Macklemore Kicks Off Free Palestine Tour With Hozier, Kneecap, & Ed Sheeran’s Backing Band

Last month, Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore as the opener of his US stadium tour — reportedly because of pressure from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who doesn't approve of Macklemore's stance against Israel's genocide of Palestinian people. Naturally, the resulted in a huge and justified backlash against Sheeran. All of Sheeran's other openers quit the tour, as did Beoga, the Irish folk band who backed him up during part of his show. Sheeran claimed that he's "not complicit" and then made a tearful but meaningless speech once his tour resumed. Meanwhile, Sheeran's shows at Kraft's Gillette Stadium were canceled for severe weather anyway, and then Zach Bryan wore a "Free Palestine" shirt while playing the same stadium. In the meantime, Macklemore announced his Free Palestine benefit tour, and he kicked it off with some surprise guests Monday night in Dublin.Macklemore already announced that he's donating the $1 million that he earned as an Ed Sheeran opener to Palestinian aid, then said that all the protests from his Free Palestine tour will support the same cause. He assembled the tour quickly, only announcing three shows at the beginning but promising more to come. The first of those...