The Script is offering work to the Irish bands that left Ed Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with opening act Macklemore after he was dropped from the Loop tour.
Singer Danny O’Donoghue extended his invitation to Aaron Rowe and Beoga on Irish television’s The Late Late Show.
“They showed immense backbone,” O’Donoghue said during that recent interview.
He expressed special admiration for Rowe, who at 30 years old, walked away from stadium gigs in the US on principle.
“For him to come off that at such a young age, I think ‘more power to him,'” O’Donoghue added.
American singer Finneas O’Connell and Danish band Lukas Graham also left in solidarity with Seattle rapper Macklemore, who upset stadium owners by saying “Free Palestine” during a recent New Jersey performance. Sheeran said promoters behind his upcoming shows forced Macklemore off the tour.
O’Donoghue looked into a TV camera and invited Rowe and Beoga to join his band in Dublin, where they’re booked to play on Oct 30 and Oct 31.
“The Script are playing the 3Arena on the dates that you were supposed to play Tampa,” he said. “If you want to come, if you want to support, then The Script are there for you. You’re more than welcome to come down.”
The Script formed in 2001. They enjoyed US radio play with their 2008 single Breakeven, 2009’s The Man Who Couldn’t Be Moved and 2010’s For The First Time.
Sheeran’s tour stops in Hollywood, Florida, on Oct 30 before moving to Tampa on Nov 7.
He tearfully addressed the Macklemore controversy during his Saturday show in Philadelphia, where he played by himself.
“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 this planet,” he said from the stage.
Sheeran called Hamas militants’ Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel “horrific” while denouncing Israel’s invasion of Gaza as “catastrophic and unjustifiable.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
