Local non-profits Band Together and United Way of the Greater Triangle are joining forces to stage two benefit concerts in Raleigh this October that will raise money for housing accessibility programs in the Triangle.
Dubbed “The Mighty Giveback,” the concerts will be held October 2 and 28 at Red Hat Amphitheater with six-time Grammy-nominated band Black Pumas headlining the first show.
“With increases in housing costs making homes unaffordable for individuals and families experiencing poverty, the Mighty Giveback’s goal is to raise more than $1 million to help ensure that Triangle residents and families have a safe place to live and thrive,” United Way wrote in a press release.
This will be the Black Pumas’ first performance in the Triangle. Though the Austin-based psychedelic soul duo emerged in 2017, their sound evokes artists like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke from the late ’60s and early ’70s, with stirring vocals and bluesy, harmonic guitar riffs set over a warm, textured backdrop of drums, strings, and electric piano.
In a word, their music is unconstrained. It’s ideal for driving with the windows down (their 2019 track “Colors” was my most-played song on Spotify last year because I listened to it every single time I got in the car), but concert venue-wise, I can’t think of a better setting to hear it than sitting on a picnic blanket in Red Hat’s wide green lawn.
The headliner of the October 28 performance will be announced next week. Proceeds from the concerts will go to ten Triangle non-profits, including Families Together, Housing for a New Hope, Community Empowerment Fund, and the Durham, Wake, and Orange County branches of Habitat for Humanity.
Tickets for the Black Pumas show go on sale today at 11 a.m.
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