Rocketown

Great space for events.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this venue, the team of amazing people behind it, and their «leader» Mary Virginia Settle. Everything I needed was taken care of! Mary Virginia even took care of some things I didn’t realize that I needed. Amazing venue and even more amazing people running it! My wedding reception was perfect! Easy! I was able to hand off a lot of decisions to them without worrying. They know what they are doing. I highly recommend Rocketown! Oh, and tip these wonderful people well. They deserve it for their hard work and attention to detail! Love!

I attend the Taste of Nashville event here. It was a little of an annoyance to try & find a parking place. We parked in a pay lot. The event space is large area that has a stage at one end. At the Taste of Nashville, they had tables set up on the sides of the event space and also in the center. This allows for people to be able to walk around the space and partake from the different venders.
The space is large, but I think Taste of Nashville overshot the space size, because to get through the event you had below & bump into people. The bathrooms at Rocketown are located under a catwalk that extends along a part of the building. The bathrooms were large enough to accommodate people in the large group without have to wait in line. I say that about the men’s restroom, I think the woman had to form a line.
Overall I had no issues with Rocketown, other than I’d like them to have a little more parking. The space is pretty bare, allowing you to decorate how you’d like. At Taste of Nashville they had colorful paper lanterns hanging around. The event space is great if you’re looking for a place with a stage. I have to say that I like City Winery & The Bell Tower better as an event space, Bell Tower being the front runner. Both are also in the same area as Rocketown.

I went to Rocketown for a rock/​metal concert, which was placed in the white building across the street. Room was spacious enough for the number of people there and everything sounded good. There’s a good bit of parking nearby.

I absolutely can not say enough great things about this place !!! Mary Virginia and the whole staff was amazing … We had our wedding and reception in the main room there in sep and they accommodated us in every single way imaginable and beyond … It really is a very unique and cool venue. We have received sooooooo Manu compliments on our wedding and how fun and different it was. There was plenty of parking and space for all our guest (about 200 – 250 ppl) and no vendor restrictions so that was very helpful … However they have suggestions for almost any vendor you could need and are more then willing to share the info with you … I would recommend them to any and everyone looking for a venue not to mention it supports a great cause … Love rocketown and I the staff … Can’t go wrong here!!!

Rocketown is great!!! The main bldg. & the smaller white bldg across the street, are both great venues. Concerts are why I have been to both locations this far & we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
Thanks Michael W. smith for your vision & opening Rocketown!

I was skeptical when a friend first suggested that I check out Rocketown as an event venue… and boy, was I wrong.
Rocketown is the jam.
With room for up to 1500 of your friends, the main venue space has fantastic built-​in lighting and sound system so that your don’t have to outsource for these additional costs. The attached complimentary parking lot and available surrounding street parking are a luxury to have for a venue space, especially one that is located Downtown!
I love the expansive and industrial space that makes up the main room. It just beckons you to make the space your own whether you’re producing a concert, wedding, conference, fundraiser, or really, the sky is the limit. I planned a community outreach fundraiser for 1000 here and had the best experience! We brought in food sponsors, adult beverage sponsors, and various nonprofit booths into the massive space and it felt and looked fabulous. Did I mention Big Wheel drag races out in the parking lot? Only for Unilocal Helps, folks…
Throw in the fact that there is a generously sized stage, up to date bathrooms, and multiple entrance points and you have a ton of room to spread out your own event concept. You also have the option to rent out the smaller «White Building“which is across the way as it is more suited for events 500 or under. The Skate Park is also available for rental and use too.
A cozy «living room» setup greets when you walk into the front doors and you may be surprised to see a fully operational coffee bar filled with java, snacks, and other refreshments. I should set up my «office» her once a week because it’s a nice environment to get some work done or relax. You’ll see anything from students and creative types to professionals sipping on a latte and working on projects here. They also schedule art exhibits, open mics, and other events within this space from time to time.
And, I can’t say enough about Mary Virginia Settle who is the dedicated Director Of Operations here. From the first time I reached out to inquire about using the event space to the cleanup of our event, this lady is nothing short of fantastic to work with. She’s always looking out for everyone’s best interest and not afraid to roll up her sleeves to help ensure that your goals are met. I wish that I could work with people like her every day!
TIP: As if there isn’t enough wonderful things going on here, the work and community outreach that Rocketown does for the youth in our community is admirable. They have afterschool programs, summer camps, and other events throughout the year that help kids off the streets. Rocketown is a 501c3 nonprofit so you may also make donations or contribute to this wonderful place!

It’s a good venue. I’ve been to both the main room and the little white building across the street. The main room is amazing. I went for a CMT taping of Crossroads so they definitely had a great setup. Many times venues overdue it or even under do it so the sound quality of the bands is very mediocre, but not here. Excellent.

My coworker used Rocketown to host his wedding and reception. Before coming here, I was worrying if this place would have enough parking spaces for 300+ guests, considered its downtown location. The groom convinced us not to worry about parking and he was right. Parking was plenty for 300+ guests (don’t leave any valuables in your car). Rocketown itself, was a large and spacious venue. I went to several weddings before in different venues and this one was probably the largest.
Since the Chinese/​Vietnamese food in Nashville is below to average. My friend hired Happy Valley (chef and servers) from Atlanta to come down to serve the guests. I’ve never thought they would have a kitchen in here, but they did. All of the food came out fresh and steaming hot! The stage was spacious and great for playing live music (He hired singers too). The sound system was awesome. It was like watching a mini live concert. In addition, this place is well-​kept and clean, even the restrooms were so clean (A++++). They had more than 5 rooms so we didn’t have to wait in line. This was the first time I didn’t have to wait in line to use the restroom at a wedding (I went in more than twice. Blame it on the alcohol!).
My only complaint is the place was a bit too dark for a wedding. I’m not a fan of eating in the dark. It was hard to enjoy the food. I couldn’t tell what dish they put on the table until I took a closer look. Also, most of the photos came out very dark (with flash!) like we were at a club. Other than that, I think this is a great place for hosting weddings and receptions. I would recommend Rocketown to friends and family for hosting big events.
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I came here for a concert, I saw Hey Monday and someone else. It was a big open area, there isn’t much to say… it seems fine. Will I go here again? Sure why not. It wasn’t a very closed in space, I liked that

We had our wedding and our reception at Rocketown and it was better than we could have imagined. It’s located off of 4^th Avenue South so it’s closed enough to downtown to be convenient for all of our in town and out of town guests. Additionally, it was very spacious and the parking was more than adequate for our 250+ guests. Another great thing they offered is an open vendor policy so you were not tied to any specific vendors which can be nice when you trying to cut some corners financially. Mary Virginia Settle was our main contact and events coordinator and she was awesome to work with. She was accommodating, hardworking, and extremely friendly. The rest of the staff was also very helpful. The venue is open and has a cool industrial feel. It’s a versatile space then can change to whatever mood you are looking for. Also, it’s got a cool vibe and message with the skater/​biker kids and youth outreach programs. If you’re looking for a unique venue and a great experience then this if your place. I would definitely recommend this venue to friends and family. Overall an A+++

Rocketown is owned by Michael W Smith, a Christian musician, so yes, this place does have a Christian undercurrent, but I don’t think that detracts from this place at all.
I’ve been going to shows here since about…2007? I’ve seen all sorts of shows here and I had a blast at all but one (mostly because of some idiotic rules about video cameras and slightly annoying security people).
Rocketown moved in the past year or two and I just got around to going to a show at the new venue about a month ago to see ‘The Cab’ play. They have two different buildings for two different stages now and the one I went to was ‘the White Building’; it’s the smaller venue and I think it was actually some type of mechanic building because there’s a garage door right beside the stage (which is about a foot and a half off of the ground?).
The sound here is pretty good, but really, what can you expect from a converted garage? The Ryman has the best acoustics around, hah.
As for all the people complaining about the ‘no smoking, no drinking’ thing, I love that Rocketown has those rules. I don’t want to breathe in someone else’s smoke and I don’t want to worry about someone spilling beer on me (I’ve had it happen). It’s annoying that they have the ‘no stage diving, no moshing, no crowd surfing’ rules-​actually, I’m okay with the ‘no crowd surfing’ because I hate being kicked in the head (which has happened to me multiple times).
I haven’t really been going to many shows here in the past few years, mainly because I haven’t had the money to go to any shows, but also because they haven’t had many bands play here that I really want to see. As of January 2012, I didn’t see any bands on their list for the following 3 months that I cared enough to shell out the money to see.
They have a lot of parking (get there early to get their free, well-​lit parking) but about half of it you have to pay for.
I haven’t been inside the main building so I can’t really say anything about that.
Overall, I love this venue and I love the work they do with the teenagers here. It’s cool to see a facility that takes an interest in the kids that attend the shows.
I will admit… there are a lot of ‘hipsters’ coming here as well as girls who think they have to dress up in either floral, plaid, lace, or a combination of those, but I come for the music, not the crowd.
I hope Rocketown continues to stay around and give kids a safe venue to go to.

Sat waiting on a friend there for an hour. Was an ok place, they had pizza and coffee and I tried to just make myself inconspicuous as a 38 year old man can be in a building filled with 10−15-year-olds.
Pizza was surprisingly decent. not great, but it was food. Prices were ok.
Skaters would come by occasionally and I’d be tempted to go into the skate shop and get a replacement set of ABEC-​7s and then I’d remind myself that I was a lot more breakable and content myself with thinking I would just clean mine.
It was kind of an odd hour, a lot spent waiting on someone who got stuck in traffic, listening to a series of curses muttered by a kid watching a movie or something on his laptop, and overhearing a couple of mothers talking about what sounded like the woes of being a Christian in such a godless town which seemed a bit odd since they were naming off churches and people they hated and ranting about judgmental people and how horrible they were.
The space is large, concrete, and not the Rockettown that used to be (guessing that was crushed for the convention center) — parking is significantly better.
They were playing various inspirational songs /​safe rock from bands that I don’t think they researched too closely.
Not my thing, but not a bad place. I’d say about 3.5 as it’s better than ok but I don’t love it.

They are notorious for being hypocrites.
They cancel bands the day of after listening to their music and finding it not holy enough, but whitechapel (a metal band that sings about murder and rape) can shoot their video in there? Hmm…
How truly «Christian» of them. I am in fact a Christian, so this isn’t because I am not «of Christ».
Bands waste their time, energy, and money traveling out there to find out they won’t be allowed to perform that night when, had they known they weren’t going to be accepted at that venue, could have booked elsewhere. And that to me sounds like money grubbing low lives… not donating, loving Jesus freaks. It’s really sad how many bands they do this to.
It’s uneducated blind people running this venue. They should stick to only local Christian bands and praising God to purify how judgmental and hypocritical they are.

Rocketown is a great facility that includes two music venues, a coffee house with café, skate park, and funky clothing shop. Rocketown was built to be an oasis for youth, so they tried to make it as cool as possible for young people to be at Rocketown. There certainly is enough to do there. The skate park is always full, the coffee shop has kids hanging there after school and before and after shows. The little boutique is open during the day too.
They host smaller local and regional bands in the downstairs venue. These shows are booked by Big Time Entertainment. They usually have up to 6 or 7 bands on the bill on any given night, so if you suffer from attention deficit disorder, you will survive the night here, because the stage is constantly changing.
There is definitely an undercurrent of this being a Christian run facility, but only because they don’t serve alcohol, it is a no smoking venue, and they try to run a pretty tight ship by not tolerating unruly behavior. I have never seen any overt proselytizing here or anything like that, but they do seem to favor having Christian artists/​bands on the show bills especially in the downstairs venue.
The large room upstairs has more general bookings for big all ages shows. I went and saw ‘Mindless Self Indulgence’ at Rocketown. The sound was really good, the stage is great. It is a big open dance floor. I would recommend seeing a show here, if a band you like is coming through.

Bless Rocketown’s little heart. Rocketown, though it isn’t exactly a haven for the best traveling rock acts you might hope to see, is a good place for underagers to go have a good time and feel adult. It’s a Christian non-​profit with three stages and a skatepark – just the type of place parents feel comfortable leaving their kids for a couple of hours.
I’ll admit that Rocketown’s music scene is not exactly what I’m into… anymore. Yes, it’s true; back in the day, the 18-​year-​old version of myself used to frequent Rocketown for acts like Brandtson and Further Seems Forever. The sound isn’t bad, and they literally have tens of thousands of square feet of space. There’s even a coffee bar upstairs. They don’t serve alcohol and they encourage wholesomeness (not exactly a quality most rock venues strive for), but they’re good people.
At one point, Rocketown held bible studies and other Christian activities. I’m not sure if they still do, but I get the impression that’s their whole mission. While I’ll admit Rocketown never has any shows that I’m interested in (these days) and their lack of alcohol and avoidance of general seediness make me uncomfortable, it’s a pretty dope little spot for youngsters. That is, if you don’t mind your kids being preached to a little bit.

Rocketown rocks. It’s a giant music room! It’s a topnotch skateboard park! It’s the Empyrean coffee bar/​cyberstation/​meetup spot for teens and other youth. It’s a dance joint for youth and it’s much more. It was started as a wholesome ministry by christian songwriter Michael W. Smith, and continues to grow in its programs and activities. Geeks, goths and every youth in between will feel comfortable here. From the relative quiet of the coffee bar to the blare in the music room, there is a place for any mood.