Macklemore Brings Free Palestine Tour to Paris, With London to Close the Run
Macklemore played Paris on Thursday night, the second stop on his Free Palestine Tour, a series of charity concerts with a political focus. Rolling Stone reported the Paris show, and the tour's own website lists the date as 29 October.
The tour opened in Dublin on Monday 26 October. Guest appearances there came from Hozier, Kneecap and Boega. At that opening, Macklemore vowed to keep speaking out against Israel's war in Gaza, and to fight until his "last breath," according to Reuters.
The tour follows Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's stadium run. Rolling Stone reported that he was removed over onstage statements in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Boega, the backing band, then dropped out of Sheeran's tour in solidarity with him.
The Paris line-up was long. Aurora, DJ Habibeats, Pomme, Portugal The Man, Redvell, Siba, Tamer Nafar, Xiuhtezcati Martinez and Zeyne all performed in support of Palestine. Aurora sang "The Seed," from her third studio album, A Different Kind of Human (Step 2). Macklemore performed "Can't Hold Us," from his debut album The Heist, and he also performed Rudimental's "These Days," which features Jess Glynne and Dan Caplen.
Between the music, the Paris bill included speeches. Guest speakers were Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Carice van Houten and Francesca Albanese. Albanese is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert the UN appoints to monitor a particular human rights situation.
The shows raise money for charity. Rolling Stone reported that proceeds will go to organisations including Medical Aid for Palestinians. The tour's website says all proceeds benefit groups supporting Palestine and the Palestinian movement. The amounts raised have not been announced.
Macklemore has said that dates in the United States will be announced, in addition to the Dublin, Paris and London shows, according to a post on his Instagram account dated 30 September. The London show is set to close the charity concert series on Friday, according to Rolling Stone.
