Macklemore Says Nine US Arenas Turned Down His Free Palestine Tour
Macklemore has accused nine major American arenas of turning down his Free Palestine benefit tour. He made the claim in an Instagram statement posted on 6 November. A benefit show is a concert whose proceeds go to a cause, in this case organisations supporting Palestine.
In the statement, as reported by Pitchfork, he named Madison Square Garden, Prudential Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center and Climate Pledge Arena. He said his team had been offered available dates at each venue through the end of the year. Those dates were then withdrawn, he said, once the venues learned the shows were benefits for Palestine.
Macklemore said that in more than twenty years of touring he had never experienced anything like it. He also said the plan from the beginning was to bring the Free Palestine shows to the United States. He will keep looking for places to perform them there, he said.
The tour began in Europe. According to the official tour page, the dates were Dublin on 26 October, Paris on 29 October and London on 30 October. Rolling Stone reported in September that all three dates sold out immediately.
The tour grew out of a dispute of its own. Macklemore has said he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour because of pro-Palestinian political statements he made on stage. Reuters reported that at the opening of the Free Palestine tour he vowed to fight "until his last breath."
An arena date is more than one name on a poster. Each show needs a production crew, venue staff, security and trucks, and a cancelled date can mean weeks of planned work that never happens. What is clear is that the Free Palestine shows that did go ahead sold out, and that the search for American dates is still open.
