John Rich concert leaves UNC students 'teary-eyed': 'We can't believe we actually went through with it'

John Rich's Labor Day concert in Chapel Hill, which honored UNC students who defended the American flag on campus during the spring semester unrest, was a huge success.

The concert "Flagstock" was hosted by Rich, of Big & Rich, in the college town as a thank-you to patriotic students who prevented the flag from falling on April 30 when anti-Israel protesters tried to replace it with a Palestinian flag on Chapel Hill's quad.

""Flagstock was a massive success, with over 700k views and countless people praising it on social media. The artists delivered an outstanding performance, making it a stadium-worthy event," Rich stated to Planet Chronicle Digital on Tuesday, discussing the live-stream of the event online."

The concert, which eventually became a music festival, was held in honor of the students and fraternity members who prevented the American flag from being replaced with the Palestinian flag by anti-Israel protesters during the spring semester.

Rich was blown away by the students' reactions after the show. They couldn't believe we followed through on the event and executed it so well. Some students were even teary-eyed as they spoke with us. The whole thing was very positive, powerful, and moving in many ways.

On Monday, several Chapel Hill students who spoke to Planet Chronicle Digital shared their thoughts on the spontaneous show of patriotism by their classmates on April 30, which led to the creation of Flagstock.

"The UNC Zeta Beta Tau chapter member, Jason Calderon, recounted the chaotic moment during the April event when they were getting stuff thrown at them, including rocks, balloons full of chicken broth, and other objects. "It was definitely a crazy moment," he said, "with people screaming at us.""

A man named John Noonan, not affiliated with Chapel Hill, started a GoFundMe for the students who held up a flag, with the goal of buying them "a few kegs" and getting a few laughs from his friends. The fundraiser raised over $500,000 in donations.

At first, Calderon was unsure about the large-scale fundraiser.

"The sophomore stated that initially, the event didn't feel monumental and they were fearful of it being taken out of context and used to fit an agenda. The biggest thing they were trying to avoid was this."

Rich initially planned to host a small concert in front of a fraternity house, but after raising half a million dollars, he decided to put on a larger show in honor of the student.

On Monday, two college Republicans at Chapel Hill, Matthew Trott and Preston Hill, were thrilled about the concert hosted by the local American Legion Post 6 in their honor. The event, which took place at Chapel Hill, drew hundreds of students and saw many American Legion and VFW members volunteering their day off to attend.

When Trott first saw the image of his classmates and friends holding up the flag, he felt both "shock" and "pride that they were willing to do that." As the head of Chapel Hill's College Republicans club, Trott stated that he feels Chapel Hill is generally respectful of differing perspectives. However, he has only encountered resistance on campus a few times, despite being out there every week.

At Flagstock, Hill, wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, stated that it was disgraceful to see the American flag replaced with another nation's flag.

"I am very proud to be a Tar Heel." — Preston Hill

"I'm proud to be a Tar Heel because of the people who helped put it back up that day."

While not all Chapel Hill students shared the same perspective on the viral moment, not all students were excited about Flagstock. Despite distributing approximately 3,000 tickets to the 10 fraternities that assisted in holding up the flag in April, only a small number of attendees showed up for the Labor Day event.

In the lead-up to Flagstock, the "vibes on campus have been very split," as stated by Matthew Broderick, a senior and a journalism major, in an interview with Planet Chronicle Digital.

"According to Broderick, there are two groups of people with opposing views on the matter. One group is in favor of the idea and loves it, while the other thinks it's a bad idea. Some fraternities and sororities have been advising people to stay away from it, while others have encouraged them to attend. However, there is no consensus on the matter."

On Monday, Noonan, the GoFundMe creator for the Chapel Hill students, provided reporters with a tour of the venue and explained how some of the funds were used to put the show together, including the $100,000 stage from Technical Arts Group (TAG) Live, which also donated a lot of material support for the event.

TAG Live Operations Director Jarrod Choury told Planet Chronicle Digital that the students' actions on campus "spoke to" TAG Live to be a part of the concert, as they had not seen kids do what these kids did in a long time.

The security budget for the event was around $80,000, which covered plainclothes security, 20 Orange County Sheriff's Office staff, and fire and EMS personnel. Pints for Patriots chartered over a dozen 50-passenger buses to transport students to and from campus, as stated by Noonan.

Pints for Patriots received an offer from attorney Dan Cragg for between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of pro bono general counsel legal work for their event.

Cragg told Planet Chronicle Digital that the kids' actions were honorable and patriotic, and they want to support them. They also want to create an incentive system where defending the flag is rewarded.

The show began with a small crowd and a quiet atmosphere, but as the night progressed, a large crowd of Chapel Hill students gathered on stage to participate in the patriotic messages presented by the singers. The show featured performances from Big & Rich, Lee Greenwood, Aaron Lewis and John Ondrasik, also known as Five for Fighting. Additionally, Roman Rene Ramirez of Sublime made a surprise appearance.