{"id":666373,"date":"2026-10-27T01:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T01:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666373\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T01:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T01:46:08","slug":"macklemore-kicks-off-first-free-palestine-show-with-call-for-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666373\/","title":{"rendered":"Macklemore Kicks Off First ‘Free Palestine’ Show With Call for Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMacklemore<\/a> dedicated his first \u201cFree Palestine\u201d tour date<\/a> in Dublin, Ireland to \u201clove and liberation,\u201d just over a month after he was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran<\/a> following a political speech on stage.<\/p>\n

\n\t3Arena was dotted with keffiyehs and Palestinian flags on Monday night as Dubliners young and old gathered to back the \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rapper at the start of the three-show stint, which will also see him play Paris and London this week alongside special guests. All proceeds are going to charities supporting Palestine, and Macklemore also donated his $1 million salary from Sheeran\u2019s tour to the cause.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo recap, on Sept. 14 Macklemore was dropped<\/a> from the remainder of Sheeran\u2019s U.S. \u201cLoop\u201d tour after he said \u201cfree Palestine\u201d on stage and gave political speeches over two concerts at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4 and 5. The speeches went viral, sparking backlash from pop star Pink<\/a> and a petition from the Israeli American Council calling for his removal and criticizing him for using the platform to \u201cadvance a political agenda.\u201d At the time, promoter Messina Touring Group said they had been \u201cnotified by venues\u201d that \u201cthey will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.\u201d Macklemore claimed that it was Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft who had pushed him out of the tour, and Sheeran also posted a lengthy statement explaining why he doesn\u2019t wade into politics, which generated backlash against him. In solidarity with Macklemore, Sheeran\u2019s other opening acts \u2014 including Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe \u2014 and his backing band, Beoga, also dropped out of his tour.<\/p>\n

\n\tBeoga was there to support Macklemore on Monday, alongside surprise guests including Hozier and Kneecap. During his set, Macklemore took a moment to share what the evening meant to him in the wake of the controversy. \u201cSix weeks ago, it was two words. Two words is all that it took. Two words that are rooted in love and liberation,\u201d he said. \u201cNot against anybody, not divisive. Not a call for hatred. But a call to recognize our shared humanity. Free Palestine. I said, free Palestine! The same thing that I want for all of us, freedom, dignity, the right to exist without fear. Being able to raise our children in the homes that we grew up in, not having to prove our humanity to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd yet,\u201d he continued, \u201cthose two words are so threatening to some people. They would rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean. Because freedom that requires another person\u2019s oppression is not freedom at all. And while the world debates those words, we see the videos, we see the footage, we see parents pulling their children out of the rubble. Families erased. Devastation beyond our imagination. And somehow, those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary. That\u2019s why we are here tonight. That is why we are here, because throughout history, music has given people a place to resist, to come together as a collective, to share our grief, to share our stories, to move from the heart, to mobilize people with the frequency of love. The heartbeat in our drum that makes us feel alive, that makes us feel connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut before Macklemore took the stage, the night kicked off with an introduction from Liam Cunningham of \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d fame. \u201cTonight, we celebrate life. We honor resilience. We stand with Gaza!\u201d he said. The music then began with Palestinian-Israeli singer Lina Makoul, who delivered a powerful song without words \u201cbecause anything she said could have severely affected her freedom,\u201d as Cunningham noted. Beoga was next, performing several traditional Irish jigs after percussionist Eamon Murray told the crowd, \u201cDon\u2019t fuck with the Irish!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first heavyweight guest was none other than Hozier, who got the crowd crooning along with \u201cToo Sweet,\u201d \u201cFrom Eden,\u201d and \u201cWork Song.\u201d The Irishman said he is \u201cso proud of my country and the way they\u2019re showing up,\u201d and highlighted that 55 students in Gaza are waiting to have their visas approved by the Irish government so that they can study there. \u201cThis has happened before. It happened last year, and this can be solved with ministerial discretion,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s an absolute wonder, it\u2019s baffling how it hasn\u2019t been solved yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSeeming uncharacteristically nervous, Hozier then announced that he was going to perform a tune that he\u2019d \u201cnever sang live before.\u201d It was \u201cThe Prayer of Shields,\u201d an 18th-century folk song written by John Shield that hoped for equality for all people. \u201cThe Jew he is me fellow man\/ The Muslim the same indeed, sir,\u201d he sang in a haunting tone. \u201cTo the infidel I\u2019d wish him well\/And help him in his need, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the stage was reset, the crowd was treated to a series of video messages from celebrities who couldn\u2019t be there but wanted to show their support. \u201cThanks to Macklemore for doing this,\u201d The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said. \u201cTake care of each other and the innocents, and continue standing up in this struggle towards a just world system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded \u201cBroad City\u201d star Ilana Glazer, \u201cWe are all together in this fight to help free Palestine. Keep speaking up and using your voice, it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKeep fighting for a free Palestine and humanity all over the world and amongst the people. There will be no peace until there\u2019s equality,\u201d Mark Ruffalo said to enthusiastic applause throughout the stadium. \u201cLots of love, have a good show. Keep fighting the good fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIrish rap trio Kneecap then stormed the arena, injecting a dose of energy by getting mosh pits going in the crowd as they ran through fan favorites like \u201cFenian\u201d and \u201cH.O.O.D.\u201d \u201cWe wanna thank Macklemore for organizing this concert. We wanna thank Ed Sheeran for helping to organize this concert,\u201d member M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap cheekily said as the crowd erupted in cheers.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was then finally time for Macklemore\u2019s set. The rapper was greeted with enormous applause as he emerged in a green-and-orange keffiyeh to \u201cChant,\u201d with Australian singer Tones and I joining him to sing the chorus. Supported by a six-piece band, Macklemore rapped with conviction: \u201cThis is my moment\/ They can\u2019t take my talent\/ They can\u2019t take my stripes.\u201d He addressed the crowd for the first time as the song finished, looking overwhelmed and wiping tears from his eyes. Before he could begin to speak, a \u201cfree Palestine\u201d chant broke out in the audience. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt has been a crazy six weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cWe took my shortest tour of all time, which was two nights at MetLife Stadium, and we turned that shit into this right here.\u201d He added, \u201cWe\u2019re gonna start with an anti-capitalist anthem,\u201d as his hit \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rang out and a pair of peppy dancers two-stepped on stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tA run-down of Macklemore\u2019s greatest hits ensued, including \u201cSame Love\u201d with Mary Lambert joining him; \u201cThese Days\u201d; \u201cGlorious\u201d; and \u201cGood Old Days,\u201d with Tones and I reemerging to sing Kesha\u2019s part on the track. He then surprised the audience with a new song that \u201che wrote this last week,\u201d titled \u201cWhere Is Our Love?\u201d In the political yet soft-spoken rap, Macklemore says \u201cfree Palestine\u201d and speaks about \u201cAmerica being terrorized by ICE agents\u201d as well as mentioning Congo and Sudan. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe set ended on a high note with his 2012 hit \u201cCan\u2019t Hold Us,\u201d during which Macklemore climbed into the crowd and had them literally hold him up. As confetti exploded in the air, Macklemore left the audience with one last message: \u201cI am proud to stand here on stage in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will continue to fight for collective liberation until our last breath,\u201d he said before leading one final \u201cfree Palestine\u201d chant.<\/p>\n

\n\tMacklemore\u2019s \u201cFree Palestine\u201d tour continues in Paris on Thursday and London on Friday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Macklemore dedicated his first \u201cFree Palestine\u201d tour date in Dublin, Ireland to \u201clove and liberation,\u201d just over a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[8720,93,61,60,264671,278],"class_list":["post-666373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-macklemore","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}