FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts ā Zach Bryan walked onto the stage at Gillette Stadium on Friday night wearing a black T-shirt bearing the words āFree Palestineā, drawing immediate attention because the appearance came only weeks after Robert Kraft barred Macklemore from performing at the same venue following his own pro-Palestinian statements.
Bryan, the Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter and U.S. Navy veteran, was performing the first of two scheduled Gillette Stadium concerts on October 2 as part of his With Heaven On Tour. Photos and videos from the show quickly spread across social media.
According to CBS Boston, Bryan’s shirt did not carry only the words āFree Palestine.ā It also featured a pine tree and the phrase āAn Appeal to Heaven.ā The phrase dates back to the American Revolutionary era and was historically associated with an early Massachusetts maritime flag.
Bryan Was Not the Only One Wearing a Palestine Message
Several members of Bryan’s band also appeared onstage wearing clothing connected to Palestine.
Guitarist Noah Le Gros wore a Palestine football jersey during the concert. The Independent reported that Le Gros later shared a photograph of himself wearing the jersey while standing near a Kraft Sports and Entertainment sign inside the stadium.
Drummer Nate Head was also reported to have worn a jersey honoring Hind Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024 whose death later became internationally known.
Despite the highly visible clothing, Bryan apparently did not stop the concert to make a political speech about it. The Boston Globe reported that he did not specifically draw the audience’s attention to his shirt during Friday night’s performance.
That distinction made the moment notable. There was no lengthy statement from the stage, but the clothing worn by Bryan and his band was enough to trigger discussion online.
Why the Gillette Stadium Location Matters
The choice attracted considerably more attention because Gillette Stadium is owned by the Kraft Group, led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Only weeks earlier, the same venue became central to the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour. The rapper had been scheduled to perform at Gillette before Macklemore was dropped from the remaining Ed Sheeran tour dates following his āFree Palestineā statements during earlier shows.
Macklemore had shouted āFree Palestine,ā spoken about Gaza and the West Bank and performed his protest song Hind’s Hall during appearances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Kraft later said Gillette Stadium would not provide a platform for rhetoric he considered hateful and hurtful to members of the Jewish community. Macklemore, meanwhile, rejected accusations of antisemitism and argued that criticism of Israel should not automatically be treated as hostility toward Jewish people.
The fallout continued after Macklemore’s departure from Sheeran’s tour. He subsequently announced his own āFree Palestineā tour with concerts in Dublin, Paris and London, saying proceeds would support organizations providing humanitarian and medical assistance to Palestinians.
The wider dispute also prompted Ed Sheeran to address the issue publicly. During his Philadelphia concert, Sheeran described what was happening in Gaza as ācatastrophic and unjustifiableā while explaining that he had faced difficult decisions surrounding the tour controversy.
Bryan’s appearance at Gillette therefore quickly invited comparisons with the Macklemore dispute, although Bryan had not publicly said that wearing the shirt was intended as a direct response to Kraft.
Rolling Stone reported that representatives for Bryan and Gillette Stadium had not immediately responded to requests for comment about the appearance.
Bryan was scheduled to return to Gillette Stadium for a second concert on Saturday, October 3, leaving attention on whether he or members of his band would repeat the clothing choice or address the reaction generated by Friday night’s show.
This story may be updated if Zach Bryan, Gillette Stadium or the Kraft Group issues a further statement.
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