On Saturday, October 26, nearly a dozen students and staff traveled to Charlotte to attend the Concert for Carolina, organized by Luke Combs and Eric Church to raise money for western North Carolina in response to the damage from Hurricane Helene.
For many of the concert attendees, like senior Kayden Cornatzer, their personal connections to the damage in western North Carolina were the main reason why they wanted to attend this event.
“My cousin’s apartment in Boone, NC, is completely demolished,” said Cornatzer. “She also lost her car in the hurricane. My aunt and uncle’s house has some damages; they were not able to get out of the area due to roads being destroyed.”
The concert began two hours after its original time of 5:15 due to a rain delay. Eric Church began the concert with his cover of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. Church says, “I’ve never played a show that’s closer to my heart.” Billy Strings soon followed as Church exited the stage.
About ten minutes after Strings’s set, Church came back out, this time accompanied by Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, and one more special guest: Urban’s wife, actress Nicole Kidman. Fans lined the barricades where the celebs walked out and got to talk and take pictures with them, especially Urban and Kidman.
Urban’s set consisted of three songs, including a feature with Eric Church. Before Church got up on stage for their duet, Urban invited Kidman on stage. She revealed the significance of the date: the concert happened to fall on her husband’s 57th birthday. Church followed up on stage, singing “Happy Birthday” to Urban.
Church continues singing hit after hit, including covers of songs he remembered vividly from his childhood, including “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Neon Moon,” and even one of his most well-known songs, “Springsteen.”
Hosts Marty Smith and Caleb Pressley followed by reading a statement from country music icon Dolly Parton that mentioned her donating 1 million dollars to support Western North Carolina on behalf of Jeff Bezos.
Speaking of country music icons, James Taylor followed up Parton’s statement with his own set, a subdued affair that saw Taylor sitting on a stool playing his guitar and singing for the crowd. As Taylor’s set was wrapping up, a special guest made his way to the stage. Randy Travis stood up out of his wheelchair and waved as the crowd went wild. Once the cheering and happy tears subsided, Chase Rice and Parmelee made their way on stage to perform their short and sweet set.
“American Idol” winner Scotty McCreary set the stage singing “5 More Minutes” and “Carolina To Me” before Luke Combs took the stage at 11:30 PM.
As soon as the lights dimmed, the crowd started going crazy yelling for Combs. He made his way to the stage to begin his set with “This One’s for You,” then continued into “Better Together” before getting into some more upbeat tunes such as “The Kind of Love We Make” and “Lovin’ on You.”
Combs played his set with a North Carolina flag draped over the piano and his A.C. Reynolds High School football jersey pinned against his drumset. The display emphasized Combs’s connection to his roots. Throughout his set, he spoke numerous times about his time at Appalachian State University, one of many universities heavily affected by Helene.
Bailey Zimmerman was invited to the stage next to sing his song “Rock In A Hard Place” before dueting “Must’ve Never Met You” with Luke Combs.
“I have always wanted to see Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman in concert but in better circumstances,” says junior Andrea Keller who attended the concert to support the state of North Carolina.
Combs also invited Eastern NC native songwriter Wesko to sing his song revolving around the hurricane titled “Helene.” The song brought tears to the crowd. The Avett Brothers also got on stage to sing a cover of Toby Keith’s “As Good As I Once Was,” arguably the highlight of their two-song set.
Combs returned to the stage at 12:30 am, concluding his set with a performance of “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” Most of the crowd thought the concert would be done, but no: Church and Combs still had an encore in store for the 50,000 fans still in the stadium. This concert marked the debut performance of their 2019 song “Does to Me” and finished off the concert with Church’s hit song “Carolina.”
It was a night full of memories, all for a good cause. “This show came together 28 days ago,” said Combs. “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.”
Every single dollar made from ticket sales, merchandise, and drinks and food went to assist relief efforts in western North Carolina. Between the roughly 82,000 people there and the support from outside donors, a grand total of $24.5 million was donated and sent—in the words of Combs—“straight up to those damn mountains.”