A memorable night of music raised more than $24.5 million for Huricane Helene relief in western North Carolina on Saturday night as more than 82,000 fans packed Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium for the Concert for Carolina benefit show.
North Carolina natives and country music stars Luke Combs and Eric Church delivered not only six hours of music – with plenty of help – but added to the coffers of relief efforts in western North Carolina. Church and Combs said that Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper picked up the tab for concert expenses – including parking and taxes – so that all the money raised could go to relief efforts. Explore Asheville helped coordinate the show and some of the organizations benefitting include Samaritan’s Purse, Manna Foodbank, Second Harvest Food Bank NWNC, Eblen Charities and Chief Cares, started by Church in 2013.
Most of the performers for the Saturday night show, which stretched into Sunday morning after a 90-minute weather delay, had strong North Carolina ties – James Taylor, The Avett Brothers, Scotty McCreery, Chase Rice, and Parmalee – although others like Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings and Baily Zimmerman joined in.
Urban’s Oscar-winning wife, Nicole Kidman, came on stage to wish her husband a happy 57th birthday. Country music icon Randy Travis of Marshville, who no longer performs since a 2013 near-fatal stroke, also made a guest appearance.
Crow double dipped Saturday night, also performing in the nearby Gaston County town of Belmont at the CaroMont Regional Medical Center-Belmont, a 66-bed hospital expected to open in January.
Combs introduced eastern North Carolina singer-songwriter Wesko to a new audience, saying he called the Duplin County resident after hearing his song “Helene” on social media. Wesko gave co-songwriting credit to JD Williamson, and then strummed his guitar before tens of thousands. The crowd fell silent as Wesko sang stark lyrics, such as “There’s violence down on Market Street, but we didn’t know violence until we met Helene.” A version of the performance on YouTube generated this response, “Saw this last night. Tears in every single person’s eyes. It was absolutely beautiful,” from @tracyreed1857.
Combs, born in Charlotte and raised in Asheville, and Church, a native of Caldwell County, both talked before the show about their ties to western North Carolina. Both also attended Appalachian State University at different times.
The scariest part of the storm for them, they said, was being unable to reach loved ones for days due to communications being down. The images they saw via images on news accounts and social media shocked them into action, they said.
“It was stunning to me to see this area that I grew up in, that I knew, that I no longer recognized,” says Church.
Combs first thought of the concert, saying his first call was to his friend, Church, while he had his manager call David Tepper’s organization. Tepper signed on immediately, says Combs.
“I can’t wait to stop out on that stage tonight and do what I do best,” Combs said before the show. He repeated that sentiment several times while performing.
Both men said they hoped to raise money, but also provide a moment of entertainment for the people of western North Carolina. A hundred tickets were given to Buncombe County first responders. People from that area could live-stream the show for free. Asheville’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium was showing the performance for 3,200 people, they said.
Gov. Roy Cooper has put the damages in western North Carolina at $53 billion – or three times the $17 billion in damages caused in eastern North Carolina by Hurricane Florence in 2018. He says the homes of more than 100,000 residents are damaged, not including businesses. He says the storm has also brought out people helping the neighbors and help from people far away who love North Carolina’s mountains.
“Through all the devastation you see the determination and the character of the people of western North Carolina,” Cooper said Saturday.
“We have a mission to make sure it gets built back,” he added.
Church talked about how the people of western North Carolina are the first to help their neighbors, but now they are the ones who need help.
“The strength of the people there and the character of the people there are like nowhere else in the world,” says Church. “That’s the place that made me, that’s the place that made the music that made me.”