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The Jam’s Paul Weller, Madness‘ Suggs, Dexys‘ Kevin Rowland, Sex Pistols‘ Glen Matlock and Roxy Music‘s Andy McKay have all come together to form a supergroup at a one-off London gig that raised money for Gaza.
The gig was held at London’s Scala last night (Sunday May 17) and organised by Artists for Gaza as a way to again raise funds for the Health Workers 4 Palestine’s Gaza Medics Solidarity Fund. That initiative aids in the rebuilding of maternity wards in Gaza, as well as funding mobile clinics and paying stipends to Gazan medics – visit here to donate and find more information.
Artists confirmed as taking part were Paul Weller, Madness, Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Jerry Dammers (The Specials), Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols), and Kevin Rowland (Dexys Midnight Runners), as well as Gilles Peterson, Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay, Simon Bartholomew (The Brand New Heavies), and Clive Langer.
Held last night, the show saw Weller, Rowland, Matlock, McKay, and Langer come together with Madness’ Suggs, Lee Thompson, Bedders and Barso to form a one-night-only supergroup called ‘The Scala Band’.
Together, they performed Bread’s ‘Everything I Own’, the 1982 anti-war song ‘Shipbuilding’, and Madness tracks ‘Our House’, ‘My Girl’, ‘Madness’ and ‘The Harder They Come’.
DJ sets came 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. In the audience was The Kite Runner actor Khalid Abdalla, EastEnders’ Jesse Wallace and photographer Misan Harriman.
The event was held just one day after a pro-Palestine march was held in London on Saturday (May 16), where thousands gathered in Kensington, and went though Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, and more, before ending at Pall Mall. That day also saw another large protest in London, organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and focussing on issues around immigration.
“I wanted to play Artists for Gaza because it’s my duty as a human being to do whatever I possibly can,” said Dexys founder Kevin Rowland. “Innocent people are being slaughtered and our government don’t care.”
Bobby Gillespie said: “[Artists for Gaza founder] Chris Sullivan is an old friend who I respect very much. 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,” he added. “Our government are complicit in the genocide prosecuted by Israel. I support the Palestinian people’s struggle for equal rights and justice.”
Before last night’s show, there had already been three Artists for Gaza events, which helped raise over £55,000 for UNICEF’s Gaza appeal. This went towards providing life-saving aid, including food, medical care and shelter for people in Gaza.
The first was held in November 2024, and the second was held in March 2025. The third took place at Century Club in London last July and featured performances from Paul Weller, Bobby Gillespie and The Clash’s Paul Simonon.
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.
Both Gillespie and Weller previously joined dozens of artists in signing a letter from Heavenly Recordings, supporting the right to freedom of expression for musicians and artists after Kneecap were dropped from multiple live shows and festivals due to backlash over speaking out in support of the people of Palestine.
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