Macklemore kicks off ‘Free Palestine’ tour as he’s joined by Kneecap and other stars at Dublin gig

Queues had formed at the venue hours before doors opened at 6:30pm, with performances beginning at 7pm.

The Dublin date marked the first of three European stops, with Paris and London concerts scheduled for Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The evening featured a string of high-profile surprise guests, with Macklemore telling the audience he had reached out to numerous artists.

Folk-pop singer Hozier and rap trio Kneecap were among those who answered the call straight away. Both Hozier and Kneecap have been vocal critics of Israel’s military campaign.

Traditional Irish group Beoga, one of the acts that had walked off Ed Sheeran’s ongoing tour in solidarity with Macklemore, also took to the stage.

Palestinian singer Lina Makhoul and Palestinian American DJ Habibeats rounded out the musical line-up.

Between sets, Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo addressed the crowd as two of several pro-Palestine activists given a platform during the evening.

The controversy that spawned the tour began in early September when Macklemore, serving as Mr Sheeran’s opening act at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, used the platform to declare “Free Palestine” and performed a track dedicated to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University.

“Six weeks ago, two words is all that it took,” he told the Dublin crowd on Monday, referring to the phrase that prompted his removal from the Loop Tour on September 14.

Following his departure, Macklemore accused stadium owners of coordinating to force him out, while billionaire venue owner Robert Kraft alleged the rapper had engaged in hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric.

Mr Sheeran maintained that the decision had been taken by concert promoter Messina Touring Group rather than by himself.

His remaining support acts subsequently quit in solidarity with Macklemore, and Mr Sheeran later described the situation in Gaza as “unjustifiable and disproportionate.”

“Those two words are so threatening to some people that we’d rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean,” Macklemore declared from the stage in Ireland.

“Somehow those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary.”

He went on: “I am proud to stand here on stage in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will continue to fight for collective liberation until our last breath.”

Macklemore has stated that all proceeds from the tour will be directed to organisations delivering humanitarian aid, medical assistance and other support to Palestinians.

The tour continues in Paris on Thursday before arriving in London on Friday, with further US dates expected to be announced in due course.

However, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been urged to “ban” Macklemore from entering the UK by dozens of members of the House of Lords.

According to the Telegraph, the members claim Macklemore plans to come to the UK “to raise money, from a British audience, for an organisation whose record of glorifying terrorism and of intimidating elected representatives should concern any government.”

Their concerns centre on the group, the Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the groups that stands to benefit from Macklemore’s donation.

The group describes itself as “a grassroots, independent movement that organises Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation”.