Dave Matthews, Avett Brothers, Nathaniel Rateliff to lead virtual Marshall fire benefit concert

Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday announced that Dave Matthews, The Avett Brothers, OneRepublic leader Ryan Tedder and Denver’s Nathaniel Rateliff will join dozens of other headlining artists in a virtual benefit for Marshall fire victims.

The 7 p.m. concert on Feb. 28 will be streamed online and cost $10 to access. The show will be available for unlimited streaming for ticketholders for up to a month, Polis said. Tickets and more information will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at marshallfirebenefit.veeps.com.

The noon press conference, which featured a masked Rateliff behind Polis, also included remarks from Chuck Morris, former chairman of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, and Tatiana Hernandez, CEO of Community Foundation Boulder.

Artists scheduled to contribute an intimate song or two, practice session or other performance are Matthews (solo); Lyle Lovett; Steve Miller; The Avett Brothers; Amos Lee; Old Crow Medicine Show; Michael Franti (solo); Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes, solo); The Motet (a Colorado band); Ryan Tedder (of Colorado’s OneRepublic); Trey Anastasio (Phish); Big Head Todd and the Monsters (Colorado); The California Honeydrops; Lake Street Dive; Leftover Salmon (Colorado); and Wynona Judd, with her husband, Cactus Moser.

More performers will be announced in the coming weeks, Morris said, and the show will be hosted by Nick Forester, host of the nationally syndicated Boulder show e-town and member of the influential Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize.

The state is “thrilled” to partner with Denver-based promoter AEG Presents and Community Foundation to help victims of the fire, Polis said. Driven by high winds, the Marshall fire burned through more than 1,000 structures on Dec. 30 in Louisville and Superior, leaving roughly as many families homeless in a matter of hours.

Polis and Hernandez said survivors are still navigating a maze of insurance, federal and foundation assistance, and other rebuilding hurdles, but that assistance is still available at disasterassitance.gov and boco.org/marshallfire.

Morris isn’t sure how much the concert will raise, with estimates anywhere between $5,000 and $100,000. But the high estimate seems more likely, given the success of similar fundraising efforts for victims of the devastating fire.

The ongoing, music-related efforts to support the victims of the largest wildfire in Colorado history include instrument drives at CU Boulder’s Macky Auditorium, concerts and online fundraisers, among others. Polis said the musicians donating their time to this concert should also be thanked, given the last two years of uncertainty and loss for artists.

“It really shows their deep commitment to Colorado and the victims of the Marshall fire,” Polis said.

Estimates for the fire damage are at more than half a billion dollars, Hernandez said, and rebuilding will take years. That’s why Morris called in so many favors to artists playing the benefit, he said. Most of them jumped at the chance to volunteer for it.

Rateliff, whose platinum-charting Denver band The Night Sweats released its third album late last year, said a lot of the homes destroyed were from middle-class families that are under-insured. Wildfire season will only continue to worsen, which is why his nonprofit Marigold Project will also contribute to efforts to combat climate change and water scarcity, he said.

“Hopefully we can do an old-fashioned barn-raising for this community in Boulder,” he said.

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