Behind the Scenes of Luke Combs and Eric Church's Carolina Benefit Concert Came So Fast

As North Carolina natives Luke Combs and Eric Church organized the Concert for Carolina benefit held Oct. 26 in Charlotte, the only question anyone asked was “How can I help?”

“All the egos went out the door,” he said Chris Cappydirector of Combs. “Everybody was working together, AEG and Live Nation, all the managers, all the teams. It never became territorial.

The six-hour concert, which also featured James Taylor, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings, Scotty McCreery, the Avett Bros., Chase Rice, Parmalee and Wesko, raised $24.5 million (and counting) for hurricane victims in western North Carolina. Helen.

While many benefits take several weeks, if not months, to plan, the Concert for Carolina took place less than a month after the worst natural disaster ever to hit North Carolina's mountain towns, including Asheville and Boone, left nearly 100 dead.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said at a press conference on October 26 that more than 100,000 people in the state had damaged their homes and thousands of businesses had been affected. Estimated economic damage from the storm in North Carolina is $53 billion.

The day after Hurricane Helene hit on September 27, Combs called Church to arrange a benefit, and they immediately began calling their artist friends. “I remember sitting at home in Nashville and wanting to figure out how I can be useful, how I can help the place that raised me,” Combs said. “There was no doubt that this was going to happen come hell or high water.”

The next step was for Cappy to call David and Nicole Tepper, who own the Carolina Panthers, FC Charlotte and Bank of America Stadium, where the NFL and soccer teams play in Charlotte, to see if they could use the stadium . “The yes was so quick,” Cappy said. “David and Nicole said, 'We've got the pitch. We have everything covered.' David and Nicole would have moved heaven and earth to make it happen for us.”

The Teppers had already stepped in for hurricane relief through their partnership with the American Red Cross and had begun donating $6 million to relief efforts for both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida days after passage of Helene. “When [Kappy] he called us, he was like, “Okay, what do we have to do to do it and it's three weeks,” David Tepper said Bulletin board. “It's hard from [Combs’ and Church’s] finally to get the artists, but to that end, we had to make sure we weren't scheduled [a soccer playoff game.]Fortunately, the Panthers were playing away and FC Charlotte could also play away. Also, coincidentally, Morgan Wallen played two shows at the stadium the weekend before the Concert for Carolina, and the production might just hold the stadium down.

Eventually, with Tepper's encouragement, the stadium concession, merchandise and parking lot vendors also donated their proceeds. All other participating companies, including those providing sound, stage, lighting and video, also contributed their resources. Ticketmaster also donated its services and put plans in place to keep tickets off the secondary market. The show quickly sold out, setting a new venue record with more than 82,000 spectators. Veeps donated all proceeds from a $24.95 streaming option. The acts paid all their own expenses and were not paid to perform.

While Combs and Church's teams handled the performance aspects, Tepper handled the logistics. “There's contracts, there's the police, there's who's holding the money and where the money's going and making sure it's flowing the right way,” he said. “Usually there are long negotiations, but everyone was trying to make sure everything was done right. A lot of people put everything aside just to do this.” Tepper had some experience, having helped organize New York's 2012 12-12-12 benefit after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in late October 2012.

Even rivals AEG and Live Nation joined together to co-promote the show. “We really looked at it and said, 'We just need the smartest minds in the room,' and this was an opportunity for everybody,” Cappy said. “You can show everyone that you can put down your swords and you can all put your arms around each other and lift each other up to lift everyone else up.”

The goodwill was contagious. “Everyone wanted to be part of something special and saw what we did. They said, 'We want to be a part of this,'” Cappy said. Cappy and Church's manager, John Pitts, worked in lockstep, on the allowance, staying in constant communication. “It was awesome going back and forth with him on it and for him to be like, 'Whatever Cappy says,' and for me to be like, 'Whatever John says.' Same with our two agents at WME and our production managers who work hand in hand.”

“Everybody in the city, at the stadium, on the artist side … honestly, all their best angels were working together to put it together in three weeks,” Tepper said.

All proceeds from the benefit show, auction and live stream will go to organizations selected by Combs and Church, including Samaritan's Purse, Manna Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC, Eblen Charities and the organizations supported by the Church foundation, Chief Cares. On the show, Chert also stated his intention to build more than 100 homes for those who lost their homes in the hurricane.

The focus now shifts to how to maintain awareness of the area and the ongoing need, as the recovery will take years. “The biggest thing for Luke and I is that we keep shining a light on it,” Church said. “This concert is a great way to do it, but these people are going to need help long after tonight and long after next month and long after six months. So it's about how we can continue to bring it up to let people know what happened there and help people.”