Isaac Slade Enters the Ed Sheeran Fray

Following Macklemore’s exit from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, the British headliner has found himself in the middle of a whirlwind, both literally and figuratively. Sheeran performed his first post-scandal show in Philadelphia on September 19 without a supporting act and then had his next two performances at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts canceled due to extreme-weather forecasts. Many ticketholders and onlookers have been left wondering who, if anyone, will sign on to sing alongside Sheeran for the rest of his tour, concluding December 11 in Mexico City. Well, apparently, Isaac Slade, former singer of the Fray. Sheeran resumed his tour this past weekend in Atlanta and brought out the “How to Save a Life” singer as his opener. (I guess this is how to save a tour.)

It’s not yet clear whether Slade will join Sheeran as an opener on the rest of his Loop Tour beyond Atlanta, though it’s clear that he doesn’t mind being caught in the middle of this controversial moment. “Everybody seems to be taking sides in this world, and that’s good,” Slade said during his set. “What’s happening over there [in Gaza] is wrong, but if we’re going to get through it, we’re going to need people to step into that middle place, that common ground.” Sheeran himself made a very similar statement about trying to “build bridges” and “keep conversations open, not closed” in an Instagram post following Macklemore’s exit, but he was met with backlash by those who felt he had been complicit.

Back in early September, Sheeran’s promoter dropped Macklemore from the Loop Tour for his onstage statements about Palestine at MetLife Stadium, triggering the other supporting acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe — to withdraw from the tour in solidarity. While Sheeran likely struggles to find artists willing to take a public stand with him given all the heat, Macklemore announced and sold out the first three dates and locations for his “Free Palestine Tour,” which will donate all proceeds to organizations supporting Palestine and the Free Palestine movement. The “friends” of “Macklemore and Friends” have yet to be announced, but it’s safe to say that there won’t be any overlap with whoever joins Sheeran’s highly contentious middle ground as a supporting act on the rest of his tour.