Macklemore announces Free Palestine Tour with charity proceeds
Macklemore has announced the Free Palestine Tour, a short European run with all proceeds pledged to charities working for the liberation of Palestine. Pitchfork reported the announcement on September 24.
Three shows are confirmed so far. Macklemore will play 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on October 25, Accor Arena in Paris, France on October 29, and OVO Arena Wembley in London, England on October 30. The three dates fall within six days. The October dates cover Ireland, France and England.
Additional artists and dates in the United States will be announced at a later date. No support acts or US venues have been named yet. Tickets for the three confirmed shows go on general sale on September 30. A presale, an early sales window before the general sale, starts the preceding Monday at 10am local time. That timing means 10am in each market, so the exact start shifts by city.
Announcing the tour, Macklemore wrote, "As you all know, my schedule freed up a bit." The line points to his recent departure from another tour. Macklemore himself said on September 14 that he had been dropped from Ed Sheeran's US tour after making onstage 'Free Palestine' statements, Reuters reported.
That US tour had booked Macklemore as a support act. His removal was first reported on September 14 and covered again on September 19. Macklemore has said his 'Free Palestine' call was not an attack on Jewish people, the BBC reported.
All proceeds from the new tour, meaning the money raised from the shows, will go to charity. The charity pledge applies to the whole tour, not to selected dates. Twelve charities and non-profit organisations are named as beneficiaries. They are Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine and Palestinian Youth Movement.
The list also includes Middle East Children's Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Institute for Middle East Understanding, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and UNRWA USA.
For fans, this means three dates to work with for now. Dublin comes first. Then Paris and London on back-to-back nights. Anyone waiting for US shows or news of who else will play will need to wait for the next announcement.
