Awesome venue! We didn't have anywhere near the best seats in the house, but we sure felt close to the stage and completely involved in the show. You can see how close it feels in my pictures - we were three rows from the back! Had a great time and will be back. There is plenty of room, in the church pew style seating - I was a bit worried we be packed in like sardines, but it was roomy! We had a bite to eat before the show at Cafe Lula - it was good and nice that its inside the venue.

I've seen a show at almost every live music venue in Nashville and surrounding areas and the Ryman Auditorium Remains the number one place to see live music. I can't stress enough how amazing the experiences to be there, and even the artist (mostly) are even humbled to be there. The history and the old church pews and the stained glass windows make you feel like you step back in time. The best shows are usually the acoustic ones or when the solo artist comes out, but I've seen full band rock the house with everyone standing up all night.

If you are visiting Nashville, taking a tour is a must. My recommendation is take the back stage tour. Totally worth it. Tour guides are informative and friendly. All staff are willing to chat and share their stories about The Ryman. We just said Hi to Keith and it turned into a half hour conversation! Great stories. If you are talking the back stage tour, try and do it on a non event day. You get to walk over the stage and see much more. Awesome. One of the highlights of our trip! So much history

Seat spacing is tight sometimes And spacious on others. If you look at the original cutouts for the seat numbers you can see where the try to add a few extra seats in the row. People are not getting any smaller, including myself. Sound is usually good unless the sound has an instrument or background vocal higher than the lead singer, but that is on the bands sound engineer. Some views down on the main floor may be blocked by poles, so try to check out the view when buying tickets.

Great history here, especially if you like country music (I don't really, but i appreciate the talent and history here). Good stop on our Nashville tour... My kids were mostly bored (no surprise) but we attended the Classic Country show so it was vailried enough to keep them from getting too antsy (two acts plus intermission, 2 hours total). Audience definitely leaned toward the older crowd. Church pew seats are charming but less than comfortable.