Deacon Blue to perform at fundraising gig for Gaza medical aid charity

Benefit will also feature Capercaillie, James Grant, Admiral Fallow, Rura and Siobhan Miller

Scottish pop and rock giants Deacon Blue are to perform at a major charity concert in Glasgow in aid of a charity working in Gaza.

The Glasgow band have agreed to head up a benefit show for Medical Aid for Palestinians. The charity has been providing medical supplies and supporting healthcare services to those in greatest need during the ongoing conflict.

Tickets are on sale now for the event at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on May 1, which will also feature a host of other leading Scottish bands, singers, musicians and poets.

Deacon Blue. Picture: Cameron Brisbane

More than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in air and artillery strikes carried out by the Israeli military in response to an attack by the Palestinian military group Hamas on October 7, which claimed around 1,200 lives.

The concert is being billed as “an unforgettable evening of music, compassion, and unity” and “a powerful statement of solidarity and humanitarian support”.

Capercaillie, Rura and Admiral Fallow will be among the bands performing, along with singers Siobhan Miller, Kitti and James Grant, fiddler Duncan Chisholm, piper Ross Ainslie, and the poets Jim Mackintosh and Julie MacNeill.

Deacon Blue singer Lorraine McIntosh said: “Since the awful events of October 7, we have looked on in growing horror at the destruction of Gaza and its infrastructure and the senseless death of over 30,000 innocent people.

“The only thing we can do to help in any small way is to raise money. With the destruction of practically all medical facilities in Gaza, we have chosen to support the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians who have a long history of delivering emergency healthcare to the people on the ground in Gaza where help is needed most.”

Donald Shaw, a founder member of Capercaillie, said: “Capercaillie performed in the West Bank, Palestine back in the late ‘80s as part of a Middle East tour. We felt honoured to be welcomed by such wonderful people full of pride in their culture and resilience in the face of conflict.

“Performing on this gig for Gaza alongside these great artists to raise even a modest offering feels like the least we can do to show our support in their hour of need.”