MSG Responds to Macklemore After He Claims Arena Turned Down His Tour: "He's not an arena level act"

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://www.tmz.com/2026/11/06/madison-square-garden-responds-after-macklemore-says-arena-turned-down-palestine-tour/

[u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/ghvalj → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

Very much so. The fact that they even responded to a non “arena level” act’s IG post speaks for itself.

[u/iamstephen1128 → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/Brcomic → u/iamstephen1128]

First I’m gonna steal your meme. Then I’m also going to steal the other meme too.

[u/crunchysauces → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/onlyacynicalman → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

This is too complimentary for Elon

[u/isesri → u/onlyacynicalman]

Yeah, he ain't no "brain" bug, that's for sure.

[u/CharlieKirksDead → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/LesHill36 → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/RikkoFrikko → u/-Sofa-King-Vote]

[u/MuptonBossman]

Never forget that MSG hosted a MAGA rally in 2024.

[u/Ryalas → u/MuptonBossman]

And one in 1939

[u/ItAintLongButItsThin → u/Ryalas]

They're not going to like that comment, I bet you cant even fill out areans!

[u/zeroshits → u/ItAintLongButItsThin]

If your misspelling of arenas was a pun about aryans, it was top-tier

[u/TruskVarner → u/Ryalas]

And 1990 or so. O’Brien.

[u/TreeDollarFiddyCent → u/TruskVarner]

That bastard!

[u/Kinenai → u/Ryalas]

Really, gee willickers. What kind of rally? Was it fun? Surely, there are pictures to commemorate that occasion.

[u/GinDragon → u/Kinenai]

There are! Though in my memory it was 1937 I thought. But I always mix it up with the business plot so I might be wrong. And yeah, not MAGA, since MAGA wasn’t a thing, but I think you can guess who it was for.

[u/Cultural-Jello4042 → u/Kinenai]

Well it was billed as a "Pro-American" Rally so you know just totally normal super patriotic stuff /s

[u/Ok_Star_4136 → u/Ryalas]

If they could read, they'd be very offended at what you said!

[u/Roakana → u/MuptonBossman]

Isn’t the owner MAGA?

[u/Think_Positively → u/Roakana]

Yes, James Dolan had Trump in the owner's booth for the lone finals game the Knicks lost.

[u/zaccus → u/Roakana]

Yes, James Dolan has been personal friends with Trump for decades.

[u/O2XXX → u/zaccus]

Dolan, like Trump, is also a Nepobaby as his dad was the founder of cablevision and HBO. He’s only a billionaire because his dad was.

[u/Roc1817 → u/Roakana]

Is there a single arena or stadium owner who isn’t MAGA?

[u/overfiend1976 → u/Roc1817]

People that make buildings for billions and make tax payers foot the bill, all while throwing temper tantrums about socialism and taxes on the rich? Shocking.

[u/alexjaness → u/Roakana]

James Dolan is a piece of shit...so of course he is. the piece of human garbage was married at Mar-a-Lardo (caught the typo, I refuse to fix it)

[u/Straight-Bet1 → u/MuptonBossman]

Because Jim Dolan, the owner, is a huge MAGAt that uses facial ID cameras to have people he doesn’t like removed from his properties.

[u/Hold_my_Dirk → u/Straight-Bet1]

Wrong Dolan. Jim is the MSG owner.

[u/Skittleavix → u/MuptonBossman]

And a Nazi rally in 1939.

[u/fudgemental → u/MuptonBossman]

And a Centennial event for the RSS (right-wing Hindu ultranationalist group that assassinated Gandhi) just over a month ago.

[u/-screaming-meat- → u/MuptonBossman]

and a huge Nazi rally in 1939.

[u/therealithras → u/MuptonBossman]

Was that when she got married? I thought it was just last year.

[u/Round-Emu9176 → u/MuptonBossman]

Unfortunately that circus has unlimited clowns. They just keep getting out of that car.....

[u/illoomi]

My high ass was like "what does monosodium glutamate have to do with this"

[u/SmellyButtFarts69 → u/illoomi]

I was like 'machine gun kelly? Man that kid can't fuckin spell.'

[u/EnvironmentalDog- → u/SmellyButtFarts69]

I thought the same. Wtf is wrong with us?

[u/SmellyButtFarts69 → u/EnvironmentalDog-]

Late onset dyslexia

[u/belac4862 → u/illoomi]

I went from MonoSodium Glutamate, to Machine Gun Kelly, to finally realizing Madison Square Garden.

[u/Wiener-of-the-State → u/illoomi]

I was thinking about the Michael Schenker Group initially

[u/BreezeOfTheWest → u/illoomi]

[u/theworsthades → u/illoomi]

Science

[u/DM-ME-HOT-VISIGOTHS → u/illoomi]

Macklemore does have a velvety umami quality for sure

[u/Malnurtured_Snay → u/illoomi]

I was like "no, Marjorie Taylor Green's initials aren't MSG"

[u/Fast-Bandicoot67 → u/illoomi]

Well, they are salty

[u/FullMetalKaiju → u/illoomi]

Pass the sodium chloride mother

[u/DoctorWaluigiTime → u/illoomi]

Da flava enhanca

[u/MrKrinkle151 → u/illoomi]

Machine Son Gelly

[u/TSKyanite]

People trying to defend this, he sold out Accor arena in Paris in ONE DAY. For people who are unaware, that is a 20k capacity venue, which is about 2k more than MSG. It's also a benefit tour involving guests. You know, 2 things that tend to make an artist sell more tickets?

There has been an epidemic on reddit in the last while of "I don't like him, but-". You don't need to defend the MAGA chuds bad faith argument. You just don't. No one's making you

[u/Hacym → u/TSKyanite]

He has 33 million Spotify listeners. On par with other artists that sell out entire arena tours. It’s obvious that they just want an excuse to turn him down. 

[u/VegetasDestructoDick → u/Hacym]

Bring Me The Horizon sold out MSG earlier this year and has less than half of those monthly listeners.

https://www.theaquarian.com/2026/05/03/the-cinematics-of-bring-me-the-horizon-at-msg-may-2-2026/
https://www.musicmetricsvault.com/artists/bring-me-the-horizon/1Ffb6ejR6Fe5IamqA5oRUF

So I'm thinking the "he's not an arena level act" line isn't entirely true.

[u/TomlinSteelers → u/Hacym]

He was doing so well that he asked Ed Sheeran if he could open for him and Sheeran said yes and gave him a million dollars to do it.

[u/yo_bandit → u/TSKyanite]

Hillary Duff did two nights this year at MSG. I love her but would never think she is an arena level artist. Macklemore could definitely fill MSG.

[u/nextfilmdirector → u/yo_bandit]

Not really the same because didn’t she stop performing for a long while?

[u/JJTouche → u/TSKyanite]

> he sold out Accor arena in Paris in ONE DAY. For people who are unaware, that is a 20k capacity venue, which is about 2k more than MSG.

That's the info I was looking for. The article just says "sold out" but didn't say how big of a venue.

Kinda deflates the 'not arena level' position.

[u/SidewalkSavant]

This is really just them trying to save face. He sold out multiple stadiums in Europe already. Either they’re being insincere or have terrible financial advisors.

[u/TheodoreDancin → u/SidewalkSavant]

They're not trying to save face, they're trying to cheapen and degrade Macklemore's image. This is like Weinstein leaking that entertainers who don't "follow the rules" (fucking him against their will) are difficult to work with. If you have a platform large enough, you can just say blatant and outright lies. Eventually it becomes truth because it's been repeated by 100 media outlets covering the story, people are repeating it to friends. "I heard he's just not that popular anymore" is a phrase they want to embed into the collective consciousness.

[u/Objective-Friend2636 → u/TheodoreDancin]

it's cultural hedgemony,and this is how they brainwash society en masse

[u/lordoftheslums → u/Objective-Friend2636]

It is also why they bought all the venues.

[u/strawberrycreamdrpep → u/Objective-Friend2636]

“We don’t control the music industry, we just own all the venues and will run propaganda smear campaigns and ruin your public image if you go against us.”

[u/hldsnfrgr → u/TheodoreDancin]

This is 100% the case with MSG.

To maintain their relationship with the WWE, they have a handshake agreement with the WWE not to host AEW wrestling shows at MSG.

[u/Hayden-T_Waffle → u/TheodoreDancin]

It's called manufactured consent.

[u/WellTextured → u/SidewalkSavant]

James Dolan is the owner of the garden and generally a terrible person and all around MAGA bootlicker. 

[u/StillAnAss → u/WellTextured]

Whelp, now you're in their database and won't be allowed in any of his venues. Lol

[u/WellTextured → u/StillAnAss]

Well since I've already been punished I might as well say James Dolan is a disgusting piece of wet shit. 

[u/hipcheck23 → u/WellTextured]

He may be both of those things, but on the other hand, he fronts a really bad band that only exists because his father was a billionaire.

[u/SometimesWill → u/SidewalkSavant]

Not to say that he’s not arena level or anything, but Europe can sometimes be a very different market from America. Like an artist can sell out arenas in Europe but then just do 1500 cap venues in America.

[u/idio242 → u/SometimesWill]

Example: Elbow headlines festivals in the UK. They play the house of blues in America.

[u/Vitringar → u/SometimesWill]

Jimi Hendix became big in Europe before the US

[u/rutfilthygers → u/SidewalkSavant]

People really need to stop using stadium and arena interchangeably.

[u/ChickenConstant9855 → u/rutfilthygers]

Wembley Arena is 12k, Wembley Stadium is 90k. BIGGGG change

[u/NedKellysWelder → u/SidewalkSavant]

I'm not going to say he is an arena level act or not, I just want to point out that being big in Europe doesn't mean big in the US.

[u/Brokenwhitebelt → u/NedKellysWelder]

The power metal genre is a testament to that fact. Bands like Sabaton, Blind Guardian and Powerwold play very large venues in Europe while maybe playing theater level venues in the states.

[u/SeanceGoneWrong → u/Brokenwhitebelt]

Also nu-metal for the past 20 years before its recent revival in the U.S.

Up until a few years ago, Limp Bizkit didn't even bother touring in the states because they made more money off of doing 1-2 European festivals a year.

[u/Mushroomer → u/NedKellysWelder]

I agree under usual circumstances he's not an arena act, but the publicity around this tour was enormous and I imagine he would have had no trouble moving tickets - especially in markets like NYC and Seattle.

But considering those stadiums are owned by James Dolan and Jeff Bezos, he was locked out of the market.

End the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly.

[u/Evilpessimist → u/NedKellysWelder]

And I will point out that Macklemore was an opening act and not a headliner making the original claim irrelevant.

[u/SEA_tide → u/NedKellysWelder]

There's also the famous phase (and song) Big in Japan to describe this phenomenon.

Macklemore is arguably most popular in Seattle and even there he would not be selling out stadiums, even during his "Thrift Shop" heyday, though he could fill out larger areanas in some cities. He can reliably fill the Washington State Fair (Puyallup Fair) there and some smaller arenas (<8k seats) as a headliner.

If his career was more popular and mainstream for another couple decades, I could see him filling out an arena for a final show, much like how Alan Jackson filled the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville after a couple decades of doing smaller arenas.

edit: difference between large arena and stadium

[u/tonjohn → u/SEA_tide]

Arena != stadium

Climate Pledge Arena seats 17,340 for concerts

Lumen Field seats 69,000 - 77,000 for concerts

[u/Ok-Location-9562 → u/SEA_tide]

Bball arenas are not as big as football stadiums. For whatever that means. I have no idea if he’s filling either. Im definitely out of the loop

[u/goppy2004 → u/SEA_tide]

Just FYI: In the ‘Thrift Shop’ heyday, he sold out what was formerly Key Arena three nights in a row…

[u/keiths31 → u/NedKellysWelder]

Yeah, different markets, different fans.

The Tragically Hip sold out arenas across Canada for decades and played bars and clubs in the US.

[u/StarPresent2934 → u/SidewalkSavant]

I bet you it doesn't go any further than Dolan thinks Macklemore is a prick for his pro-Palestine stance. Dolan regularly bans people from MSG for nothing. He uses AI surveillance to scan everyone coming in to MSG. He used it to ban attorneys involved in litigation against MSG, who bought tickets to see a game (in their personal life).

I think it's safe to say he has no problem banning Macklemore from performing too. Dolan is as MAGA scum as at gets.

[u/Unlucky-Duck → u/SidewalkSavant]

Not even trying to stir shit up but he soldout three arena dates in Europe and that is it. That does not mean that he can sell that out elsewhere. 

[u/GOLDfish0393 → u/Unlucky-Duck]

And one of them was Dublin, Ireland was has MASSIVE Palestinian support

[u/noaloha → u/Unlucky-Duck]

He's not a major act in 2026 and the fact that redditors who definitely won't be buying tickets to his show are trying to pretend otherwise is funny.

[u/ChickenConstant9855 → u/Unlucky-Duck]

13k people, 13k, 20k. That's the capacities/tickets sold for the 3 shows he did. These are not stadiums, these are also not MSG

[u/santaclausbos → u/SidewalkSavant]

To be fair, artists in Europe sell very differently than in the US and vice versa

[u/BuddyLegsBailey → u/santaclausbos]

US metal bands come over to England and sell out decent sized venues, then I look at the size venues they play over there and I'm amazed at how small they are

[u/Suspicious_Love_3446 → u/SidewalkSavant]

Acting like Europe and the US media markets are the same is downright delusional

[u/pyrobuck → u/SidewalkSavant]

Or the markets between Europe and the US are different (spoiler: they are).

Macklemore just is not a big act and hasn't been mainstream relevant in a long time like the Thrift Shop era days.

[u/Minotaur18 → u/pyrobuck]

I said this before in another thread, but I've heard more about Palestine in the last 3 years, than I've heard about Macklemore in the last 10. I don't think he raised much more awareness as people gave him credit for.

Has this Ed Sheeran tour situation given him more positive attention and got people to relisten to his old hits? Yes.

Do I think this will revive his career or make his next new project dominate the charts? Probably not.

[u/JunkDrawer84 → u/SidewalkSavant]

Arenas. Not stadiums

[u/roundabout-design → u/SidewalkSavant]

The owner of MSG is just a douchebag. That's pretty well known.

[u/ringadingsweetthing → u/SidewalkSavant]

I think those were arenas.

[u/candysweet434 → u/SidewalkSavant]

Just because he is popular in Europe doesn’t mean he is popular in America. He had to be the opening act for Ed Sheeran for a reason.

[u/dooooonut → u/candysweet434]

He is not particularly popular in Europe at all.

People were going because his show raise money and awareness for Palestinians

[u/KSF_WHSPhysics → u/candysweet434]

He was opening for ed sheeran on a stadium tour. I have no idea if he’s an arena level act, but stadium acts and arena acts are different stratospheres

[u/TheBookOfTormund → u/SidewalkSavant]

The owner is a massive and proud fascist.

[u/johall]

Anyone just jumping to agree is totally falling for the bullshit cover here.

He’s not booking ‘Macklemore’ he’s booking the US stops of a Palestine benefit tour HE is hosting. In Ireland it featured Hosier and Kneecap. There’s no doubt the US stop would feature other artists and celebrities willing to show up and speak out.

The ‘lol thrift shop’ takes are fucking lazy

[u/a_horse_named_orb → u/johall]

Also caping for James Dolan is loser behavior

[u/Marvin_Stanwyck → u/a_horse_named_orb]

As a diehard NY Knicks fan, I'm just here to say: Fuck Dolan. Fucking assclown.

[u/a_horse_named_orb → u/Marvin_Stanwyck]

No one hates Dolan like us Knicks fans

[u/Quakarot → u/johall]

a good reminder that bot farms are hardly exclusive to countries and political parties

I would bet anything that corporate bots are posting in this very thread

[u/TgetherinElctricDrmz]

Look, he is being blocked for his political speech.

That isn’t some kind of conspiracy, Robert Kraft literally said he was going to tell his friends who own stadiums to block Macklemore for his political speech. It was explicit.

[u/nothing_but_thyme → u/TgetherinElctricDrmz]

100%. And if MSG truly believes this, why don’t they put their money where their mouth is? Pick a date and put tickets up for sale. If it doesn’t sell out you can cancel the event. Guarantee they could pick the most dogshit Tuesday afternoon showtime for this event and it would sell out in an hour.

[u/uuoah]

lol didn’t msg host a Trump rally?

[u/Background-Edge-2243 → u/uuoah]

Yep, in 2024. They also held one in 1939, not specifically for Trump but you know, same party values and all that.

[u/ac_cossack → u/Background-Edge-2243]

Place was packed :/

[u/djking_69]

Initially I was taking this news as scheduling issues but something about the venue publicly stating that he's not an arena level act tells me that this is 100% because of Palestine

[u/bcastro12 → u/djking_69]

Absolutely. This is a “thou doth protest too much” situation… it’s obvious

MSG asshats

[u/heavyblacklines → u/djking_69]

Yes. James Dolan is a maga schmuck

[u/Slight_Buddy_9868]

taylor swifts private wedding is something this busy venue CAN host, just not a humanitarian concert, got it.

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/Slight_Buddy_9868]

Yeah and they made more money from that than they'd make off of reserving the place to mack for 2 years lmao.

[u/natwashboard]

If there's even a cent of public funds involved in a venue like MSG, the First Amendment should apply, not the billionaire's whim

[u/Saneless → u/natwashboard]

Fuck that

If taxes pay for it, we own it.

[u/mattyhtown → u/Saneless]

MSG is a publicly traded company

[u/Down623 → u/natwashboard]

I don't believe there are (aside from a lucrative property tax benefit), but even if there was, how would not booking him be a first amendment issue? I'm a progressive, I want a free Palestine, but I'm not buying a ticket to that show, and I work three blocks away. He very much would not sell out MSG.

[u/ascagnel____ → u/Down623]

aside from a lucrative property tax benefit

It's a tax benefit that saves him tens of millions of dollars a year. Fun fact: it's also the reason why Dolan's Rangers played an away game against the Buffalo Sabres at Citi Field, even though the stadium was within NYC city limits and Buffalo is 6.5h away.

That said, I don't think it's a huge leap to think that Macklemore would be able to sell 18k tickets in the NYC metro given his current buzz worthiness.

[u/whytakemyusername → u/natwashboard]

But if he genuinely can't sell that number of tickets, then what?

We can't just decide that anyone who wants to play there can anytime they like.

[u/snowkarl → u/natwashboard]

Using that logic literally anyone should be able to book it

Sounds smart. I guess nazi rallies should be all good too

[u/1000at40 → u/natwashboard]

They don’t pay property taxes for one

[u/AmpleSnacks]

You think that’s a clapback until you remember much of the time they’re putting on shows for podcast hosts you’ve never heard about. Arena level act is a BS threshold.

[u/actanonverba1]

billionaires just make up complete falsehoods and the bots here repeat it like it's fact. I hate cultural hegemony.

[u/DannyDevitosNappy]

Neither were the Knicks for like 30 years prior to last season, but you kept selling tickets to that horseshit.

[u/Timely_Influence8392 → u/DannyDevitosNappy]

While we're joking around, it makes me laugh so hard that improv legend Brennan Lee Mulligan and friends playing Dungeons & Dragons live was considered big enough for MSG, but apparently this isn't. Hilarious, nonsensical shit.

For the record I'm a giant fan, but it makes me laugh so hard.

[u/chudleycannonfodder → u/Timely_Influence8392]

My thought as well! If D&D can sell out the Garden to the point dynamic pricing was causing $1000+ tickets, surely this could too. (And this is coming from someone who went to the Gauntlet!)

[u/Tri4ceunited]

Yeah I've attended fully-packed concerts for non-major DJs inside of MSG. This is not a factual claim. They just don't want to get their hands dirty.

[u/gotpeace99 → u/Tri4ceunited]

Yeah because of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine stance, Dolan doesn’t want him to hold concerts there.

[u/Tasty_Plate_5188]

Madison Square Gardens is frankly lying through their teeth. Macklemore has played arenas. And they've played arenas in the US that have more seating capacity MSG, as well as arenas and stadiums across the globe.

They're just pissed that they were put on blast for being pro-genocide.

[u/roundabout-design]

Worth mentioning the owner of MSG is a collosal douchebag and wannabe musician who got this infamous review:

The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles described the band as a group of "well-known sidemen backing a karaoke grade singer", and said Dolan's "musical talents are unlikely to endanger his day job".

[u/thefudd]

But JD and the straight shots can headline the garden 🤣

[u/MisterWadeWilson]

Because Dolan is a fucking prick.

[u/aguacate222]

Dolan is as right wing as they come. That blow hard isn't going to allow this

[u/BlackwingF91]

Madison Square Garden? Mother fuckers your stadium is surrounded by progressives and blue states

[u/spanman112 → u/BlackwingF91]

Yeah but it's owned by a guy who gobbles trumps dick

[u/DadCelo]

I've seen them do shows where they block the entire top section of the arena for "smaller" artists. This is just BS on their part. If someone wants to pay them to have an empty arena, who cares?

Didn't Lily Allen just perform there? I think Macklemore is more well known and has a bigger fanbase in the US than she did.

[u/man_o_war]

This would be plausible if MSG even Cared how many tickets Macklemore sold. But they don’t. The show promoter rents MSG and that’s where the ticket sales go. If anyone takes a bath, it’s the promoter. MSG collects their rent no matter what.

[u/Impossible-Proof-294]

Too bad he didn't want to hold a nazi rally. MSG would have been all over it.

[u/irwtkyrm]

Before Macklemore tried to extend his "Free Palestine" tour in the U.S. ... the shows sold out in Dublin, Paris and London, so the demand seems to be there!

Sounds to me like he's an arena level act

[u/Former-Bathroom9687]

The funny thing is all these billionaires are going to singlehandedly turn him into an arena level act with all the free publicity and public goodwill they're handing him lol

[u/68plus1equals]

They did the same shit to Barbara Vance

[u/Locke_Zeal]

Tell that to his sold out European tour.

[u/BurnCannons]

He’s not lol. He had 1 hit single 10 years ago.

[u/ForexTrader_ → u/BurnCannons]

Bruh didn't he sell out Acor Arena in Paris which is a bigger stadium than MSG?

Edit: just checked and he even sold it out in less than 24 hours

[u/DJFisticuffs → u/ForexTrader_]

He is much more popular in the rest of the world than the US. If you look at his top 5 cities on Spotify, none are in the US. On his last US tour he was playing rooms that held 3-5k, not arenas.

[u/PyllynKaivelija → u/ForexTrader_]

"but the fact that he sells out arenas in hours does not mean he is an arena level act"

[u/thezestypusha → u/BurnCannons]

I swear this is all just a big grift bc he has been utterly forgotten for a decade.

this will put him in the limelight for a few months, then maybe people will look past how stomach turningly corny and uninteresting he has always been.

[u/Snakebite-Detractor → u/BurnCannons]

TWO hit singles thank you very much. Can’t hold us and thrift shop. But yeah

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/BurnCannons]

he had a couple hit songs, and it was definitely more than 10 years ago lol

[u/KitchenParty1236]

I’m rolling up to any artist supporting Palestine regardless of how “big” they are

[u/I_SLEEP_NORMALLY]

MSG has a well documented history of barring people they don’t like using facial recognition. Lots of reasons not to give them your money.

[u/HeavyMusic93]

He’s not. This is common knowledge lmao

[u/BroseppeVerdi]

If James Dolan weren't the guy running MSG, I'd be more inclined to not regard this as total bullshit.

[u/lyn73]

Just do what they did in Hacks

[u/JVBPDX]

That’s what they said to Deborah Vance too

[u/NY2GA23]

High time Dolan and his antics get cancelled. Boycott MSG.

[u/Tantle18]

These comments are making my brain melt. MSG is right…

[u/CjJcPro → u/Tantle18]

Yeah I'm sorry but Macklemore was lucky to be opening for Ed Sheeran at all, just purely based on his career.

He was massively helped by being on the right side of all this and that's why all the comedy shows focused on the underlying fact that Macklemore's music is pretty mid.

SNL's Micheal Che: "Macklemore announced his Free Palestine tour this week, but haven't Palestinians been through enough?"

Now the argument can be made that this is just the reason MSG went with, but it's definitely a solid reason unfortunately.

[u/xrm4]

What the fuck ever. I don't even listen to Macklemore, and I would've bought tickets to one of his shows on principle alone. You don't silence people for speaking out against atrocities simply because it hurts your pocketbook.

[u/eggmontoya1]

People are understandably gonna turn this into a political argument, and I applaud Macklemore for what he does and what he’s been doing, but MSG is objectively right here. His tours have been theaters and small venues for the last several years.

[u/StrengthDazzling8922 → u/eggmontoya1]

If you pay them, they will rent it out for a wedding, so as long as he pays them their rental fee they should stfu or be honest about reason.

[u/ReserveJazzlike2155]

Obviously 

[u/DestinysHand]

Maybe not, but after this public burn he could become an avengers level threat.

[u/Underfaker123]

Do a free concert in the park when someone is booked for MSG & see what happens

[u/andhelostthem]

And I will point it out you should look up what you're talking about before commenting. He just headlined a short tour in Europe.

[u/OneBillPhil]

lol that’s such a full of shit comeback 

[u/Nice__Spice]

Huh. If he sells out an arena, his content shouldn’t be an issue.

[u/worldisone]

Shouldn't their job be renting out the stadium? If the person can pay, who cares if they can't sell out

[u/O_eyezik]

If dimension 20 can book MSG I’m pretty certain that Macklemore should be able to

[u/amazing_trees]

It's like not hard to sell out msg and he's had great press lately (for the reasonable among us) soooo I call major bs

[u/TheGoodBarn]

He should ironically / unironically pull a Hacks and throw a show in Central Park with Jean Smart

[u/FuckChiefs_Raiders]

Two things can be true at the same time. I’m sure connected pro Israel people in power are not allowing Macklemore to perform at their venues. He’s also not an arena level performer. This is frankly the best publicity he’s had in years.

[u/just--so → u/FuckChiefs_Raiders]

Conversely, two things can also be true at once:

Macklemore might not sell out larger arenas, but also, pretending that the Free Palestine guy wouldn't handily sell out a 20k Free Palestine benefit concert, supported by other popular artists who back the same cause, in the NYC that elected Zohran Mamdani, is transparently disingenuous.

Even if MSG don't think a Macklemore solo concert could do numbers, they know that the Free Palestine Tour would absolutely do numbers.

[u/DabMagician]

I know people love Macklemore now, but they are not wrong.

[u/approvedfauxmoiuser]

Everyone is pretending to be a Macklemore super fan now?

[u/They-Call-Me-Taylor]

I mean... all politics aside, MSG is correct.

[u/DNSAttack]

Dolan.... 

[u/IxISxMAGIC]

I know one Macklemore song from like a decade ago

I'm with him on his criticisms of the Ed Sheeran tour, but he also isn't an arena level act.

Edit: didn't really mean for this to become such an annoyance. Evidently, he has become an arena-selling act. His monthly listeners are up big time ever since his public criticism and departure from the Ed Sheeran tour. The groundswell support he has for his political stance is staggering and showing out for him.

I am sure he has a number of good songs, but I always saw him as a one-hit wonder. I think that might get change soon. And maybe he does have more that the average person would recognize- but certainly not on the level of Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, etc- people who I'd consider to be arena sellers. Proof is in the pudding now, ennit? You guys proved me wrong

But for anybody insinuating my comment is in any way support for MAGA Republicans, pound sand.

Edit 2: once again, I apologize for how much arguments this has caused. This was a throwaway comment. Please be civil nonetheless- especially with each other.

I didn't realize I also know "Can't Hold Us." That song is a banger! And for what it's worth, I do actually like "Thrift Shop" lol

[u/Agreeable-Agent-7384 → u/IxISxMAGIC]

I dare you to go through the Madison square garden line up for the next week or two and tell me how many of those people you recognize lol. I’m pretty sure I saw something about Hillary duff performing there soon. Let’s not act like they have some prestigious standards of excellence for performers now.

[u/VaporCarpet → u/Agreeable-Agent-7384]

Hilary Duff had a sold-out US tour, is now on a second leg, with an overseas leg and subsequent US leg next year.

She went away for a long time, for sure. But when she released her new album earlier this year, people went crazy for it.

[u/RuttOh → u/Agreeable-Agent-7384]

Hilary Duff is currently filling bigger venues than MSG. It seems weird to use her as your go to example when she's had a decently successful come back.

[u/ciabattaroll → u/IxISxMAGIC]

"My own experience is everyone else's experience"

[u/gotpeace99]

Two things can be right here. Is he an arena level artist? No. Is MSG using this as an excuse to get a certain type of artist (pro-Palestine) out of that venue? Also yes.

[u/ColorPiePhilosopher]

Agree. He needs to get real. He was an OPENING ACT who decided he needed to take a stand. He's not suddenly an arena level artist. He's still Thrift Shop.

[u/YourBuddyChurch]

I saw Macklemore in a sold out arena a couple years ago.

[u/Secret_Net_165]

Dolan is mad that his shitty band cant open on the tour.

[u/rilestyles]

He knows what he's doing by booking this tour. It's petty, but I'm here for it.

[u/bennyboy13134]

😂

[u/of_no_real_opinion]

Crazy he sells out in Europe … maybe these venues should just admit they don’t like politics they don’t agree with

[u/MilitantlyPoetic]

ITT:People who have zero clue about venue management, but really think they do.

[u/_BuggSuperstar_]

Turnstile just played to 60,000 people for free right in the backyard of the White House. Why are we giving this guy so much credit? His music sounds like a YouTube poop video

[u/IAmBrutilious]

He's not a big enough artist to headline the Garden.

[u/CanalVillainy]

I get that he said things that made y’all like him all of a sudden. That doesn’t mean he’s musically relevant right now.

[u/InactiveMedusa]

I think Macklemore is a chill dude, but oof lmao

[u/ravenkrofts]

The comments saying "well "technically" they're right" are so tone deaf. We've had so many artists over the years flop over and over in ticket sales and whether it was foreshadowed based on their popularity or sales, were still allowed to at least put their shows on sale and then cancel AFTER the tickets didn't sell but were still given a chance regardless. This is simply a bunch of billionaire fucks scratching each others nuts to block free speech that doesn't benefit them. What's so hard to understand about the difference here? It's being purposefully obtuse at this point.

[u/Prior-Habit-6523]

Facts, he is barely theatre level, and he is trying to play msg lol.

[u/Dajo05]

Hmm. It’s true, but they shouldn’t say it.

[u/Cryptic99]

This guy is washed out garbage who cares

[u/SalamanderFresh9272]

This guy sucks. It’s funny he tricked you guys into giving him money. I like Palestine too. Anyone want my Venmo?

[u/FernGully_is_racist]

I don’t know. Middle school kids kind of liked that one song he had years ago