What does having Lamar and Lovin’ Life here at the same time mean for Charlotte?

It sure feels like something of a music equinox, next Saturday night’s impending convergence in uptown of Kendrick Lamar’s Charlotte tour stop and the Lovin’ Life Music Fest.

Or, like something of a live-music-heavyweight showdown.

In one corner — the western corner of Center City, over at Bank of America Stadium, where the NFL’s Carolina Panthers play — we have in Lamar, a 37-year-old rapper who is currently one of the most celebrated musical artists on the planet.

In the other — the eastern corner, in and around First Ward Park — we have pop singer Lola Young, rapper Pitbull and rock band Weezer lined up for Night 2 of Lovin’ Life, a remarkably high-profile second-year event that after its debut was named by USA Today readers as one of the best new festivals in America for 2024.

Kendrick Lamar is a big deal right now

And in virtually every respect, Lamar is a way, WAY bigger deal than the music fest — at least, in the grand scheme of things, from a national perspective.

Consider, for instance, that:

• Lovin’ Life’s organizers expect to host about 20,000 concertgoers on each of the event’s three days next weekend.

• Meanwhile, just 10 blocks away, upwards of 50,000 plan to gather in BofA stadium for a few hours on Saturday night to behold Lamar’s “Grand National Tour,” which recently launched a run of 23 dates that will wind through 18 cities in the U.S. and one in Canada. By the most conservative estimates, he will have sold 1 million tickets on this tour before it’s over.

Also consider this: Lamar is riding a type of career high few musical artists get to experience.

• Last year, he had more songs go to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart than any other performer — four, including “Like That” (with Future and Metro Boomin’), “Squabble Up” and “Not Like Us.”

• The latter hit, which sounded like a party song but was basically a savage diss track aimed at rival rapper Drake, proved a devastating knockout blow in the pair’s long-running beef.

• On Feb. 2, that savage diss track (and its heavily quoted line that referred to Drake and his crew as “certified pedophiles”) was rewarded with five Grammy Awards, making him the ceremony’s biggest winner.

• Nine nights later, his on-field performance at Super Bowl LIX attracted a halftime-show record of 133.5 million viewers, more than tuned in for the actual game itself.

Lovin’ Life brings entertainment identity

Yet despite all of this, it could be reasonably argued that Lamar’s concert at the stadium isn’t as big a story (for lack of a better term) as Lovin’ Life, in terms of each event’s individual significance to Charlotte — that Lovin’ Life has a more unique, a more distinctive and (potentially) a more long-lasting pop-cultural resonance.

In other words:

• While we’re lucky to have gotten Lamar, his Charlotte show is one of almost two dozen on this tour.

• While Lamar is an immensely popular cultural phenomenon, he’s not going to grant me an interview, and therefore I don’t have any special insight or perspective or his success that hasn’t already been provided a hundred times by media with better access.

• While hardcore and casual Kendrick Lamar fans alike may be grappling with whether or not to buy tickets, it’s most likely because of their individual budgets; they aren’t looking for anything special from me to help them decide.

• While Lamar is a massive superstar, he’s still just a visitor, one who will come and go after a very brief visit.

Lovin’ Life Music Fest, on the other hand, is hoping to set up shop here every year for the foreseeable future. Hoping. Unlike Lamar, who in many ways comes with a guarantee, Lovin’ Life is a gamble. It’s still a start-up. It’s a hugely ambitious, one-of-a-kind event that is bringing some very appealing artists to Charlotte — but it’s a start-up.

In other words:

• Yes, the talent associated is national talent — Gwen Stefani, Weezer, Dave Matthews Band, Teddy Swims, Pitbull, Benson Boone — but the music is being staged on a site that has none of the proven long-term reliability and consistency of a Bank of America Stadium, or a PNC Music Pavilion or a Spectrum Center.

• The festival had a great inaugural outing — but it has been facing just as much skepticism and just as much criticism in its sophomore year.

• It has the potential to be part of Charlotte’s entertainment identity in a way that no one national act (not even Kendrick Lamar, not even Beyoncé, not even Taylor Swift) will ever be on their own — but it is also a huge gamble during a challenging time for the music-festival business.

Anyway, I just think these are all points worthy of note, in light of the fact that they’re going head-to-head in Charlotte on a Saturday night.

The most important thing of all to note, though, is what having Lovin’ Life and Kendrick Lamar in uptown at the same time — along with a Charlotte Knights homestand that includes games Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, by the way — means for Charlotte.

And, well, frankly, I think it doesn’t mean quite the same as it used to.

Uptown Charlotte crowds

The combined size of the crowds expected for the two events — roughly 70,000 — isn’t going to come near any sort of uptown record, probably.

Last fall, on Oct. 26, 82,193 fans squeezed into Bank of America Stadium for the Hurricane Helene-relief-focused Concert for Carolina, while 19,102 watched a Charlotte Hornets lose to the Miami Heat over at Spectrum Center. On July 14, 2023, country-music star Luke Combs held court at BofA while the rock band Blink-182 was blasting through its reunion-tour set over at Spectrum, with the two concerts combining to draw close to 70,000 that night.

Oh, and on March 5, 2022, just shy of 19,000 NBA fans were leaving the Charlotte Hornets’ game that started at 4 p.m. at Spectrum at the same time an MLS-record 74,479 people were assembling at BofA for Charlotte FC’s inaugural home game against the LA Galaxy.

Charlotte has spent years — decades now, in fact — trying to get the chip off of its shoulder. It’s spent years trying to prove that it’s a big-deal city with big-deal sports and entertainment options.

But I don’t think we have anything to prove anymore.

I think we can just sit back and enjoy.

Uniquely Charlotte: Uniquely Charlotte is an Observer subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Charlotte region.

This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Théoden Janes

The Charlotte Observer

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Théoden Janes has spent nearly 20 years covering entertainment and pop culture for the Observer. He also thrives on telling emotive long-form stories about extraordinary Charlotteans and — as a veteran of three dozen marathons and two Ironman triathlons — occasionally writes about endurance and other sports. Support my work with a digital subscription