North Carolina State will host two major concerts at Carter-Finley Stadium with the hopes of generating additional revenue for the school's athletics department.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Guns N’ Roses will play the football stadium Thursday, July 23, while popular singer-songwriter Noah Kahan has sold out his show Saturday, July 25.
“They’re money makers for us,” NC State athletics director Boo Corrigan told WRAL. “I think it’s a great thing we can do for Raleigh to be able to do that. The students that are here, it’s part of the overall college experience, if we can provide that as well.”
According to WRAL, last year's sold out Chris Brown concert marked the first major music show at Cater-Finley Stadium since Beyonce in 2016 and The Rolling Stones in 2015. U2 played the stadium in 2009. Other musical greats such as Pink Floyd, The Who, Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, George Strait and Jimmy Buffett have played at the stadium since 1988.
Last year's concert led to massive traffic problems around the stadium, but Corrigan said the school has worked with the city to work on the kinks.
“We worked with the police department to make sure that we’re as prepared as we can be, to make sure that it’s a big event for the city and for NC State and for the residents,” Corrigan said.
NC State made $500,000 off last year’s concert, and Corrigan said the school is interested in holding more events at Carter-Finley Stadium, which has a capacity of 56,919 for football games. Most of those seats are available for musical performances.
