Exclusive: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Country singer John Rich called the Labor Day concert he held in Chapel Hill to honor University of North Carolina students who defended the American flag on campus during spring semester unrest “a huge success.”
Rich, of Big & Rich, hosted a concert called “Flagstock” in the college town to thank a group of patriotic students who stopped the flag from falling to the ground in a Chapel Hill courtyard on April 30 after anti-Israel protesters tried twice to take it down and replace it with a Palestinian flag.
“The event was a huge success! To date, it has been viewed over 700,000 times, and people all over America have commented on social media about how much they enjoyed Flagstock,” Rich said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, referring to the event's online livestream. “All of the artists delivered top-notch performances and it was a show worthy of a stadium!”
Rich organized the festival-like concert in honor of a group of students and sorority members who prevented the American flag from being dropped to the ground when anti-Israel protesters tried to replace it with the Palestinian flag during the spring semester unrest.
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John Ricci performs at Flagstock 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Image direct from Fox News Digital)
“I met with many students who were amazed by everything about the event,” Rich said after the show. “They couldn't believe that we actually pulled it off and executed it at such a high level. Some students were in tears while talking to us. This event was very positive, powerful and inspiring in so many ways.”
Several Chapel Hill students who spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday recalled their classmates' spontaneous show of patriotism on April 30 that inspired Flagstock.
“It was kind of crazy, for sure. I mean, we had things thrown at us. Rocks flying over our heads, balloons full of chicken soup being hurled at us, other things flying all around us,” Jason Calderon, a member of the Zeta Beta Tau chapter at the University of North Carolina, which raised 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 shared on social media, garnering national attention. A man with no ties to Chapel Hill, John Noonan, started a GoFundMe for the students who raised the flag, telling reporters on Monday that his goal was to buy the students “a few kegs of beer” for their patriotism and to get a laugh from their friends. The fundraiser ultimately raised more than $500,000.
Calderon said he wasn't sure what to make of the massive fundraiser at first.
UNC students participated in Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on September 2, 2024. The concert was held in honor of the fraternity brothers who prevented an American flag on campus from being dropped to the ground during an anti-Israel protest in May. (Image direct from Fox News Digital)
“At first, I didn't think what we were doing was that monumental. We originally did it to support Israel, but then it turned into this big American patriotic event, and I was worried it would stray from its original purpose and be co-opted for some other purpose,” the sophomore said. “That was the biggest thing we were trying to avoid.”
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Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill raise the American flag during a protest on campus on April 30, 2024. Anti-Israel activists replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag during the demonstration. (Parker Ali/Daily Tar Heel)
Rich then offered to help by hosting a concert in the students' honor. Manager Mark Oswald said the “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” singer originally planned to play a small show in front of the student housing complex, but plans changed after $500,000 was raised.
Two Chapel Hill Republican College students, Matthew Trott and Preston Hill, expressed their excitement at a concert hosted by the local American Legion Chapter 6 in honor of the students who raised the flag on Monday. Many American Legion and Veterans Affairs members volunteered their days off to participate in the event, which drew hundreds of students.
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Trott said that when he first saw photos of his classmates and friends flying the flag, he was “shocked” but also “kind of proud that they were willing to do that.” The junior, who is president of Chapel Hill's College Republicans club, added that he feels Chapel Hill is generally respectful of different points of view, and that he's only encountered resistance on campus a few times “even though I'm on campus every week.”
Hill, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at Flagstock, also said, “The American flag was lowered. [replaced] … Flying the flag of another country.”
“I'm very proud to be a Tar Heel.”
“II'm really glad that we had those guys there that day to bring it back together. I'm so proud to be a part of the Tar Heels.”
John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 2, 2024. The concert was held in honor of the fraternity brothers who prevented an American flag on campus from being dropped to the ground during an anti-Israel protest in May. (Image direct from Fox News Digital)
But not all Chapel Hill students took the same lesson from the story, and not all were looking forward to Flagstock. Organizers said they distributed about 3,000 tickets to members of the 10 sororities who helped raise the flag in April. In the end, only a few hundred people showed up for the Labor Day event.
“The atmosphere on campus is very polarized,” Matthew Broderick, a fourth-year journalism major, told Fox News Digital while heading to Flagstock.
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Students cheer in the audience as John Rich performs at Flagstock on September 2, 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Johnny Cain)
“There's a lot of people who are very supportive of it. They love it. And there's a lot of people who think it's a really bad idea,” Broderick said. “So I think some fraternities and sororities are telling people, 'Hey, don't come here. I think this looks bad.' And other clubs are saying, 'Hey, come here. This looks really good. It's good for our fraternity or sorority.' … But I don't think there's a consensus on this.”
Noonan, who created a GoFundMe for the Chapel Hill students, detailed how some of the funds helped put on the show while giving reporters a tour of the venue on Monday: The Technical Arts Group (TAG) Live stage itself cost $100,000, but TAG also donated many of the supplies for the event.
John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 2, 2024. (Image direct from Fox News Digital)
“We haven't seen kids do this in a long time,” TAG Live's director of operations, Jarrod Chawley, told Fox News Digital, adding that the students' actions on campus “called out” to TAG Live to attend the concert.
The security budget for the event was about $80,000, including plainclothes security guards, 20 Orange County Sheriff's Department officers, firefighters and paramedics. Noonan said Pints for Patriots chartered more than a dozen 50-passenger buses to transport students to and from campus.
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John Rich performs at Flagstock in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Labor Day. (Johnny Cain)
Dan Cragg, an attorney with Pints for Patriots, provided approximately $15,000 to $20,000 worth of pro bono legal services for the event.
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“What those kids did was an honorable and patriotic thing,” Klug told Fox News Digital. “We want to support that and, of course, create incentives for them to give bonuses and rewards if they put their lives on the line to protect our flag in this way.”
The show started small and quiet, but as the night went on, a large crowd of Chapel Hill students gathered on stage to join in on the patriotic messages the singers delivered onstage. Included performance Big & Rich featured Lee Greenwood, Aaron Lewis and John Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting), along with a surprise appearance from Sublime's Roman Rene Ramirez.
