‘Tonight is about Palestine’: Macklemore opens tour in Dublin

• The rapper told a sold-out Dublin crowd the show was about Palestine and “our collective humanity” after weeks of controversy surrounding his removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour.
• Macklemore described how two planned stadium performances had evolved into a new tour, framing the opening night as a moment of solidarity.

American rapper Macklemore opened his “Free Palestine” tour in Dublin on Monday by dedicating the concert to Palestine and calling for solidarity, telling a sold-out audience that the evening was about “liberation” and “our collective humanity.”

Addressing the crowd at the city’s 3Arena, Macklemore reflected on the six weeks leading up to the performance, during which he was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour and subsequently announced a new series of concerts supporting Palestinians.

“It has been a crazy six weeks,” he said, describing how what he called his shortest tour, two nights at MetLife Stadium, had given way to the Dublin performance.

“And how fitting that the first show would be in Ireland!” he added, as the audience responded with chants of “Olé, Olé, Olé.”

“So tonight, tonight is about liberation. Tonight is about Palestine. Tonight is about our collective humanity of what it looks like when we come together with love,” Macklemore told the crowd.

He then introduced the evening as a musical journey, announcing that the performance would begin with an anti-capitalist anthem.

The concert marked the start of a European tour for which Macklemore has pledged to donate proceeds to organizations supporting Palestinians. The Dublin show also featured appearances by singer-songwriter Hozier, Irish rap group Kneecap and folk band Beoga.

From tour fallout to Palestine solidarity

Macklemore’s new tour follows his removal from Sheeran’s Loop Tour in September, after he voiced support for Palestinians during a concert in New Jersey and criticized ‘Israel’s’ military assault on Gaza.

At the time, Macklemore told the audience that a major reason he had wanted to join the tour was to address stadium crowds and say, “Free Palestine.” He also performed a song dedicated to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University.

The decision to remove him prompted criticism from supporters and a wider dispute over political expression in the music industry. Sheeran later said the decision had been made by the tour’s promoter, Messina Touring Group, rather than by him personally.

Macklemore subsequently announced the “Free Palestine” tour, placing his advocacy for Palestinians at the center of a new run of performances. 

Macklemore at the start of his Free Palestine tour, nothing that “two words” on his shortest ever tour with Ed Sheeran resulted in tonight’s gig https://t.co/Fy7vNF0YbZ

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) October 27, 2026