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October 5, 2026 \u2014 3:57pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Just weeks after rapper Macklemore was barred from opening for Ed Sheeran<\/a> at Gillette Stadium after making pro-Palestinian remarks on stage, another musician has broken the venue\u2019s attendance record while wearing a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d shirt.<\/p>\n Zach Bryan, the country folk-rock musician known for hits like I Remember Everything with Kacey Musgraves, attracted a record-breaking 73,538 people on the second night of his With Heaven on Tour. This marked the biggest audience to date at the Massachusetts stadium, which is owned by billionaire Robert Kraft, who led the campaign to have Macklemore dropped from Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour last month.<\/p>\n Throughout the concert, Bryan wore a sleeveless black shirt with the phrases \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cAn appeal to heaven\u201d emblazoned on the front, along with an image of a pine tree. According to the Associated Press<\/a>, the phrase \u201cAn appeal to heaven\u201d dates back to the American Revolutionary War, pointing to the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.<\/p>\n Some of Bryan\u2019s band members wore clothes displaying similar messaging, according to fan footage.<\/p>\n Gillette stadium announced Bryan\u2019s record via social media<\/a> on Sunday (AEDT), pairing the news with a series of photos from the show. Bryan\u2019s shirt was not clearly visible in any of the imagery. Macklemore, meanwhile, posted a close-up shot of the country singer inside the stadium on his Instagram story, paired with \u201cRobert Kraft\u201d, a side-eye emoji and the Palestinian flag.<\/p>\n This comes three weeks after Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour after saying \u201cFree Palestine\u201d on stage at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium in early September. The US musician was set to open for Sheeran at Gillette Stadium on September 25 and 26, but Kraft threatened to pull his venue from the tour if the rapper performed. These Gillette shows were ultimately cancelled <\/a>due to severe weather warnings in the area.<\/p>\n Following Macklemore\u2019s removal, the Loop tour\u2019s remaining support acts and touring band dropped out<\/a> in support of the rapper and Palestine. Sheeran has largely performed solo since; however, The Fray\u2019s former frontman Isaac Slade joined him in Atlanta last week, performing an abbreviated set and addressing the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody seems to be taking sides in this world and that\u2019s good,\u201d Slade said<\/a>. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening over there [in Gaza] is wrong, but if we\u2019re going to get through it, we\u2019re going to need people to step into that middle place, that common ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Violinist Alicia Enstrom and four other musicians also joined Sheeran on stage during a segment of his Philadelphia show on September 19. At that concert, the Shape of You singer publicly addressed the furore<\/a>, noting that he had tried to avoid being a \u201cpolitical commentator of any kind\u201d throughout his career.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it any more,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cWhat happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable, and disproportionate.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheeran has consistently claimed the decision to remove Macklemore was not his, rather it was the tour promoter\u2019s. Additionally, he said he had tried to \u201cbuild a bridge\u201d with venue owners, but the promoter\u2019s decision was final.<\/p>\n Kraft, meanwhile, has defended his stance. \u201cGillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,\u201d he said in a statement shortly after Macklemore was dropped.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on Macklemore\u2019s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran\u2019s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.\u201d<\/p>\n On September 25, Macklemore announced his own \u201cFree Palestine\u201d concert tour<\/a>, beginning in Dublin next month. It will then travel to Paris and London, with US dates and additional performers yet to be announced. The first three shows sold out immediately, according to the rapper.<\/p>\n Proceeds would be donated to organisations that support Palestinian people, he said while announcing the tour, adding: \u201cBeing apolitical during a genocide doesn\u2019t work any more \u2026 People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Just](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5d75ba9587ac73cd63d8efadc3314ff25b25d0f8.jpeg\")
Just weeks after Macklemore was told he couldn\u2019t perform at Gillette Stadium, Zach Bryan broke the venue\u2019s attendance record in a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d shirt.Martin Philbey<\/p>\n![\"Ed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/da475bad4b84b36c21e6c6263aa1612405f81d53.jpeg\")
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Nell Geraets<\/a> is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners