Space Prom - Nashville
‘Open your third eye, take your peace and pass it on’. On February 1st, 2025, the Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee held the seventh annual Space Prom, hosted by Nashville's Nordista Freeze. Going into this show as a new set of eyes, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I can safely say that it has been a long time since I had seen an audience so united by music. The entire night felt like one big house party, in the best way possible of course.
The first iteration of the event was hosted by Freeze at the Chinese restaurant Lucky Bamboo in 2018. With this being the seventh Space Prom, 777 were the numbers we were playing for the night! The entire event was casino themed, because “we all get to be winners tonight”. The event was filled with diverse musicians in style and personality, and with all of the crowd involvement and interaction, the show created a lively and united community. Space Prom’s entire philosophy is a mentality of “no label, no management, just friends making music together”, and the event creates a very open and vulnerable place for all different kinds of artists to share their voices and gain representation within the Nashville music scene.
This was the first show I had attended at the Brooklyn Bowl, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the standpoint of organization. The group I attended the event with had fast passes for the event, and we were pleased when we were immediately let inside the venue, and lined up for entrance to the pit. It was a chilly, breezy forty-five degree evening, and needless to say, we were glad we didn't have to wait hours in the chill of the evening. The entrance into the pit was simple, quick and easy, and we swiftly found our spots on the barricade.
The show opened with a profound and intriguing monologue from one of Freeze's close friends Sam Hearn. We were told to open our third eye, and in that room that night, take our peace, and pass it on. Not knowing what to expect from the first Space Prom I attended, I was happy to see the entire crowd playing into everything, and giving the performers and the show itself everything they had.
Around 8pm, Freeze and the Space Prom band took to the stage in a variety of eclectic and iconic outfits. Showing off not only their incredible musical talent, but also an array of dresses, gloves, bodysuits, and much more, the crew for this show definitely knew how to bring their all to the stage! Nordista Freeze opened the show himself with a lively rendition of Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. The crowd was singing, dancing and jamming, and at that moment it felt just like a fun dance party with friends!
The first artist outside of the Space Prom band to take the stage was Annie DiRusso, who performed the ever iconic and entertaining Love Shack by The B-52’s along with support from some lovely backup singers!
The set brought together a collective of over 30 songs, including 3 diverse karaoke performances from the winners of the Space Prom karaoke competitions held prior to the event. With tunes ranging from R&B, rap, pop, hard rock and so much more, there was truly something for everyone! The set also sifted through multiple decades of music, playing some iconic classics such as Love Shack, Welcome to the Jungle, Material Girl, and Somebody’s Watching Me. With an audience of all ages, and all different walks of life, Space Prom is definitely an event that I would recommend if you are looking to discover smaller artists while listening to some of your favorite jams!
The entire show flowed beautifully, and each artist was really able to make the stage their own, with the support of the Space Prom band and Nordista Freezes high-energy dance moves of course! Going to see a show for the first time, especially with so many devoted fans and a band composed of lifelong friends, can be intimidating, it was refreshing to be at the hands of such a welcoming audience and event! The message at the beginning of the show was that we were all there tonight to celebrate our individuality, and our peace, and the entirety of the crew for this show carried that through wholly.
In keeping with the “prom” theme, the event also hosted a formal election for Space Prom King and Queen, where select audience members were able to choose whether they wanted to run for “king” or “queen”, and “fate would decide” who won based on cards given to said audience members at random. Which brings me to another outstanding aspect of this event, the audience participation and interaction. Myself and my friends were right at the barricade for the entirety of the show, and this (unknowingly) meant loads of interactions with the artists and photographers! The band threw many things into the audience as souvenirs of the show, including signs with lyrics from Its the End of the World As We Know It (REM), and even two ponytails cut from one of the band members' hair mid-show! Several of the artists ended up coming down into the pit to dance, crowd surf or just hang out! Another highlight was during Gamblin Man by Eddie Money, several inflatable dice and balloons were tossed into the audience, which added a fun element to the rest of the show!
However, I cannot lie, what originally drew me to this show was the fact that Danny Wagner and Dave Welsch would be performing! As a long-time GVF fan, I was excited to see one of their members on a side quest with Dave Welsch, lead singer of The Thing With Feathers, another Nashville based group. The pair took the stage to perform an impressive cover of Welcome to the Jungle by the iconic rock group Guns n’ Roses. Wagner shredded on guitar whilst Welsch sang, and the pair brought such a lively energy to the audience! While this performance was originally what drew me to make the drive from Michigan to Nashville, I was certainly not disappointed with the rest of the show. I had no idea quite what to expect, but I can confidently say I will be making the drive again next year to get dressed up for Space Prom!
The beautiful comradery formed at this show was truly something to behold, and after just one visit, I can guarantee that my friends and I will absolutely be making Space Prom a yearly tradition! It can be difficult to find a crowd at a show with this many artists that appreciates every artist one after the other. However, this crowd was fun-loving and made the entire show an enjoyable experience. The crowd danced with each other, passed around bracelets, and supported every artist with just as much enthusiasm as the last! Getting to experience the show as if you are one of the artists on stage definitely made this crowd feel like a little community.
The show lasted for 3 and a half hours, which is certainly worth the fifty dollars we paid for our tickets, and the show concluded with a dramatic and majestic performance of The Winner Takes it All by Abba from Sunshine Scott of the Space Prom band. The show (after going slightly over time due to a few technical difficulties) ran until about 11:30, followed by an after party held at Garage Sale East in East Nashville, where you were able to dance, grab drinks, and chat with the artists that performed at the show!
For any artist that is looking for connections within the Nashville music scene, or someone that is looking to make friends and life-long memories, Nordista Freezes Space Prom is definitely the place for you! As I said, I have yet to see a show with a crowd quite like this one, so appreciative of talented artists and musicians! My friends and I will definitely be returning to Nashville for the next Space Prom, and we can't wait to see where the future of this project goes!