The frat boys of Chapel Hill are just days away from the largest frat party of their lives, starring some of America’s country legends, including Lee Greenwood and John Rich.
The highly-anticipated frat party is invite-only and will take place in an undisclosed location next Monday evening. Thousands of attendees connected to UNC-Chapel Hill’s 10 core fraternities have been invited as well as some veterans and law enforcement personnel. Organizers say up to 7,000 tickets will be distributed and they expect roughly 3,000 students to attend the private event.
The concert-party duo comes after Chapel Hill fraternity boys lifted the American flag in April while Palestinian protestors on campus attempted to tear it down. The viral moment garnered national attention and praise from politicians and celebrities alike. A GoFundMe created to give the boys a party generated over $500,000, which is being used for the event. Leftover funds are being donated to charitable causes.
John Rich, who has spearheaded an effort to offer the boys a free concert, explained during a Wednesday press briefing that it could have been a public event, but that would defeat the whole purpose.
“When I reached out to the boys, I said, ‘Hey, when you guys have this party you’re wanting to have, I’ll come play a free show for you – for you – not for everybody, for you guys specifically,’” Rich explained. “And I think that’s what makes this so cool, is that it is dialed into the actual young people that are there at UNC and that love the country and appreciate what they saw happen.”
The line-up of country music stars will feature Five for Fighting, Aaron Lewis, Big & Rich, and Lee Greenwood. The concert aims to celebrate patriotism and counter anti-Semitic protests. A livestream will be featured on Rumble and other streaming platforms for the rest of the country to tune into, which Rich expects millions of people will watch and root on.
Notably, none of the artists are receiving any compensation for the event, and many of the services, such as a production crew for a high-quality livestream, are volunteers in honor of the young men.
“We’re taking Labor Day, and instead of playing a show somewhere else, we’re all coming there,” Rich said. “So everybody’s playing for free, and that’s a big deal. When you’ve got artists that are selling 1000s of tickets saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll take Labor Day off the calendar to come play Flagstock,’ that’s a big deal.”
While the popular lineup could naturally draw in considerably more people, the event is being kept small to truly celebrate the young men and their families.
“The boys rallied around the flag, so we’re going to rally around them,” Rich said during a Zoom press briefing ahead of FlagStock
Organizers are tight-lipped on the event’s location due to concerns about protests from what triggered the original situation – aggressive Palestinian agitators.
During the press call, Jason Calderon, a sophomore in the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, recalled being swarmed into the middle of chaos as the scene intensified at Chapel Hill. The second time the flag was torn town, the young men faced the mob to protect the American flag.
“We were out there at first with Israel flags just kind of showing support for the Jewish community that had gotten so much hate over the prior semester, and then it just kind of spiraled, evolved into chaos,” said Calderon. “We kind of rushed into the middle, and we were holding it up and got rocks thrown in our direction. I had a water balloon full of chicken broth hit me. It just turned into some absolute craziness, until one of the members of a different fraternity and a couple of them took the flag back to their house for safekeeping until we gave it back to PD and it was restored later that afternoon for good.”
While the men were not expecting the high-profile attention their efforts received, Calderon said they are grateful that the positive attention led to people feeling empowered to stand up to the protests in other areas.
The Flagstock website shows an array of sponsors, including Old Glory Bank and Mission Barbeque, which will be donating food for the event.
Since becoming a national sensation, the Chapel Hill frat boys have been applauded by many political figures, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They were also recognized at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
SEE ALSO: UNC-Chapel Hill fraternity brothers recognized at RNC convention