Macklemore has begun his Free Palestine tour in Dublin after Ed Sheeran’s controversial decision to drop the rapper from his tour last month.

The American star is playing to a crowd of up to 13,000 at the city’s 3Arena – and, hours before the sell-crowd show, had promised “many incredible surprise guests”.

The artist – whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty – announced the tour days after being dropped from Sheeran’s Loop Tour following pro-Palestinian comments he made onstage.

He was criticised by Jewish groups after saying “Free Palestine” at two concerts and making political speeches, including referring to the death toll from Israel’s military action in Gaza as a genocide – a claim that Israel rejects.

Sheeran later stressed that the decision to drop Macklemore was made by his promoter, not by himself.

Macklemore has said that proceeds from his Free Palestine tour will go to organisations supporting Palestinians.

He will perform in Paris on Thursday and in London on Friday.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to an unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

During Israel’s military campaign in Gaza more than 70,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Israel says its troops conduct self-defence operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in accordance with international law.

Tickets for the Dublin show sold out and dozens of concertgoers were queueing at the venue hours before the its doors were opened.

Some were dressed in Palestinian jerseys, had tied Palestinian and Irish flags to themselves, and many were wearing keffiyeh scarves, a symbol of Palestinian identity.

Vendors outside the arena sold Palestinian bucket hats and flags, as well as hats and flags with the logo of Irish rap trio Kneecap.

Nicola McCollough travelled with her daughter Lily Rose Murphy from Belfast for Lily Rose’s first ever concert.

They both said they were happy Macklemore spoke out in support of Gaza.

“More people need to, if you have the platform, do it because not everybody has that kind of stage,” said Nicola.

“I would speak about anything if I’m supportive of it,” said Lily Rose.

Gillian Duffy also travelled from Cork with her son Joshua.

She said that if Macklemore had “put on 10 shows in Dublin, all 10 would have been filled”.

“This is the hottest ticket because people want to be here, they really, really want to show their support,” she said.

“You’re going to hear [the chant] ‘Free, free Palestine’ all over Dublin tonight.”

Jess O’Riordan travelled from Cork and it was “absolutely appalling” when he was “kicked off” Sheeran’s tour.

“I wish we had more people out there that would use their platform the way he does,” she added.

The controversy began when Macklemore, performing as the opening act for Sheeran at a concert in New Jersey in early September, said: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”

The Thrift Shop rapper then performed a song dedicated to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in the US.

The lyrics are critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack.

After he was taken off the tour on 14 September, Macklemore accused stadium owners of rallying together to push him out.

He was also accused by billionaire stadium owner Robert Kraft of hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric surrounding Israel and Gaza.

Sheeran said that the decision to drop Macklemore from his tour was made by concert promoter Messina Touring Group.

His early remarks led to all of his support acts to drop out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, and fans to express frustration.

Sheeran then addressed the controversy during the start of a gig in Philadelphia.

He said he had made “mistakes” handling the fallout, apologising to fans and taking a stand on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which he said was “a humanitarian issue”.

He described the 7 October 2023 attacks as “horrific” and also called the situation in Gaza “unjustifiable and disproportionate”.