The initial lineup for the “Together for Palestine” benefit concert helmed by Brian Eno has been announced, with Damon Albarn, Jamie xx, and Rina Sawayama among the artists confirmed. It takes place at London’s Wembley Arena on September 17th.
In addition to Palestinian musicians Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman, and Nai Barghouti, they will be joined by James Blake, PinkPantheress, King Krule, and Hot Chip. This initial wave of performers is rounded out by Bastille, Cat Burns, Greentea Peng, Mabel, Obongjayar, Paloma Faith, Rachel Chinouriri, Riz Ahmed, and Sampha. Sawayama, PinkPantheress, and Ahmed’s appearances are described as “one-off contributions.”
100% of the ticket price (minus additional fees) will be donated to Choose Love, a British charity partnered with Palestinian-led organizations in Gaza to provide humanitarian relief. Tickets are available now via MyTicket.
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“In the face of the horrors of Gaza, silence becomes complicity,” Eno said in a statement. “Artists have always helped societies to point out injustice and imagine better futures. That’s why this concert matters. It’s time for us to come together — not just to raise our voices, but to reaffirm our shared humanity.”
In a statement of his own, Albarn added, “I, like everyone with a heart, have felt despair and helplessness at the reports coming out of Gaza and the West Bank over these last days, months, and years. A genocide unfolding in real time on our screens. I come from a family of pacifists. I have been taught, and I believe, that pacifism is an action. Peace is an action. To live peacefully requires vision and commitment. To act with humanity towards one another, that too is a decision.”
“Music has taken me around the world, it is the sum of everything I know and trust and believe in — respect, collaboration, shared experience,” he continued. “I am grateful for this opportunity to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people and also celebrate the music and culture from the region. I hope everyone will join us.”
Eno is co-producing “Together for Palestine” with London Palestine film festival founder Khaled Ziada, British actor and activist Khalid Abdalla, and Tracey Seaward, who previously helmed the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony.
In July, Eno helped form a coalition of musicians in support of artists facing “attempted censorship” for publicly speaking out against Israel’s military violence in Gaza alongside Massive Attack, Kneecap, and Fontaines D.C.
