Credit: Danny ClinchYou can add Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company to the list of music artists standing against North Carolina’s HB2 law. The band has announced that although it will be playing a scheduled June 10 concert in Charlotte, it will be donating $100,000 to two local organizations supportive of the LGBT community — the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina.
In a statement, Dead & Company explain that when Governor Pat McCrory signed the bill into law in March, “we categorically objected to it [and] had hoped that by now this abhorrent law would have been repealed. Sadly, it has not.”
The band adds, “After much thought, consideration and conversation, we feel the most effective way to move forward is to perform as scheduled in Charlotte…and to donate $100,000 to organizations engaged in this battle for justice.”
Dead & Company also report that a “Participation Row” social action area will be set up at the venue, PNC Music Pavilion, that will feature local organizations that support the fight against discrimination and national groups that encourage voter registration and environmental conservation efforts. In addition, the band says its working to develop a website that will help the HeadCount organization make it easier for people to register to vote online.
In its message, the group maintains, “Dead shows have always been a safe place for all of our audience to come together through music no matter how they appear or self-identify.”
The June 10 show marks the start of Dead & Company’s U.S. summer tour, which runs through a July 30 concert in Mountain View, California.
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