UNC students were “tear-eyed” at the John Rich concert: “Couldn’t believe we actually did it”
EXCLUSIVE: CHAPEL HILL, NC — Country singer John Rich called his Labor Day concert in Chapel Hill, which he hosted to honor UNC students who defended the American flag on campus during spring semester unrest, a “huge success.”
Rich of Big & Rich hosted the concert in the college town, called “Flagstock,” as a thank you to a group of patriotic students who prevented the flag from falling to the ground on April 30 when anti-Israel agitators twice tried to take it down and replace it with a Palestinian flag in the Chapel Hill courtyard.
“The event was a huge success! So far we have over 700,000 views and people across America are commenting on social media about how much they enjoyed Flagstock,” Rich said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, referring to a live stream of the event online. “The artists all brought their best and it was a show fit for a stadium!”
Rich hosted the concert, which evolved into a music festival of sorts, in honor of a group of students and fraternity members who prevented the American flag from falling to the ground when anti-Israel agitators tried to replace it with the Palestinian flag during spring semester unrest.
UNC “FLAGSTOCK” EMERGES “USA!” CHANTS AS JOHN RICH AND LEE GREENWOOD TELL STUDENTS “IT’S OK TO BE PATRIOTIC”
John Rich performs at Flagstock 2024 in Chapel Hill, NC (Image credit: Fox News Digital)
After the show, “Rich met many of the students and they were blown away by the whole thing,” he said. “They couldn’t believe we actually pulled off this event and did it to such a high standard. Some students even had tears in their eyes when they talked to us. The whole thing was very positive, powerful and moving in many ways.”
Several Chapel Hill students who spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday reflected on the spontaneous expression of patriotism from their classmates on April 30 that inspired them to Flagstock.
“It was definitely a little crazy. We had stuff thrown at us. Rocks were flying over our heads… balloons full of chicken broth were thrown at us and other stuff was just flying around us,” Jason Calderon, a member of UNC’s Zeta Beta Tau chapter who held the flag that day in April, told Fox News Digital. “People were yelling at us. It was definitely a chaotic moment.”
The moment was captured by a student photographer and went viral on social media, making national headlines. A man named John Noonan, who is not affiliated with Chapel Hill, started a GoFundMe campaign for the students who held the flag, with the goal of buying them “a couple of kegs” for their patriotic expression — and to get a few laughs from his friends — he told reporters Monday. The fundraiser ended up raising more than $500,000 in donations.
Calderon said he initially didn’t know what to make of the huge fundraiser.
UNC students attend the Flagstock concert in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 2, 2024. The concert was in honor of the fraternity members who prevented the American flag from falling to the ground on campus during anti-Israel protests in May. (Image credit: Fox News Digital)
“At first, it didn’t feel monumental, like we were doing something. … Originally, we were there to support Israel, but then it became a big American, patriotic event. We were just afraid at first that it would be taken out of the context of what it was originally there for and used for some kind of agenda,” the sophomore said. “And that was the main thing we wanted to avoid.”
Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the office of the rector of UNC-Chapel Hill and smear the building with red paint
UNC Chapel Hill students hold up the American flag during a campus protest on April 30, 2024. Anti-Israel agitators replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag during the demonstration. (Parker Ali/The Daily Tar Heel)
Then Rich offered to help by hosting a concert in the student’s honor. Initially, the “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” singer planned to put on a small show in front of a fraternity house, but plans changed when they raised half a million dollars, according to his manager Marc Oswald.
Two Republican college students from Chapel Hill, Matthew Trott and Preston Hill, expressed excitement about the concert that the local American Legion Post 6 hosted Monday to honor the students who flew the flag. Many American Legion and VFW members sacrificed their day off to attend the event, which drew hundreds of students.
UNC STUDENT WHO DEFENDED AMERICAN FLAG AGAINST CAMPUS MOB ‘FEELS HONORED TO GIVE BACK TO THE NATION’
Trott said when he saw the image of his classmates and friends holding the flag, he was “shocked” and “a little proud that they were willing to do that.” The junior, who leads Chapel Hill’s College Republicans Club, added that he feels other views are generally respected in Chapel Hill and that he has only encountered opposition a few times on campus “even though he’s there every week.”
Hill, who wore a “Make America Great Again” cap at Flagstock, also said, “It was crazy and a disgrace to see the American flag taken down and replaced with the flag of another nation.”
“I am very proud to be a Tar Heel.”
“I“I’m really glad we had people … who were there to rebuild it that day. I’m very proud to be a Tar Heel.”
John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 2, 2024. The concert was a tribute to the fraternity brothers who prevented the American flag from falling to the ground on campus during anti-Israel protests in May. (Image credit: Fox News Digital)
However, not all Chapel Hill students felt the same about the viral moment, and not all students were looking forward to Flagstock. Organizers said they distributed about 3,000 tickets to members of the 10 fraternities whose members helped fly the flag in April. Only a few hundred ultimately attended the Labor Day event.
Matthew Broderick, a senior majoring in journalism, told Fox News Digital that “the mood on campus was very divided” in the run-up to Flagstock.
UNC FROTHERS DEFEND REINTRODUCTION OF AMERICAN FLAG FROM CAMPUS MOB THAT REPLACED IT WITH PALESTINIAN FLAG
Students cheer from the crowd as John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, NC on September 2, 2024. (Johnny Cain)
“There are a lot of people who are very supportive of this. They love this. And then there are a lot of people who think this is a really bad idea,” Broderick said. “I mean, I think some fraternities and sororities have told people, ‘Hey, don’t come here. We don’t think this looks good.’ And then some have said, ‘Hey, please go here. This looks really good. It’s good for our fraternity.’ … But I don’t think there’s a consensus on that.”
Noonan, the Chapel Hill students’ GoFundMe founder, explained how some of the funds raised helped organize the show while giving reporters a tour of the venue on Monday. The stage itself, by Technical Arts Group (TAG) Live, cost $100,000, though TAG also donated a lot of material support for the event.
John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, NC on September 2, 2024. (Image credit: Fox News Digital)
“We haven’t seen kids do what these kids did in a long time,” Jarrod Choury, TAG Live’s director of operations, told Fox News Digital, adding that the behavior of students on campus “spoke” for TAG Live to attend the concert.
The security budget for the event was about $80,000, including plainclothes security personnel, 20 Orange County Sheriff’s Office employees, and fire and rescue personnel. Pints for Patriots chartered more than a dozen 50-passenger buses to transport students to and from campus, according to Noonan.
UNC Chapel Hill board votes to cut DEI programs and use funds for campus police after anti-Israel protests
John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Labor Day. (Johnny Cain)
Dan Cragg, an attorney for Pints for Patriots, offered $15,000 to $20,000 in pro bono legal services for the event.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“What these kids did was honorable and patriotic,” Cragg told Fox News Digital. “And we want to support that. … And of course we want to create an incentive system where there is a bonus for that kind of commitment – defending the flag. There is a reward for that.”
While the show started small and somewhat quiet, as the evening progressed a large crowd of Chapel Hill students found their way to the stage and joined in with the patriotic messages the singers delivered during their performances. The show Included services of Big & Rich, Lee Greenwood, Aaron Lewis and John Ondrasik, also known as Five for Fighting. Roman Rene Ramirez of Sublime also made a surprise appearance.
