During his “With Heaven On Top” tour, Zach Bryan and his band wore “Free Palestine” and “Appeal to Heaven” shirts at Gillette stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, after fellow artist Macklemore received backlash.
On Sept. 4, Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium. Benjamin Haggerty, best known as the artist Macklemore, said “Free Palestine” while displaying videos and photographs from within Gaza. With push back from Jewish groups, the tour promoters ultimately decided to remove Macklemore from the tour. Sheeran has faced continued scrutiny over the dismissal of Macklemore.
Grammy award winner Bryan silently stood with Macklemore while performing at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Bryan and a majority of his band wore a shirt that depicts a pine tree with the phrases “Free Palestine” and “Appeal to Heaven”. The musicians wore their shirts during both Gillette Stadium shows in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The meaning of the team’s shirts go further than standing with Palestine. The pine tree and phrasing was based on an American Revolution flag created by Joseph Reed. As one of America’s earliest flags, it flew highly on ship masts, and was raised upon flag poles as early as 1775. The flag’s motto “Appeal to Heaven” originated from John Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government”
“When a government becomes so oppressive and tyrannical that there no longer remains any legal remedy for citizens, they can appeal to Heaven and then resist that tyrannical government through a revolution.” Locke said.
In 2019, Robert Kraft, the owner of New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, won the Genesis Prize referred to as the Jewish Nobel Prize which contained a one million dollar prize. During the presentation of his award, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored Kraft for his twenty million dollar pledge to create an anti-Semitism foundation.
“Israel does not have a more loyal friend than Robert Kraft.” Netanyahu said.
Kraft has yet to make a statement nor ban Bryan from performing at Gillette. However country artists are historically not as progressive as Bryan. During the show, Bryan also thanked veterans along with acknowledging that every person in attendance was welcomed no matter who they are, and he wouldn’t have succeeded without them.
Bryan has previously spoken out against transphobia and currently his tour features two transgender artists, Heaven Schmitt and Lorelai Elliott Long. Schmitt has also become one of the trailblazing trans women to sing backing vocals for a country stadium tour.
Bryan’s “With Heaven On Top” tour began early March with St. Louis, Missouri and ended 39 shows later with Auburn, Alabama. The two shows prior to Auburn, were in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Oct. 2 and 3. Going out with a bang, Bryan sold out the venue both nights, and broke Gillette’s all time attendance records. On night two of the tour, over 70,000 fans flooded Gillette breaking the record for largest crowd for any event in Gillette Stadium history.
Bryan is breaking societal norms for a country artist and has not faced backlash. Bryan’s fanbase and others are taking the first steps in accepting others and altering the stigma around what country music is all about.
