The tour has three dates, a name and a reason. What it does not have, as of Friday afternoon, is a single confirmed act, and that is where this gets delicious. Macklemore says he has contacted artists who used their stages for the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences, and then he named nobody. Nobody! Regular readers know exactly what an empty slot does to a certain piece of Ed Sheeran's equipment.
Sources close to the situation say the loop pedal, promoted to opener at MetLife barely a month ago and now bound by a nine-clause code of conduct, has gone quiet. It missed soundcheck twice. It was seen on Thursday, unplugged, near a suitcase.
Twenty-six industry insiders have since told SnarkWire that the pedal's people took a meeting. Clause four of its code, you will recall, forbids unsanctioned solidarity. A device that repeats whatever it is fed apparently has views on who does the feeding.
"It has been looping the same four bars since New Jersey," said one person familiar with the pedal's thinking. "Ask yourself what it is trying to tell us."
A source close to the situation, who wished to remain unnamed, confirms everything and nothing. Macklemore's lineup announcement is expected any day now. The pedal's is expected first.
