Macklemore “blown away” as ‘Free Palestine’ tour sells out, promises “line-ups coming soon”

Macklemore disse que está “blown away” pela resposta ao seu tour “Free Palestine” no UK e na Europa, enquanto promete que a programação completa das datas está “coming soon”.

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He’ll perform at Dublin’s 3Arena on October 26, Paris’ Accor Arena on October 29 and London’s OVO Arena Wembley the following night (October 30). All proceeds from the concerts will benefit 12 organisations working in areas including medical care, humanitarian assistance, education, advocacy and community support for Palestinians.

Macklemore said he’d been contacting “artists who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences” to appear on the brief tour.

Now, Macklemore has shared a post on social media to thank fans after “all three shows sold out immediately”.

He signed off by teasing that the line-ups for the three concerts would be “coming soon”. You can see the post above.

When first announcing the tour, Macklemore reflected on the events of the past few weeks. “If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” he wrote.

To push back when the call for a ‘Free Palestine’ is met with attempts to silence it.

The saga began when Macklemore delivered an impassioned speech while opening at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last month.

Ele pediu que “todos os seres humanos fossem tratados com dignidade, respeito e igualdade” e disse às pessoas em Gaza e na Cisjordânia que “não os esquecemos”, antes de declarar “Libertar Palestina” e executar sua faixa de protesto de 2024, ‘Hind’s Hall’, ao lado de imagens de Gaza.

Following criticism from the likes of Pink and the Israeli-American Council, Macklemore defended his remarks, saying that “wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial”.

Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft objected to Macklemore performing at Sheeran’s later shows at the venue.

The rapper subsequently announced that he had been dropped from the rest of the tour, claiming Sheeran had told him that Kraft and other stadium owners had objected to his presence on the line-up.

The decision triggered further upheaval, with all of Sheeran’s remaining support acts and his backing band withdrawing in solidarity with Macklemore.

Quando Sheeran retornou ao palco em Filadélfia em 19 de setembro, ele pediu desculpas pelos “erros” na forma como lidou com a controvérsia e revelou que o escândalo o deixou questionando se queria “to be an artist at all”.

The scandal took an unexpected turn last week when Sheeran’s scheduled gigs at the Gillette Stadium were cancelled after all – thanks to “severe weather warnings” in the area.

A controvérsia continua a atrair respostas de todo o mundo da música. Durante uma recente entrevista com a NME, Tom Morello elogiu Macklemore por se recusar a recuar de sua postura, argumentando que “a coragem é contagiosa”.

Sheeran has faced backlash from SNL UK, too, with guest host Amelia Dimoldenberg branding him a “red-headed puppet”. Further criticism has come from Charlotte Church, Greta Thunberg, Billy Bragg and more.

Elsewhere, Bob Geldof defended the star, but said he “really admire[d] Macklemore” and those who had walked away from the tour.

Sheeran’s former support act Aaron Rowe said that anger over the situation should instead be aimed at “the likes of Robert Kraft”.

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