“Nightmare Scenario” Following Noah Kahan Concert

Hundreds of fans were left stranded at Carter-Finley—with no way for them to get out, or for cars to get in.

Raise your hand if you were stranded at Carter-Finley Stadium following Noah Kahan’s sold-out July 25 concert. Now raise your other hand if it took you over half an hour to get there—whether you were stuck in rideshare traffic or making your way to a parking spot. 

Despite Carter-Finley, Lenovo Center and the State Fairgrounds playing host to plenty of hockey and football games, the annual NC State Fair, and a smattering of other events throughout the year, concert traffic somehow remains a huge headache. While July 23’s Guns N’ Roses show faced similar traffic delays, it was Noah Kahan’s post-concert struggles that received the most backlash, with multiple fans taking to social media to voice their concerns. And as someone who attended the show myself and didn’t get out of the parking lot until almost 1am, I can concur it was indeed a mess.

Getting into the stadium was a cluster in and of itself, with traffic backed up around Trinity Road, Blue Ridge Road, Edwards Mill Road and I-40 hours before the concert even started—never mind police officers on scene directing cars in a disorderly and confusing fashion. 

Charlotte resident Peter Allen Rowe, who came to the concert by Uber, noted the rideshare dropoff situation was confusing from the get-go, with concerns already rising about getting out of the area as soon as he showed up to the venue. As it turns out, his anxiety was right.

With ~60,000 people trying to get out of the stadium at the same time, naturally, chaos ensued. Multiple fans were stuck outside Carter-Finley either piled up in a line of cars to get out or stranded on the side of the road waiting for an absurdly priced Uber or Lyft—only to face several cancellations, poor service and/or dead phone batteries.

“It’s just sad to see people have a legitimately incredible concert night and then you leave that and go straight into an incredibly stressful situation. If you can’t get home or what you’re planning on using doesn’t work, now all the sudden you’re in a tough spot—especially because you don’t have a lot of other options at that venue.” —Peter Allen Rowe

“I was at the concert alone and my husband, who was supposed to pick me up after, couldn’t get to the stadium and I ended up having to walk alone on the side of the highway at around midnight to find him,” says one TikTok user in attendance. “It was scary and infuriating.”

Allegedly, numerous roads were blocked getting into Carter-Finley, with rideshares and designated friends or family pickups circling for hours because there was no way to get near the stadium or pickup/dropoff area. Case in point: Rowe says he encountered an Uber driver who was forced to cancel 10 rides as he had no way to get to them. 

Many fans tried to walk over to nearby sports bar The Local to catch a ride—hoping it would be far enough from the traffic cluster happening around the stadium—only to be left in the same position. “It was absolutely awful… worst experience of my life,” said another attendee. “I will never go to another event at Carter-Finley ever again.”

Rowe adds that the whole situation felt disconnected, and he never saw any posted road closure maps for anyone to be able to navigate where to go. Essentially, fans were thrown to the wolves—either resorting to waiting at the designated pickup area across the street or walking miles and miles away in the hopes of maybe being able to find a ride that could get to them.

Despite the cluster, NC State Acting Director of News and Media Relations Lauren Barker tells RM the university worked closely with numerous partner agencies for several months leading up to the concerts to develop “comprehensive operational and traffic management plans.” “Following the Noah Kahan concert, the high volume of concertgoers using rideshare services simultaneously caused delays to some patrons leaving the venue,” she says. 

Still stranded by 2am (read: three hours after the show ended), some fans resorted to snagging rides from random strangers—which proved to be a safety concern of its own.

“It definitely creates opportunities for people who are looking to take advantage of someone that’s desperate,” emphasizes Rowe, who was lucky enough to find a ride—after getting far enough away from the stadium—from an Uber driver that began asking people if they needed a car. “It creates a really dangerous situation on so many levels, and opens people up to a lot of risk.”

While many attendees who experienced the struggles have voiced they refuse to go to a Carter-Finley concert ever again, Rowe argues that instead of accepting it as a bad situation, the entire scenario needs to be improved. Following the concert, he took it upon himself to email the NC State Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NC State, who responded saying a group is already looking at broader traffic implications for large events across Lenovo Center, Carter-Finley and the Fairgrounds. Barker also stated the weekend operations will be thoroughly reviewed as part of a post-event assessment process to identify opportunities for improvement at future events.

“If there’s anyone who seems like they have the expertise to think of a system that works, it should be NC State,” maintains Rowe. “If NC State can’t figure out a better system, we have other problems.”

If Noah Kahan, Guns N’ Roses, and Chris Brown’s shows are any indication, Carter-Finley’s transportation plans are struggling to keep pace with the major touring acts the venue continues to attract. For Raleigh to keep landing those shows, getting fans out safely and efficiently has to become part of the experience.