Charlotte FC v LA Galaxy @ Bank Of America Stadium

Charlotte FC - the newest MLS franchise - is having their first home match EVER on my birthday.  Was there ever a chance I wasn't going to go?  Thanks to A and the boys, who got me tickets, and boy was I stoked they did.

We got the Bank of America Stadium early in the hope of getting into some of the festivities, but the party started on the other side of the stadium as supporters groups marched in together.  We got into our seats well before kick off, even after trying to get food and into the merchandise store and the atmosphere was electric.  Charlotte has some shit sports fans.  Once things start to go south, season ticket holders don't bother to show and the atmosphere at some Panthers and Hornets games have been close to funeral-like.  Lets hope FC can keep the fans interested.  Though the thought of sitting in that stadium during the summer, and the high cost of tickets, is what stopped us becoming season ticket holders.

Just before kick off and sad but amazing moment happened.  The poor young lady who was to sing the national anthem had her mike cut out, but 74,000 people picked up the slack and gave a rousing rendition, the likes I've never heard at any sporting arena before.

There was no sitting down during any of the game, and Charlotte had a huge advantage of the home crowd.  I kept forgetting the kids were there and gave the referee and Chicharito plenty of stick when absolutely needed.  Play was even throughout the whole game, but nerves made Charlotte commit more small mistakes.  It was their 2nd game ever after all.  Ultimately the Galaxy's pressure paid off when a minute after Fuchs and Bender had chances in quick succession, the Galaxy moved the ball upfield for Alverez to perfectly drift one over Kahlina's head from a shot outside the box, giving us the only goal of the game.  Rios could have tied it up in ht e last minute of injury time but, alas, his headed from 6 years out went straight to the keeper.

Obviously the result was disappointing, and I'm sad that none of the Charlotte players got to score in front of that crowd, who has to be mentioned.  The stadium was full!  74, 479 people is a MLS record and not one of them was quiet for the whole 90 minutes.  Everyone was on their feet, willing the team on, and the supporters section behind the goal was absolutely rockin'!  Ma, we need to sit in that section for at least one game.

I hope Charlotte can get their first win soon, and that us locals keep interest and support this team, though I am skeptical (but more than happy to be proven wrong).

LA Galaxy 1 - E. Alvarez (77) defeated Charlotte FC 0

Attendance: 74,479

Charlotte FC: K Khalina, G. Corujo, C. Makon, C. Fuchs, J. Lindsay, A. Franco, B.Bronico (S. Ruiz), C. Ortiz (B. Bender), J. Mora (M. Gaines), K. Swiderski (D. Rios), Y. Reyna (C. Hegardt).

LA Galaxy: J. Bond, R. Edwards, N. DePuy, S. Coulibaly (D. Williams), J. Araujo, V. Vasquez (K. Kljestan), M. Delgado, R. Raveloson (E. Alverez), D. De Souza (J. Joveljic), K. Cabral (S. Grandsir), J. Hernandez

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

I had tickets to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at the Grand Ol' Opry in October 2020.  That is until Covid happened.  And while not the same venue, I'll take any chance to see on of Australia's greatest performers.

I drove up to Asheville and decided to stay the night.  So after settling into the Hilton, I wandered through town until I came across The Lobster Trap, where I sat at the bar and ate Steam Bowl Mussels while enjoying a Highland Pilsner.

 

I actually had seen Cave do a show with Warren Ellis and Jim White, when Ellis and White were still the Dirty Three.  But that was 2000 - an awesome show I went to with Dad - so would things be much different.  Um, musically, yes!  In 2000 it was Cave playing Bad Seeds stuff with the others providing just a backing.  Since then Cave and Ellis have spent considerable time writing together, both for soundtracks as well as for the Bad Seeds.  I am in nearly the same seat as when I saw the Bad Seeds here in 2017.  A full band came out and Ellis perched to the side of the stage, seated to play mostly keyboards in his lap, while Cave was front and center.  The set consisted of mostly new Bad Seeds stuff as well as well as 4 tracks from their Cave & Ellis' latest release, Carnage.  None of it was familiar to me, but still great, until they did a cover of T-Rex's Cosmic Dancer.  The set continued in the same fashion - beautiful, unknown-to-me, Bad Seeds songs.  I was surprised that Ellis didn't play more violin.  His performances in The Dirty Three were frantic and mesmerizing.  This performance seemed more subdued than I expected.  2 Encores saw them dip into some old songs Into My Arms (one of my top 40 songs) and Henry Lee were icing on a cake.

Definitely worth the trip up to Asheville (that's 4 of the last 5 shows I've seen up here).  Lets hope we get to see the Bad Seeds again soon as well.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Setlist

The Crap Facts:
This is my 469th concert.
This is my 3rd concert at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
This is my 10th concert in Asheville.
This is my 104th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 272nd concert in the US.
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis are the 545th band I've seen.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis are the 150th different band I've seen.

Las Vegas Golden Knights v Carolina Hurricanes @ PNC Arena

For Christmas we bought the boys tickets to their beloved Golden Knights, playing in Raleigh - it's as close as we can get.  And because it was Christmas, we went all out and bought seats in the 2nd row behind the Golden Knights bench.

Straight after school we left for Raleigh.  We are going to stay the night up here - and they get the next day off school - not a bad deal.  Once we had checked in it was out the door again and we headed to The Goat, a newly opened bar and grill for dinner.

PNC Arena is not much further down the road and when we got to our seats the boys were blown away.  Unfortunately, even covered head to toe in their Vegas gear, the boys couldn't get an acknowledgement from any of the players.  Regardless we settled in.  Screamed KNIGHT during the national anthem, in response to the loud RED! the Hurricane fans shouted.  And enjoyed the closeness of the action.  Actually the seats aren't that great for watching the game, with a lot of obstructions in front of us.  There were quite a lot of Vegas fans there, more than I expected, but the overwhelming support came for the high-flying Hurricanes.  A good match up that the Canes scored first and then kept a good control of the game.  At 3-1 with 10 minutes left the Canes were cruising, but 2 goals within 5 minutes by Howden and Hague sent the game into overtime.  It only took 4 more minutes for the Canes to kill it, and within seconds the Vegas bench cleared and were gone before we could show our appreciation.

This is our first NHL game and we had a blast, especially the Vegas-born boys.  Though I'm still not sure of all the rules (even after half a dozen Checkers games).  We might have to make this a seasonal event and give the Golden Knights some support on the road.  We didn't get the result we wanted but a fun family Knight was had by all.

L&B in the Good Seats - Vegas Golden Knights v Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes 4: N. Niederreiter (25), V. Trocheck (26), S. Aho (49, 64) defeated Las Vegas Golden Knights 3: N. Patrick (39), B. Howden (54), N. Hague (58)

Crowd: 15,228

T Shirt Retirement

A recent cleaning out saw the loss of a few old favorite t-shirts.  Some were so torn, thin, ripped and misshapen, that they could no longer live in the closet.  It's a little frightening how emotional it is to lose these T shirts, but there have been a lot of good memories attached.

I have had this t-shirt since I was 18 (1991).  It came with the Mixed Up CD when I purchased it.  It has travelled Europe & the US with me.  I actually wore it when I saw The Cure in Charlotte in 2016.  Alas it had so many holes it was hard to get in and out of.

I'm pretty sure this shirt came with the 7" single in Australia.  I've had it since 1992 - when everything was about Nirvana - I couldn't get enough.  Another shirt that was definitely value for money, even though I have no idea what I paid for it.  In the end in looked like a crop top on me.  And nobody needs to see that.

I remember taping "rage" back in the day and then playing it during the day, stopping when something came on I liked, but generally going about the weekend.  The moment I heard Fire In The Head, I dropped everything - then played video back over and over to hear the song again, until I could go and get some Tea Party.  I bought this the first time I saw them at The Metro in Sydney on 26 March 1996.  A jaw dropping show, and a band I still love today.  26 years is another good run for a t-shirt.

This one hurt A LOT!  This is a 23 year favorite.  Combining my 2 loves - music and travel.  From Festival Sudoeste in Portugal in August 1998.  It was never planned we go to this show, but after seeing billboards in Faro & Albufeira, we actually got tickets at a record store in Lagos (not to mention finding where Zambujeira do Mar was, and whether we could get a bus there).  The 4 nights of camping and 3 nights of music were amazing.  The Cure (my first show of theirs) were everything I ever dreamed of.  Everyone we saw we were seeing for the first time and they were all amazing, except Sonic Youth, who to this day were the worst show I've ever seen.  I bought this shirt outside the venue (not an official licensed shirt) and wore it out.  It left the house in tatters and off color.  A ton of great memories in that shirt.  (Actually couldn't bring myself to throw it out - so it's now with all the rags.)

The last misshapen shirt is from Me First & The Gimmes Gimmes show from the Manning Bar on 19 January 2008.  Took Regs & The Barneses for a fun night out while I was home.  A 14 year shirt which leaves behind some very happy memories from a riotous gig.

Charlotte Checkers v Syracuse Crunch @ Bojangles Arena

The boys love their hockey, so we try and get to a couple of Checkers games a year.  This one we think we did a good job on.  Not only did we not tell the boys we were going - they only found out that as we pulled into the parking lot, but we also arranged for 2 other families to come along - friends from school.

Not only that but this game is the Teddy Bear Toss game, where after the Checkers score their first goal, the crowd showers the rink with teddy bears, either bought from home or bought as part of a ticket package.  Even though the Checkers went down a goal early, it took less than 3 minutes for them to score, and stuffed bears rained down from the crowd.  From Row U, I didn't have the arm so we sent all the boys closer down to the rink to make their donations.  In all about 4000 stuffed animals were collected to donate to local charities.

Also there was a hockey game.  The Checkers, in spite of their going behind early, played strong and skated away to a 5-2 win, much to the joy of the 8000 strong crowd.

This is a great family night of sport, not just because of the Teddy Bear Toss, but price wise.  So much cheaper than the Panthers, Hornets or the upcoming Charlotte FC.  And the team are good!   I don't think of us as a hockey family, but we'll keep coming back to see the Checkers.

Charlotte Checkers 5 (C. Fleury 2, C. Carrick, C. Schwindt, S. Wilson) defeated Syracuse Crunch 2 (G. Dumont, S. Ryfors).

Crowd: 8,080.

L, G, B, W & Q @ Bojangles Arena

Home Alone & Charlotte Symphony Orchestra @ Belk Theatre

Because where not going to watch every version a million times over the next month, we also head uptown to see Home Alone on the big screen, with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra playing in the accompanying sound track.

We did this a while back with one of the Harry Potters, and it was a great night.  This would prove the same for Home Alone.  We had great seats on the main floor.  This was good for me, as the orchestra played directly under the screen, it the line of sight.  It was as good to see them perform as it was to see the movie.  At Harry Potter we were on the balcony, and I tended to forget the orchestra was playing because your first sights were the big screen.

I'm hoping they'll do this again with another movie next Christmas.  We'll be back for it for sure.

DLM&B, Home Alone at Belk Theatre, Charlotte

Thrice & Touche Amore @ Underground

I was a bit bummed that Self Defense Family started right at 7.30pm as that is what time the sitter arrived, so I missed all but the last 2 songs of their set.  I did catch up with Alan afterwards.  He was a neighbor up until a year ago.  He is now in Chicago and enjoying this tour - to play and travel has been a much needed joy.

It was not long ago that Drew told me about Touche Amore, so I have been listening to Stage Four a lot since I bought it from Lunchbox Records in May.  I am hoping their energy transfers live.  And I am not disappointed.  In this small venue, the power of the band is strong.  Displacement early was familiar and of the 11 songs they got through, 5 were off their latest album, Lament, which I will endeavor to add to my collection.  The audience were into it as well, a good response for an opener and not the usual lack of enthusiasm from a Charlotte crowd.  Rapture and Flowers & You were highlights for me.  I hope they come back through town soon (after I get my hands on Lament), I'd see Touche Amore any time.

Touche Amore setlist

I know nothing about Thrice, but if they are good enough to invite Touche Amore along for a tour, they definitely are worth a listen.  In contrast to the raw energy of Touche Amore, Thrice are a polished outfit.  The sound is perfect and their crowd are into it.  I don't recognize a song, but the masses know what's going on, and they are into it.  Not for me.  Nothing was catching, and I was still in awe of the previous set.  I probably lasted half the set when I decided to save some money on the sitter instead of seeing out the night.

Thrice setlist

The Crap Facts:

This is my 468th concert.
This is my 6th concert at The Underground.
This is my 88th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 103rd concert in North Carolina.
This is my 271st concert in the US.
Touche Amore are the 543rd band I've seen.
Thrice are the 544th band I've seen.

Flogging Molly, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, Thick @ Salvage Station

It's like Charlotte hasn't got the memo yet, that concerts are back on.  So I'm back in Asheville for another show.  This time I have booked a hotel so I don't have to drive home late.

After walking down to over-rated White Duck Taco, I got to Salvage Station in time for Thick to get onto stage.  The New York trio were great, and having the time of their lives on stage.  The humor shows through in the power-pop-punk songs, especially Mansplain and Your Mom.

Thick Setlist

Me First are the reason I came tonight, and I wasn't disappointed.  With CJ Ramone and John Reis (the 4th band I've seen him in) in the band a fun night ensued.  Spike Slawson still has the perfect swagger of a frontman.  His delivery and and between song banter are hilarious.  I love when he introduces the songs as "This next one is a cover...".  Sloop John B's Lobotomy start was a classic.  I enjoyed Straight Up, Me & Julio Down By The School Yard and Rocket Man the best.  But that's from a list of 13 great covers.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes setlist

I saw Flogging Molly open for Bad Religion 18 years ago.  I don't remember much of that show, only that this is the first time I've seen them since.  I don't know why, but the Irish-punk doesn't really do it for me.  (I feel the same about the Dropkick Murphys).  Tonight, though is different, maybe it's because it's a Flogging Molly crowd, and they are dedicated to the cause.  They are huge fans.  They know every word from every song.  And the band and crowd feed on the frenzy of each others' energy. The mass movement of a dancing crowd (not moshing, but dancing together) was so positive, you didn't know which way to look.  The Worst Day Since Yesterday was probably my favorite, and I'm glad I stuck around for the whole set.  I think the music on its own wouldn't bring me back to another Flogging Molly show, but if the support band was someone I wanted to see, I would miss their set.

Flogging Molly setlist

The Crap Facts:
This is my 467th concert.
This is my 2nd concert at Salvage Station.
This is my 9th concert in Asheville.
This is my 102nd concert in North Carolina.
This is my 270th concert in the US.
Thick are the 542nd band I've seen.
This is my 3rd Me First & The Gimme Gimmes concert.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are the 500th time I've seen a band in the USA.

This is my 2nd Flogging Molly concert.

Wilco & Sleater-Kinney @ Salvage Station

Finally.  After 18 months we get live music back.  This coronavirus has been an pain in the arse. Since I last saw New Bomb Turks, also in Asheville, I've seen tickets to Billy Joel, Tool, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Hoodoo Gurus go by the wayside.  Not to mention countless shows I would have seen.  But alas, I'm back in Asheville, at this great outdoor venue, to see Sleater-Kinney (a bucket list band) and Wilco (of which I know nothing about).

Sleater-Kinney opened to a good sized crowd.  People are still wary of each other so no one is near anyone else, but that suits me to a tee.  A different line up than I expected.  Gone is drummer, Janet Weiss, with the band now having an extra guitarist and bass player.  But high energy is the focus, and for the most part it looks like Carrie and Corin would be happy to play just for each other, let alone the crowd in front of them.  Everyone was having a good time, from the first song High In The Grass.  Price Tag was the first song I recognized and from there on it was only songs from The Woods that I knew.  But the set was good enough that I bought The Path of Wellness LP and a shirt.  Jumpers and Modern Girl were highlights until they finished the set with a blistering Entertain.  I got into Sleater- Kinney the wrong way around, only after seeing Carrie Brownstein on Portlandia.  I don't know why they have never been on my radar.  I don't remember them coming to Australia when I lived there, and they've never been in Vegas or Charlotte when I've been around (as far as I know).  I wish I had though.  They are a great band, and superb live.

Sleater-Kinney setlist

I know little about Wilco as well.  But they have a rabid Asheville fanbase.  I have their Star Wars album, which was a free download off iTunes, so Random Song Generator (played 2nd) was the only song I knew all night.  That's not to say I didn't enjoy the rest of the show, because the energy transferred between band and audience was full-on. Wilco have rabid fans, and there wasn't a song the masses didn't know. Because I am in Asheville and I have to drive home, I was only going to stay for a few songs of Wilco and then drive back.  But they kept my interest for the whole set.  Everyone Hides was probably my favorite other song they played.  I bailed before the encore, but could here both songs as I walked back to the car.

Wilco setlist

It's just great to be seeing live music again.  Hopefully things open up more and we can get back to normal.  And tonight's venue is great, even after it was postponed a day because of rain, and the French Broad River nearly overflowing into the venue.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 466th concert.

Salvage Station is the 128th venue I've seen a concert at.
This is my 8th concert in Asheville.
This is my 101st concert in North Carolina.
This is my 269th concert in the US.
Sleater-Kinney are the 540th band I've seen.

Sleater-Kinney are the 1050th time I've seen a band.
Wilco are the 541st band I've seen.

Wilco are the 150th different band I've seen in North Carolina.

Litchfield Beach

We're back at the beach again.  And back in our regular condos.  Last year we had to stay at Bridgewater, as Covid had closed the pool in the Sandpiper apartments.  Our stay is basically beach and pool time, with some trips to some regular restaurants.  This year we rented a cabana from Sand & Sea for the week, which made it so much easier to stay on the beach for longer each day.  Will be doing that from now on.  Dinners included visits to Rustic Table and Chive Blossom, where we sat outside each night.  Covid is back on the rise, and we played it safe as possible.  Did our nightly visits to Paradice Ice Cream and made a new discovery, Parlor Doughnuts, where we will definitely come back to.

DBM&L, Sunrise, Litchfield Beach, South Carolina

Knoxville, TN

So before we drive back to Charlotte, we head back over to Ijams to take on Navitat, a ropes climbing and Ziplining course in the trees.  We are in the first group of the day, and after the many instructions we head into the bush to try our luck.  Man it was fun.  But a lot of hard work getting through the ropes.  But the couple of short ziplines we did were fun.  The boys had a bit of trouble clipping on and off the ropes, so it limited our time.  Otherwise they were fearless and gave me a run for my money.  We left at around midday to start our journey home.  There is another one of these in Ashville, so maybe we can drag mom up there one day and do this again.

My brother-in-law used to do an annual trip with Mase and took him somewhere new every year.  I hope this is the first of many trips I can take the boys on.  We picked Knoxville because with Covid we didn't want to get on a plane, and they had never been to Tennessee before, so we've ticked off another state for them (that's 10 US states for them - not bad for some 10 year olds).

BD&L, Navitat, Knoxville, TN

Knoxville, TN

One of the reasons to get out of Charlotte was to escape the heat.  This has not work.  It's as hot as blazes here in Knoxville.

This morning we drove out to Ijams Nature Center, to see what was out at the park.  A quick visit to the Visitor's Center, before checking out Navitat, the ziplining activity in the trees.  It's booked out today, but we are going to come back tomorrow on our way out of town.  We then headed down to the Tennessee River to hike along the boardwalk.  I was aware that the boardwalk had been washed away but some of it was still accessible, I didn't realize how little we could walk.  The river is not very pretty here, and still, and it's just a battle against heat and insects so we didn't stick around long.  I do hope one day they repair the boardwalk, just for something different to walk around than your usual trail.  We went over to see Mead's Quarry Lake, but we are not prepared for swimming, so we sit a while, mouths agape, as others cool off in the man made lake - floating around in tubes, or kayaking.  I really didn't prepare for this very well.

B&L, Boardwalk, Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

A few neighbors attended UT, and said we had to eat at Calhoun's, so this is where we stopped for lunch because....BBQ.  An hour and a half wait to sit inside, so we took a seat on the the giant deck, right near the equally giant fan, where we cooled off and enjoyed lunch overlooking the Tennessee River.

After lunch we headed over to the UT Campus to go to the McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture.  This free, and practically empty, museum provided respite from the heat and the boys really enjoyed it, particularly the Native American exhibit.  Once we got back to the hotel it was straight to the pool for the boys.  For all we did, this may have been the highlight of the day for them.

For dinner we decided to go to Babalu in downtown.  There used to be one in Charlotte, and it was a favorite of ours, but I'm not sure it is the same brand.  I'm not sure if we'd just had it, but tonight's meal seemed painful for the boys, and I end up eating most of the food.  At least the ice cream at Kilwins rescued the night.

Sylva, NC to Knoxville, TN

We got up early this morning and had breakfast at the hotel.  It was a little too early to head to Bryson City as we are on a 1pm train ride. So we made a quick 17 mile detour into Cherokee.  We had never been here before and had a quick drive through town.  Nothing was open here either.  Except for the mini golf at Golf n Gifts, so we stopped and had a quick round.

It was a winding 10 miles from there down to Bryson City, where we are here to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.  We have enough time to scoot around town, grab a snack and look through the railway museum before getting on the 1pm Tuckasegee River Excursion.  We are in the open-air cart for the hour and a half ride to Dillsboro.  The ride is relaxing, as we follow the picturesque Tuckasegee River south east.  The highlight was seeing the props used for the movie The Fugitive (I'll have to get the boys to watch it now).  We arrived in Dillsboro and head up to Haywood Smokehouse for lunch.  This is so good, and so much.  The boys and I can barely walk out of the restaurant.  But we do and take a quick look around town before getting back on the train for the food-coma ride back to Bryson City.

BD&L, Great Smoky Mountain Railway, Bryson City, NC

Over the Tuckasegee River, NC

We head off straight away as we still have 2 hour drive to Knoxville.  We arrive late in the afternoon and the boys are happy to get into the pool again once we've checked in to the Hampton Inn.  A migraine is brewing, so dinner is in the hotel and movies in bed are the order of the night.  Tomorrow we check out some of Knoxville.

Sylva, NC

It feels like we haven't left the house in 16 months (because basically we haven't).  So I decided to take the boys on a road trip to get them out of the house and to give Mom a break from having us there all the time while she is working from home.  We are headed to Knoxville, TN, as the boys have never been to Tennessee before and wanted to tick that of the list of states they've been to.

First we head down the I85 to Clemson where, after a Chick Fil A Lunch, we head to Issaqueena Falls and the Stumphouse Tunnel. The Falls are flowing well and from our vantage point half way down we can get a good view of it and the surrounding forest. It started pouring as we got into Clemson (hence we didn't go over to the university), so the steep trail to get to the bottom of the falls was too muddy to continue on.  

B&L @ Issaqueena Falls, SC

Just 5 minutes away was the Stumphouse Tunnel.  This pre-Civil War, uncompleted railroad tunnel was supposed to connect Charleston to the Ohio River in the 1850's, but budget constraints meant the project was abandoned by 1859.  Today you can walk the 1/4 mile tunnel and escape the summer heat, as the tunnel remains constantly at 50 degrees.

B&L Indiana Jonesing out of Stumphouse Tunnel, SC

Afterwards we drive up to Sylva, NC, where we are to stay the night before heading to Bryson tomorrow to ride the Great Smoky Mountain Railway.  The boys are happy, as the Holiday Inn has a pool, and there are more than happy to spend the early evening playing here.

Charlotte Independence v New York Red Bulls II @ Memorial Stadium

It seems like forever since we've interacted with friends, and now with Covid settling down a little bit, we took the chance to hang with the Lochmans and go to the opening of Charlotte's revamped Memorial Stadium.

We met them at 1900 Mexican Grill for dinner al fresco before walking the 2 blocks down to the stadium.

The stadium looks great, and we have seats with our backs to the setting sun.  For an opening night, it is a little disappointing to see the stadium not half full, but it is blazing hot and people are still weary about being around other people in these strange times.

The game itself was a good one.   It was good for the boys to be so close and to hear the way the players and coaches communicate.  Unfortunately the result was not the best for the Independence, though it always looked like the game could go either way.  The night finished with a massive fireworks display before the short drive home. 

It will be interesting to see how successful this move is for the Independence with Charlotte FC joining the MLS next season and taking home at Bank of America Stadium

Charlotte Independence 2 (Dane Kelly 19, 41) vs New York Red Bulls II 3 (Jeremy Rafenello 13, Omar Sowe 70, Austin Brummett 79)
Attendance: 4,231

Charlotte Independence:  Brandon Miller, Hugh Roberts, Christian Dean, Kevin Riascos, Marcelo Palamino, Brandt Brianco (Noah Paravincini), Jake Areman, Clay Dimick (Blake Pope), Dane Kelly, (Jordan Bender), Irvin Parra (Sylvain Marveaux), Valentin Sabella (Tresor Mbuyu)

Unused Subs: Distel Zola, Austin Pack

New York Red Bulls II: Luca Lewis, Emir Tombul, Joseph Zalinsky, John Cortez (Samuel Williams), Matthew Acosta, Serge Ngoma (Austin Brummett), Daniel Edelman, Michael Knapp (Kyle Zajec), Omar Sowe, Jake Lacava, Jeremy Rafanello (Nicholas Nee)

Unused Subs: Timofey Timchenko, Samuel Joseph