Macklemore Opens Dublin Arena After Venue Warnings Pulled Him From Sheeran Tour

Macklemore's benefit series opened Monday night in Dublin for a crowd filling the 13,000-seat 3Arena, the first of three sold-out shows he is staging this week. Hozier, Kneecap, DJ Habibeats, Lina Makoul and M1 of Dead Prez performed. Boega, the backing band that left Ed Sheeran's tour in solidarity with Macklemore, also appeared on the bill. Organizers did not publish the lineup in advance.

The Dublin date sits roughly four weeks after Macklemore was cut from Sheeran's Loop Tour in September. Messina Touring Group, which promotes that tour, said it acted after venues on upcoming U.S. dates notified the company they would not host a show with Macklemore on it. "After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates," the promoter said then, adding that the alternative was cancellation of the tour and an impact on hundreds of thousands of fans.

Sheeran addressed the dispute from his own stage afterward. "I don't want to disappoint fans, and I've never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet," he said. He also said he was "deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approve content for performance," calling it something that "should never happen in the free world."

Macklemore announced his own shows on Instagram, writing: "It's 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn't work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it."

At 3Arena, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, activist and psychotherapist Nadia Greenspan and artist and organizer Samir Eskanda spoke. Cunningham addressed the crowd: "Enjoying tonight does not mean forgetting about the suffering in Gaza. It means celebrating the humanity and life that Palestinians have fought very hard to protect."

A press release issued with the announcement said proceeds go to organizations providing medical supplies, food, humanitarian assistance, education and community support, along with advocacy and policy work. The same release stated that the concert series centers on "Palestinian families, children, healthcare workers, students, artists and communities whose lives and futures continue to be profoundly impacted by the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

Two dates follow Dublin. The tour plays Paris' Accor Arena on Oct. 29 and London's OVO Arena Wembley on Oct. 30, both sold out. Sheeran's Loop Tour continues without Macklemore on the remaining support dates.

image_prompt photorealistic news photo of a packed indoor arena at night seen from a high vantage, stage lit in warm and cool light, silhouetted crowd with raised hands, concert haze, no faces in focus, no text or logos anywhere, muted color palette, wide shot, photojournalistic framing.