Dave Matthews Band and The Lumineers will play concerts in North Carolina despite concerns about the controversial HB2 legislation.

Both bands will donate proceeds from their shows to organizations fighting to overturn the law.  HB2 strips local governments in the state from passing laws that would grant anti-discrimination protection to people in the LGBT community.  It also removes any power that local and county governments have to adopt living wage ordinances.  Most of the controversy regarding the law has centered on a provision that requires a person to use the public bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate.

Dave Matthews Band is scheduled to play PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte on Friday, May 27.  On Monday morning the band announced that it would be donating a portion of the proceeds from the concert to five charitable organizations: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, ACLU of North Carolina, Equality NC, and Time Out Youth.  The donations will be via the band’s Bama Works Fund.  According to the band’s statement, “These organizations were identified with the assistance of NC Needs You, an organization that encourages artists to keep their dates in North Carolina in order to bring awareness and resources to the fight for equality in response to House Bill 2.”

The Lumineers took it a step further.

The group will play their scheduled show at Cary’s Koka Booth Amiphitheater on September 15.  But, the band announced a list of plans related to the show:

1 – All of the profits from our performance at Koka Booth Amphitheater will be donated to EqualityNC and The HRC.

2 – We will provide gender neutral bathrooms at the Amphitheater.

3 – EqualityNC and The HRC will be on site collecting donations and passing out information on what you can do to hep fight this discriminatory bill.

4 – A specialty T shirt will be on sale – the proceeds of which will go to Equality NC and The HRC.

Along with their statement, the group shared a photo of band members wearing shirts from Equality NC that feature the word “equality” surrounded by a map of North Carolina.

Several music artists have taken HB2-related stands since North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed the bill into law back in March.  Bruce Springsteen made the first notable splash by cancelling his Greensboro concert.  Pearl Jam, Ringo Starr, and Maroon 5 are among the other notable cancellations.  Other bands, like Mumford & Sons, have taken a approach similar to Dave Matthews Band and The Lumineers by donating proceeds from their show to LBGT related charities.

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