Chuck Morris (right) appeared during the Marshall Fire Benefit concert alongside host Nick Forster from eTown. (Photo: Gideon Lambert)
More than 20,000 people tuned in for Monday’s virtual benefit concert to support Marshall Fire relief, which has raised more than $700,000 (and counting) for the Community Foundation of Boulder.
“It was a great indication of the music industry’s ability to come together for a great cause,” said Chuck Morris, the director of the Colorado State University Music Business program.
Morris, a longtime music manager and concert promoter, organized the benefit, which drew big-name acts like Dave Matthews, Lyle Lovett, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Brittany Howard from the Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Michael Franti, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and Nathaniel Rateliff.
“All those acts are friends of mine,” Morris said. “God bless ‘em, almost every artist I called said yes, and the ones that said no couldn’t do it because they were on tour.”
The artists recorded performances for the concert in places that ranged from rehearsal spaces to concert venues to their own living rooms.
Morris has organized thousands of concerts in his 48-year career, but the Marshall Fire Benefit was his first-ever virtual show.
“It was a learning experience for me, but it turned out real well,” he said. “It was so easy to get the artists to do it, and see them rally around a great cause.”
More than 14,000 people bought $10 tickets to the virtual show, and many of them chipped in extra donations before and during the performances.
Of the $315,000 in gross ticket sales, $181,040 was donated above the concert ticket.
The final poster listing the acts for the Marshall Fire Benefit Concert, which took place on Feb. 28.
The benefit also received more than $400,000 in corporate sponsorships, including support from CSU and the CSU College of Business.
First responders, victims of the fire and sponsors were given free tickets to the benefit, meaning that close to 25,000 people were likely watching the stream.
The proceeds will help support Boulder County’s recovery from the Marshall Fire, which broke out on Dec. 30 and quickly spread to the communities of Superior, Louisville and Broomfield, destroying more than 1,000 homes, and damaging dozens of other residences and businesses. Two people died in the blaze.
It was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history.
About CSU’s College of Business
The College of Business at Colorado State University is focused on using business to create a better world.
As an AACSB-accredited business school, the College is among the top five percent of business colleges worldwide, providing programs and career support services to more than 2,500 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students. Faculty help students across our top-ranked on-campus and online programs develop the knowledge, skills and values to navigate a rapidly evolving business world and address global challenges with sustainable business solutions. Our students are known for their creativity, work ethic and resilience—resulting in an undergraduate job offer and placement rate of over 90% within 90 days of graduation.
The College’s highly ranked programs include its Online MBA, which has been ranked the No. 1 program in Colorado by U.S. News and World Report for five years running, and the Impact MBA, recognized by Corporate Knights as a Top 20 “Better World MBA” worldwide.
