Macklemore kicks off 'Free Palestine' benefit tour in Dublin
musicOct 27, 202630207
Macklemore opened his Free Palestine tour at Dublin's 3Arena, performing to a sold-out crowd of up to 13,000 and promising surprise guests. The show featured unannounced appearances and performances from Hozier, rap trio Kneecap and folk band Beoga, and included video messages from collaborators. Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, announced the tour days after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour following pro-Palestinian comments in which he said "free Palestine" and described Gaza deaths as a genocide, a claim Israel rejects. He said proceeds from the tour will go to organisations supporting Palestinians. Concertgoers queued for hours, many wearing keffiyeh scarves, Palestinian and Irish flags, and vendors were selling Palestinian-themed hats and flags outside the arena. Macklemore is due to perform in Paris on Thursday and in London on Friday. The BBC report noted the wider context of the Israel-Hamas war, citing the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, and Gaza death tolls of more than 70,000 reported by the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
