Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey on Ed Sheeran-Macklemore Situation: You Should “Live or Die” With Your Support Act

Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey has weight in on the current Ed Sheeran–Macklemore situation, saying that a headlining act should stand with the tour’s opening acts. For a quick refresher, Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after he made pro-Palestine remarks at one of the concerts. Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner who owns Gillette Stadium in the Boston area issued an ultimatum to Sheeran to remove Macklemore or else cancel an upcoming show. Kraft apparently encouraged other NFL/stadium owners to do the same. While speaking with Boston Public Radio, the politically outspoken Casey said, “I know that, as a musician for 30 years, anytime we’ve gone on tour we’ve selected the band that have opened for us, that’s brotherhood, sisterhood, that’s family. You live or die with the people you bring on the road. They’re your people.” He continued, “And the fact that Ed Sheeran took the knee, no matter what the cause is, and not stood with his fellow tour partner, just doesn’t sit right with me. And that’s not how Dropkick Murphys would operate.” Casey went on to say that Dropkick Murphys probably lost half the crowd with his anti-Trump messaging during their appea...