
Amphitheater general manager David Aiello says his team is celebrating a big win. He calls the first show a success — right down to the end of the night.
"At the end, the parking lots were all clear in 25 or 30 minutes, which is typically unheard of when you have that many people in the building," Aiello said.
With an even bigger show scheduled for next week, his team can't celebrate long. They're already back at work.
"It's, you know, how do you create more signage? How do you have people relocating, people going to the other side where there's a lot less traffic. It's smoother over there because the demand is less," he said.
As his team starts making tweaks for the next concert, Mayor Lester Miller is making plans further down the line.
"Kind of be like an area like Battery Park in Atlanta outside Truist Park. They can kind of fill that up so people can have some outdoor activities to kind of pregame before the amphitheater and also the pickleball," he said, talking about the area near the old JCPenney.
Miller says that next phase starts with building a hotel at the mall to give concertgoers somewhere to stay when Tuesday, or another day, is gone.
"There's a lot of good companies out there that are going to be interested in that site. A lot of hotel owners have reached out to us about 'Where do you want to put it at? Where do you prefer it at?'" Miller said.
TIMELINE:
- October 2021: Mayor Lester Miller shares his vision for amphitheater
- February 2022: County leaders break ground on the site at the Macon Mall
- April 2022: Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority approves $44 million in bonds for mall improvements, including the amphitheater and Rhythm & Rally pickleball courts. The county will use revenue from the amphitheater and stores at the mall to pay it back.
- July 2022: Work starts as construction crews tear up the old parking lot
- November 2022: Macon-Bibb County unveils final design
- December 2022: Crews begin building amphitheater structure
- May 2023: Macon-Bibb commissioners tour amphitheater, mall progress
- September 2023: Amphitheater announces Riley Green as the first concert booked
- October 2023: Amphitheater announces Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top will headline the first concert
- January 2024: Macon-Bibb County announces Atrium Health Amphitheater will be the venue's official name
- March 12, 2024: People involved in project enjoy a soft opening
- March 24, 2024: Opening night!
If you want to look at an overview of the construction, Piedmont Construction — who helped build the Amphitheater — published a timelapse on their website. You can click here to check it out for yourself.