Concert review: A little rain can’t stop 82,000 fans from showing a whole lotta love for NC
Maybe it was supposed to be this way.
Maybe it was engineered to test our resolve, as North Carolinians, yet again. Like, Come on, let’s see what else you’ve got, people. Let’s see what else you’re made of.
Literally within just 30 minutes of the scheduled start of the so-called Concert for Carolina — one of the biggest, longest, loudest, most-star-studded fundraisers to ever take place in Charlotte (if not the biggest, loudest, longest and most-star-studded) — a beautiful sky hanging above Bank of America Stadium turned ugly.
So instead of Scotty McCreery, Chase Rice, and Parmalee walking out on stage at 5:15 p.m. Saturday to kick off six hours of mostly country music with a “songwriters” session, the officials who make such official calls held them back.
Seven minutes later, the first raindrop fell. A minute after that, the announcement boomed over the P.A.:
“Due to inclement weather, we ask you to exit the seating area. We will inform you when it is safe to return.”
Now, in normal times, at normal shows, this kind of thing would elicit a collective whine, from a mass of concertgoers who suddenly are faced with the fact that either performances will be cut short or they’re due for a later-than-planned bedtime. But there were few if any groans, and for the next hour, while 82,193 fans waited to see what was going to happen next, they waited ... well, quite patiently.
In the concourses and hallways throughout the venue, lots stared at phones, of course. Some waited in lines to buy jumbo-sized Michelob Ultras and Topo Chico hard seltzers, or buckets of popcorn, or boxes of Bojangles’.
But most also bumped fists, slapped backs, hugged, laughed, caught up with old friends, made new ones. Largely, they stayed positive.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising. As McCreery would say some 5-1/2 hours later, “That’s what North Carolinians do.”
Especially now. Especially given what what we all know large swaths of Western North Carolina went through a month ago — what they’re still going through, as a result of Hurricane Helene, the whole darn reason we were all there in the first place. A little bit of rain? A little bit of thunder? A little bit of lightning? Really? Pshhhh.
Mother Nature, we’ve seen what else you’ve got. This? It’s nothin’.
And after a delay of precisely one hour, a cheer went up as the pathways into the seated sections of BofA Stadium reopened for business. Or maybe I should say: for pleasure.
‘We got a full concert still coming’
It takes a while, understandably, to get a crowd the size of the population of Gastonia settled.
A light rain continued falling for 10 or 15 minutes. People pulled on ponchos. There was most likely a napkin shortage, too, as fans used fistfuls of them to wipe down seats.
It was almost 7 p.m. when ESPN’s Marty Smith and Barstool Sports’ Caleb Pressley climbed onto the massive in-the-round stage on the 50-yard line to welcome everyone as the event’s hosts. Smith, who throughout the night would handle the majority of the pair’s banter, immediately reassured the masses.
“Sorry about the delay,” he said, “but ... we got a full concert still coming.”
Not only that, but the full concert would begin with what felt a lot like an end. And what I mean by that is this:
The run-of-show listed McCreery, Rice and Parmalee up first. Smith, however, promptly introduced headliner Eric Church, who ascended the steps to the stage in gray jeans, a black jacket, his trademark Ray-Bans, and a red electric guitar with which he started strumming the gentle opening strains of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
All by himself. The house lights went down. The cellphone lights went up.
Late in the singing of it, a helicopter cut a low path through the night sky directly over the stadium so that it felt almost like a Super Bowl flyover.
Upon finishing his lovingly arranged cover, the 47-year-old Granite Falls native and part-time Banner Elk resident smiled as he said, “I’ve never played a show that’s closer to my heart.”
On a night we assumed would be full of big moments, this felt like it would be one of the biggest.
Yet there were so many more to come.
‘Doing the work of angels’
Church’s song turned out to be just a tease for his full set.
After “Hallelujah,” he made way for bluegrass star Billy Strings, who might not boast the deep N.C. ties or the nationwide household-name status of some of the other players on the bill — but who certainly boasts some serious chops on the guitar.
For 40 minutes, the picking phenom and his four supporting players (banjoist Billy Failing, bassist Royal Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, and Alex Hargreaves on the fiddle) put on a fast-fingered clinic, an exercise in frenetically paced roots-music, a celebration of his songs that came off more like a jam session than a setlist.
“We’re honored,” Strings said during one of just a couple of very brief breaks to directly address the crowd, “to be at least a part of the, you know, bluegrass kinda portion of this shindig here. And North Carolina’s always been real special to me, because it’s the home place of Doc Watson.”
“That’s how I learned how to pick,” the 32-year-old Michigan native added, “— listening to Doc Watson’s music.”
He definitely received a hearty and well-deserved ovation after closing with a cover of the old traditional “Dusty Miller.” But the stadium was about to get much louder.
At about 10 minutes before 8, the lights re-dimmed and even in a place the size of half a dozen city blocks it wasn’t hard to tell that some of the show’s heaviest hitters were making their way to the stage. In fact, if you were close enough to make them out, you could tell it was Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, and Keith Urban — along with Urban’s famous wife Nicole Kidman; and if you were really, really close, you may have been lucky enough to get a high-five, or a fist bump, or a photo.
Church then appeared in 20-foot-tall form on the video boards to announce in a pre-recorded segment an initiative called “A Blueprint for the Blue Ridge,” which he said would include “immediately building homes for 100 families in Avery County and the surrounding areas.”
Then Church returned in the flesh, again with only his guitar. No band. Just him.
It’s difficult to convey just how special the next hour was for fans of country music, particularly for fans of Church (well, and of Crow, and of Urban, and of Kidman).
There was the moment during Church’s home-state anthem, “Carolina,” when the remote-activated “Chief Cares” wristbands that fans received upon entry were triggered — filling the stands with Carolina-blue-colored specks of light, as he crooned, “Oohh, CA-ro-LI-na, yakeep callin’ me hoooooome.”
There was the moment Church admitted, “I’ve never done this song in my life — I’ve heard it done a lot — but screw it,” then welcomed a radiant Crow on stage and joined her in a magical duet of “Picture.”
There was Crow not too long after, alone, dressed in a white blazer over a black top and blue jeans, tapping a foot drum with one of her metallic-silver high-heeled boots, as she sang her hit “Everyday is a Winding Road.” (“We’re in it with you,” she said when her too-brief appearance was over. “Anybody that gives money to a good cause is doing the work of angels.”)
There was Urban furiously slapping his guitar and his mic like they were drums in the middle of his “Wasted Time”; his “surprise” introduction of Kidman, who announced, “It’s his birthday tonight” — he turned 57 Saturday — “and he wanted to be here with you”; his duet with Church on their 2013 collab “Raise ’Em Up”; Church, a little later, after having hugged Urban goodbye and goodnight, picking at something from his lips for a second and then quipping, “Man. I got hair in my mouth. I think it’s Keith’s.”
Should I keep going? OK, well, how about that medley Church ripped through after Urban said goodnight?
“Against the Wind”? “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”? “Pour Some Sugar on Me”? “My Girl”? “Sweet Caroline”? “Piano Man”? If he’d gone on and on like that all night, plenty of the people who were there probably would have let him.
And speaking of going on and on, I could. But I probably need to save some room here for James Taylor and Luke Combs.
‘It turned out to be a beautiful night’
Oh, and the money kept pouring in.
Before Taylor came on, Marty Smith read a statement from Dolly Parton that revealed she was directing $1 million toward the night’s efforts on behalf of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who two years ago awarded the Queen of Country $100 million to support charities of her choice.
“I know money won’t solve all the pain and suffering these floods have caused,” she wrote, “but maybe it will help some of our people with recovery. It’ll take all of us working together, but we can do it. Love, Dolly.”
And before Taylor came on, Chase Rice and the band Parmalee (N.C. natives, all) put on a brief showcase. It was punctuated by a poignant story by Rice about his old high school football coach, who lost a staggering 11 family members in a landslide caused by Helene, and by a crowd-pleasing performance of Parmalee’s home-state anthem “Carolina.”
I promise, we’re getting to James Taylor.
But first — or next, rather — there was a surprise appearance by country-music legend Randy Travis, a Marshville native. Aphasia resulting from a stroke took much of his ability to speak more than a decade ago now, but he received a thunderous ovation as his wife Mary Davis said, “Tonight we just ask that you spend a little time saying a prayer for those people that lost so much in the storms. ... We thank you so much for being here. Thank you for loving Randy Travis all of these years.”
Taylor arrived, finally, at 10:08 p.m. We didn’t know it at the time, but the show was only just a little over halfway over at that point.
He was — as he tends to always be, even now, at 76 — wonderful.
Dressed in a blue blazer over a Carolina-blue polo, brown pants, and a flat-brimmed fedora that he removed to tip a few times to the crowd, Taylor deftly maneuvered his way through some of his greatest hits in a manner that was somehow both understated and epic at the same time. “Fire and Rain.” “You’ve Got a Friend.” And, of course, “Carolina in My Mind.”
“It turned out to be a beautiful night,” he said, softly, after finishing a wondrous rendition of his “Country Road.” “I’m honored to be here among all these people that are coming together out of compassion and concern for our neighbors.”
Taylor closed with “You Can Close Your Eyes” before tipping his hat one last time and disappearing into that beautiful night.
‘We hope we can add to this healing’
Scotty McCreery got a brief moment in the sun — the moon? — as fans waited for Luke Combs’ headlining set.
The 31-year-old Garner native, who won “American Idol” back when “American Idol” was still a very big deal, admitted: “I’ve done a lot of cool stuff, but this is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.” Then, since everyone else seemed to be doing it, he presented his own ode to his home state, “Carolina to Me.”
In fact, pretty much the only N.C. native on the bill who doesn’t have a heavily Carolina-themed song is Combs. But when he finally climbed up onto the stage just before 11:30 p.m., to the sound of thousands shouting “Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke,” he had plenty of other crowd favorites to crank out.
With his No. 77 football jersey from Asheville’s A.C. Reynolds High School draped over the drum kit and a North Carolina state flag affixed to the back of the upright piano, Combs ran through a selection of his hits in workman-like fashion.
He doesn’t have quite the gravitas or the laid-backness of his friend Eric Church, but Combs can growl through both uptempo country-rockers like “Beer Never Broke My Heart” and lilting ballads like “Beautiful Crazy” with equal aplomb.
And not for nothing, but I should remind you right now that this whole thing was his idea.
“This show came together 28 days ago,” Combs told the crowd as midnight approached. “I called my manager and said ... ‘I don’t know how we’re gonna do it ... but we’re gonna do it.’ My manager’s first call was to the Carolina Panthers, my first call was to Eric Church. The Teppers and the Panthers have been so incredible — they donated this venue tonight for free.” Among other things, he said the team also donated the parking, the workers, the tax bill, so that “every single dollar that is made ... it’s goin’ straight up those damn mountains, to the people that need it the most.”
His own special guests would include Bailey Zimmerman, who did two quick songs in a No. 24 Panthers jersey; a singer-songwriter from Eastern North Carolina named Wesko (previously unannounced) who co-penned an Internet hit in the wake of the hurricane (title: “Helene); and The Avett Brothers of Concord, with Scott and Seth clad in flannel.
The Avetts, by the way, canceled a show in the Midwest so they could participate. Said Scott: “We love you, North Carolina. You’re our home. You’re our people, this night is for you, and we sing our songs to you and we hope we can add to this healing.”
Combs then returned for a few more of his hits, including his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”
It was now no longer Saturday. It was Sunday. The clock moved past 12:30 a.m.
He closed with “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” by which point there was a steady stream of bleary-eyed fans heading for their cars.
But at least 40,000 people — maybe even 50 — didn’t want to leave. And neither did Combs or Church.
The pair teamed up (for the first time since doing it in the studio, Combs said) on their 2019 duet “Does to Me.” And as 12:59 turned to 1, Church reprised his earlier performance of “Carolina,” complete with the reactivation of the light-up wristbands. This time, though, Combs joined him. Also, this time, instead of “Oohh, CA-ro-LI-na, yakeep callin’ me hoooooome,” he crooned, “Thank you for calling us hoooooome / thank you for calling us hoooooome...”
It was a beautiful way to end a night full of emotive performances for a good cause, and those who remained till the end walked away knowing exactly how much was raised: $24,513,185, every dollar of which is goin’ straight up those damn mountains.
To the people that need it the most.
Concert for Carolina setlist
Eric Church
1. “Hallelujah”
Billy Strings
2. “Red Daisy”
3. “Seven Weeks in County”
4. “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town”
5. “Black Mountain Rag”
6. “Heartbeat of America”
7. “Must Be Seven”
8. “Pyramid Country”
9. “The Fire on My Tongue”
10. “Dusty Miller”
Eric Church
11. “Carolina”
12. “Drink in My Hand”
13. “Picture” (with Sheryl Crow)
Sheryl Crow
14. “If It Makes You Happy”
15. “Everyday Is a Winding Road”
Eric Church
16. “Talladega”
17. “Smoke a Little Smoke”
Keith Urban
18. “Blue Ain’t Your Color”
19. “Wasted Time”
Eric Church
20. “Happy Birthday to You”
21. “Raise ‘Em Up” (With Keith Urban)
22. “Mistress Named Music”
23. “Smoky Mountain Rain”
24. “Against the Wind”
25. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
26. “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
27. “My Girl”
28. “And It Stoned Me”
29. “Theme From ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (Good Ol’ Boys)“
30. “Neon Moon”
31. “Sweet Caroline”
32. “Piano Man”
33. “Mistress Named Music” (Reprise)
34. “Record Year”
35. “Springsteen”
36. “Darkest Hour”
Chase Rice
37. “Haw River”
Parmalee
38. “Just the Way”
Chase Rice
39. “Carolina Can”
Parmalee
40. “Carolina”
James Taylor
41. “Country Road”
42. “Something in the Way She Moves”
43. “Copperline”
44. “Fire and Rain”
45. “You’ve Got a Friend”
46. “Carolina in My Mind”
47. “You Can Close Your Eyes”
Scotty McCreery
48. “Carolina to Me”
49. “Five More Minutes”
Luke Combs
50. “This One’s for You”
51. “Better Together”
52. “The Kind of Love We Make”
53. “Lovin’ on You”
54. “Cold as You”
55. “Must’ve Never Met You” (with Bailey Zimmerman)
Bailey Zimmerman
56. “Rock and a Hard Place”
57. “Must’ve Never Met You”
Luke Combs
58. “Used to You”
Wesko
59. “Helene”
Luke Combs
60. “Beautiful Crazy”
The Avett Brothers
61. “As Good as I Once Was”
62. “We Are Loved”
Luke Combs
63. “Where the Wild Things Are”
64. “Fast Car”
65. “When It Rains It Pours”
66. “Beer Never Broke My Heart”
67. “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma”
Encore
68. “Does to Me” (Luke Combs and Eric Church)
69. “Carolina” (Eric Church and Luke Combs)
This story was originally published October 27, 2024 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Concert review: A little rain can’t stop 82,000 fans from showing a whole lotta love for NC."
