The Rolling Stones just wrapped up their Hackney Diamonds tour of the United States, and after some of the biggest stadiums in the country, they ended up in Ridgedale, Missouri.
Ridgedale, Missouri?
When the ultra-high-tech Sphere opened in Las Vegas, it was a paradigm-shifting concert hall that quickly became a special must-visit destination for music fans, and I wrote about it here on Forbes. com.
Well, there’s an even newer concert venue, also worth a special trip, to the beautiful center of the Missouri Ozarks. The Thunder Ridge Nature Arena overlooks the 43,000-acre Table Rock Lake, and I was lucky enough to see the Stones there last time. month and I was impressed. But again, the wow effect is the whole Thunder Ridge concept. It is also a status quo nonprofit whose profits go toward investment conservation, which is a drastic departure from the recent record profits the live concert industry has made. have been in the news (and it’s not always positive).
Thunder Ridge is located at Big Cedar Resort, the dream of Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, the nation’s largest hunting, fishing, boating and outdoor gear store (along with the Cabela’s owned store logo). Bass Pro). Thanks to his meticulous attention to detail, quality, and exceptional visual and immersive design, Morris has been dubbed “the Walt Disney of retail” and “the Walt Disney of the outdoors. ” His retail establishments serve as entertainment destinations as well as places to shop for groceries. , and there are several states, adding Missouri (sorry, Gateway Arch), where a Bass Pro store is the biggest tourist attraction. Big Cedar has won countless awards, adding the annual Number One Resort name in the Midwest through Travel Leisure magazine, Number One Family Golf Resorts in North America through Golf Magazine, and its five golf courses (six starting this fall) have the 3 highest-ranked utilities in the state.
I view Morris’s iconic technique more as an early edition of virtual truth without the virtual: it is all real, nature, hand made construction, and unbridled vision to create surprising settings, and he took the same technique with Thunder Ridge.
“All I was looking for was to create the most productive scenery in the world, something that would last for generations,” said Jeff Wilhoit, Big Cedar’s marketing director, with the utmost seriousness. To that end, Morris has personally visited the shining examples. of outdoor events and venues across the country, including Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, Washington’s The Gorge Amphitheater and Wyoming’s Cheyenne Frontier Days. He kept what he thought was the most productive of the type, an amazing external decoration, but added much more complex and effective infrastructure.
The level itself is decades of musical history, but the audio and video generation is state-of-the-art.
He built the facility so that there were no other buildings or parts of his roughly 5,000-acre complex on the site, hence the so-called “Nature Arena. ” He even performed a magic trick and hid the approximately 6,500 parking spaces in wooded areas. spaces just outside the stadium, arranged in such a way that they cannot be seen from the inside, but access from the car park to the venue is easy, either via walking paths or via the open-air trams provided. The level is set up so that viewers can see around and through it directly to Table Rock Lake below, and the sun also sets directly for a dramatic evening, each and every night.
There’s a rural fair vibe augmented in the frontline experience, with food trucks, exhibits, activities, and produce booths in front of the main front for early arrivals. There is an impressive carriage gate in front, so visitors will be shocked through the image of the sand itself and the natural surroundings after passing through. All structures are built of luxurious, oversized stone and wood, incorporating relocated historic barns from across North America, and their architecture is stunning.
Permanent structures are low-rise buildings, with two curved wings on either side (but not attached) of the main arched door, expanding the sense of open air. These are located in the most sensitive part of the concert hall and come with the Deluxe Suites, as well as some giant stone terraces with luxury outdoor dressing rooms and VIP seating. At one end is a 12-story wood, stone, and glass tower, and at the other, a giant “party barn” with ample interior spaces. and outdoor viewing areas. From there, it descends to the center of the arena, a huge terrace with gently sloping lawns that slopes down almost to the level, an amphitheater of herbs that takes advantage of its elevation to give everyone wonderful views, no matter how close they are. This is a park-like general entrance area, designed to resemble a lawn party, and attendees can bring picnic blankets or stand as they wish.
Between the back of the rink and the level is a phalanx of folding chairs set up for the show, seats numbered and assigned to the level, and a soon-to-be-very-desirable open state domain just in front of the level. But given the setup, almost one or both seats in the room feel like they’re right in front of the level, and even with all the VIP rooms full, there’s a maximum of about 20,000 spectators for a very intimate atmosphere. It’s small enough to feel special but big enough to attract the biggest names in the world of entertainment, the best combination. Morris’s focus on very high quality construction, food and environment has been designed in particular for what the world’s biggest artists need to bring out here.
The music and video screens are new and state-of-the-art, rivaling the quality of the country’s most productive primary stadiums, but with enthusiasts much closer to the level. It’s just a place to see live music. it does have a history, as Morris is a big fan of history and provenance. He operates a museum in the Big Cedar city hotel that features pieces from his private collection, adding one of only two American “funeral flags” that covered Lincoln’s coffin (the other is in the Smithsonian), a lock of George Washington’s hair, and Geronimo’s rifle. At the iconic Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Missouri, he presents Ernest Hemingway’s sportfishing boat and George W’s “Bass Force One. “”, the fishing boat presidencial. Bush. Il is therefore quite general that bought a level full of musical history.
The other aspect of the Premium includes the giant Party Barn and other suites and locker rooms. Array. . [+] General admission lawn seating is terraced on the hill.
Formerly located in Irvine Meadows, a popular outdoor amphitheater in Southern California that hosted live performances for 35 years until it closed for Smart last year, the historic level has hosted all of music’s biggest gatherings, from Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Prince to the top. Rock bands like Aerosmith, AC DC, Eagles, Pearl Jam and just about every one of the big calls in country music. Morris bought the historical level and brought it here, where it can be set up for large-sized acts and even got rid of it. of sporting events. In addition to a roster of music stars, the abbreviated 2024 season at Thunder Ridge included an air show, headlined by the U. S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor demonstration team. U. S.
The big differentiator in the design is the food, beverages and bathrooms, all of which have been carved into the hillside and installed beneath the VIP spaces and behind the grass seating. Morris is very aesthetic and does not have the dated look of portable toilets. So inside the hill there are two hundred permanent and strangely high-end toilets, enough that there is rarely a line, even at sold-out shows. “Market”-style food courts on either side, also on the hill, serve upscale stadium fare, adding bison hot dogs, sausages, and hamburgers made from bison that are naturally raised at Dogwood Natural Keep, a nonprofit organization. profit from the 10,000 acres he protected. Canyon. They’ve installed over 50 AI-powered tables, so you pick up your food and drinks, drop them off, and automatically check it out and bill it to your phone, like Amazon retail outlets in airports and faster than what I have noticed in a public environment. and pass and settle.
The deluxe spaces feature premium food service with access to various carving stations and concession stands, plus an outdoor fried fish smoker and a separate hog station, as well as picnic tables and fire pits scattered throughout the spaces. open with grass. There are many more bars. than you need, so there is one nearby and there is never a queue. The Thunder Ridge edition of what would be ballpark seats each includes a YETI cooler, hidden in a traditional wooden chest, that you can pre-stock to your specifications.
Inside one of the suites at the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena, used primarily for corporate functions.
The 3-story tower houses the 3 impressive suites, each fully glazed and on two levels with a personal elevator. Between this and the giant ‘party barn’ are a variety of indoor suites (with open facades) and VIP areas, with bars and food everywhere. These are mainly for corporate entertaining and they are fantastic. But whether you’re on the lawn, in a suite, or in a chair in front of the stage, you’ll get the setting overlooking Table Rock Lake with a diverse, unobstructed view of the Boston Mountains in Arkansas.
There used to be a smaller outdoor stadium, with no buildings, and country music stars, plus Garth Brooks, Hank Williams Jr. , Chris Janson, Dierks Bentley and Tracy Lawrence, played here. There was even a Professional Bull Riders (PBR). team event. But the new Thunder Ridge is designed as a world-class destination and kicks off this year with big names like the Rolling Stones, Luke Bryan, Imagine Drapassns, Pitbull and Chris Stapleton. Thunder Ridge will be closing its doors for the winter. and will move on in a big way in 2025, with around 70 exhibits expected. Beyond music, the multi-purpose stadium can host horse shows, Monster Truck races, rodeos, air shows, hot air balloon displays and much more.
“Thunder Ridge is every artist’s dream gig,” said Garth Brooks, the best-selling country musician in history and the only recording artist of any genre to have nine platinum albums. “Give me a position on the planet where you can be ‘away from everything’ and ‘where it is’ at the same time?” There may be places on Earth that are just as beautiful, but there is nothing more beautiful.
The Big Cedar Lodge’s live music venues would arguably be even harder to come by than the coveted tickets, as the luxury hotel only has about three hundred units, though they do feature luxurious four-bedroom homes, lakeside cottages, and hotel rooms. This is where the Rolling Stones have stayed and tend to sell out for much of the summer, even without a stadium. But it’s worth making plans well in advance because it’s definitely the first choice. In addition to the hotel’s many amenities and the very good golf and fishing courses, those who remain in the assets can take loose transports and are connected to the sand via an internal road, significantly reducing traffic and making it easier to access. But if you can’t stay here, Ridgedale is only 10 miles from Branson. , a popular tourist spot with numerous accommodations and about an hour from the Springfield airport, served by United, Delta, American, and other airlines.
The land that Thunder Ridge sits on has been set aside as part of the non-profit Johnny Morris Conservation Foundation, so all proceeds from events and food here will go towards expanding the venue and conservation support. conserves land and wildlife, and also operates the 10,000-acre Dogwood Canyon Nature Park just minutes away, as well as the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, a five-time winner of Best Aquarium in USA Today. In particular, Thunder Ridge aims to reinvest in conservation projects in the Ozarks region.
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