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Paul Weller, Madness, Bobby Gillespie, Glen Matlock and many more are among those set to perform at London’s Artists for Gaza fundraiser gig later this month – check out all the details below.
This Sunday (May 17) at London’s Scala, Artists for Gaza will once again raise funds for the Health Workers 4 Palestine’s Gaza Medics Solidarity Fund – which aids in the rebuilding of maternity wards in Gaza, as well as funding mobile clinics and paying stipends to Gazan medics – you can donate and find tickets here.
The first two Artists for Gaza events raised over £55,000 for UNICEF’s Gaza appeal, and helped provide life-saving aid, including food, medical care and shelter for people in Gaza subjected to a humanitarian crisis; with a UN commission inquiry concluding in September that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, which Israel has denied (via BBC News).
This year’s edition will see Weller, Sex Pistols bassist Matlock, Madness members Suggs, Barso, Bedders, and Lee Thompson, Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay, Kevin Rowland, and Clive Langer of Deaf School perform together live on stage.
DJ sets will come from The Specials founder Jerry Dammers, Gilles Peterson, Simon Bartholomew, Aitch B of Soul II Soul , DJ Prime Cuts, David Holmes, The Beirut Collective, Jeremy Healey, Lascelles Gordon, and Primal Scream frontman Gillespie.
Speaking about this Sunday’s event, Gillespie described Artists for Gaza founder Chris Sullivan as “an old friend who I respect very much”, adding: “When he told me what he was planning to do with the people being massacred in Gaza by the Israeli Occupation Forces I said I would love to be involved.
“I believe it’s the human rights issue of our time. A grave historical injustice has been done to the Palestinian people. Our government are complicit in the genocide prosecuted by Israel. I support the Palestinian people’s struggle for equal rights and justice.”
Dexys Midnight Runners founder Rowland echoed those sentiments, saying: “I want to play Artists for Gaza because it’s my duty as a human being to do whatever I possibly can. Innocent people are being slaughtered and our government don’t care.”
Further live sets will come from acid jazz band Galliano, Natty Bo and the Top Cats, the Errol Linton Band, and The Black Kat Boppers. There will also be a vintage vinyl room, with Eddie ‘Acid Jazz’ Pillar, Bob Jones, Snowboy, Dean Thatcher, Paul ‘Smiler’ Anderson, and a Northern Soul sets from Wigan Casino mainstays Amanda and Val, 6Ts all-nighter at the 100 Club founder Ady Croasdell, and Lewisham’s the Heart of Soul Squad.
A reggae room will feature veteran selectors including MC Kinky, Oxman, Dub Vendor, legendary music producer Howie B – best known for working with Bjork, Gaz ‘Rockin Blues’ Mayall, Keith Lawrence of Mi-Soul, Darren Bennet, and dancehall trailblazer Father Festus Coxsone.
As well as providing a platform for the creative community to come together to raise vital funds, this month’s Artists for Gaza event will be held in memory of Finbar Sullivan, the son of Chris Sullivan and Leah Seresin, who was killed in April this year.
Finbar was profoundly moved by the suffering of children in Gaza, which promoted his father Chris to found Artists for Gaza. Press materials state that Finbar was heavily involved in Artists for Gaza from the start so it’s felt like a “fitting dedication” to him.
The gig won’t be the first time that Gillespie and Weller have come together to raise awareness and funds for Palestine. In 2024, the two of them joined Kneecap for a ‘Gig For Gaza’ charity show at the O2 Academy Brixton.
That event was described as a way to bring together “some extraordinary talent to raise much-needed funds and awareness”, and all proceeds went directly to MAP (Medical Aid For Palestinians) and Gaza Forever – both of which provide essential aid, including food, medical supplies and emergency shelter, for those suffering in the city.
Before then, Primal Scream collaborated on a shirt design for a Palestinian refugee football team, and Weller expressed his support for Palestine by saying that he was “against genocides and ethnic cleansing” and performing with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amp.
The two artists also joined dozens of artists in signing a letter from Heavenly Recordings supporting the right to freedom of expression for musicians and artists, following the backlash to Kneecap speaking out for the people of Palestine and pressures to have them dropped from festival line-ups.
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