By Megan Hahn & Jake Seaton, NBC-17
Ten minutes. That’s the time it took tickets to sell out for a concert benefiting a two-year-old boy suffering from a tumor on the base of his tailbone.
“Racing the Cure” — scheduled to span three Downtown Raleigh clubs on March 23 — is a benefit concert in honor of Oliver Gant featuring some of North Carolina’s hottest talent, including The Avett Brothers and The Love Language.
Oliver, the son of Jed and Stacy Gant, was diagnosed with a sacrococcygeal teratoma a year ago and is continuing his fight against the cancer. Funds raised through the benefit concert will pay a portion of Oliver’s medical bills, as well as aid several charity organizations, including Caringbridge, that assisted the Gant family throughout Oliver’s illness.
The benefit will feature 15 North Carolina bands, including the Annuals, The Avett Brothers, Birds of Avalon, Filthybird, Gross Ghost, Hammer No More the Fingers, Ivan Rosebud & Jon Yu, Jack the Radio, Lonnie Walker, The Love Language, The Old Ceremony, Patty Hurst Shifter, Schooner, Spider Bags and Whatever Brains.
Hooking Up from Harrisonburg, Va. is also set to perform during the benefit.
Tickets sold out in less than 10 minutes at a cost of $25, already raising $25,000 in initial ticket sales for the Gant family. Organizers say they set an initial goal to raise $30,000 for Oliver’s cause.
Benefit organizer Grayson Currin credits the public’s overwhelming response of support to the inspirational Gant family. Currin has known the Gant’s personally for several years and felt compelled to organize the benefit after Oliver’s diagnosis.
“The Gant family is inspiring with their general spirit in the face of a tragic circumstance,” Currin explained. “They spent weeks on end at UNC Hospitals as Oliver underwent chemotherapy. They also travelled to New York for Oliver’s surgery.”
Oliver’s father, Jed, says he and his wife have known bits and pieces of information about the benefit for several weeks, but he said he wanted to reserve the surprise of the lineup until Wednesday at 10 a.m., when the rest of the world learned of the event.
“Yesterday, I got very excited about the prospect of the announcement but this morning I initially forgot because we got up with Oliver, gave him his morning meds and it was our first day back from the hospital … since Saturday,” Jed recalled.
“I walked into the bedroom, where my wife Stacy was, and I told her the lineup and started reading her Jordan Lawrence’s post. We both teared up at the enormity of the lineup, and I said to Stacy, ‘This will be all over the social networks today, get ready.’”
In 10 minutes the tickets were gone, and Jed says his inbox and phone were “full of messages asking for details about the event and how to get tickets.”
“It’s all overwhelming and amazing,” Jed said. “At the heart of all of this is the concept of caring for friends and helping someone else out while you can spare a hand, a dollar, or a song or two.
“If this whole thing has taught me anything, it’s that I will spend the rest of my life doing very similar things that Grayson — and everyone else who helped on this benefit and the others — has done: lending a hand to a friend in need.”
Not only was the public compelled to action by Oliver’s struggle, but several bands were personally touched by Oliver’s story.
Brian Corum, frontman for Lonnie Walker, explained that keyboardist Justin Flythe also battled cancer. He says Lonnie Walker’s participation in the benefit honors both Oliver and Flythe.
Benefit tickets will be exchanged March 23 for a wristband that allows entrance to each of the three show venues – The Pour House, Kings Barcade and Tir Na Nog. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m.
Organizers say another venue may be added to the line-up to allow for additional ticket sales.
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