A sold-out OVO Arena Wembley became the stage for ‘Together for Palestine‘ on September 17, a one-night benefit concert that combined British and Palestinian performers in support of humanitarian work in Gaza. The show was initiated by musician and producer Brian Eno, working with Khaled Ziada and Tracey Seaward, with proceeds going towards charity ‘Choose Love’ and its local partners.

Eno, who has long balanced creative projects with social initiatives, helmed the event from its earliest planning. He helped pull together an unusually broad bill, invited designer Es Devlin and Palestinian painter Malak Mattar to develop the stage aesthetic, and worked closely with ‘Choose Love’’ to keep the focus on relief efforts rather than celebrity spectacle.

The line-up showcased  established UK names – Damon Albarn, Bastille, PinkPantheress, James Blake, Jamie xx, King Krule, Paloma Faith, Sampha, Greentea Peng – and Palestinian artists including Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman, and Nai Barghouti. Mattar’s work and other Palestinian imagery were celebrated in Devlin’s set, giving the arena a shifting backdrop of traditional imagery, resilience, and displacement.

Tickets, livestream donations, and a run of limited merchandise sold out instantly, helping to push the night’s fundraising total to an estimated £1.5 million for humanitarian aid. Doors opened just after 6.30pm, and the programme alternated between music, poetry, and short addresses from Palestinian speakers. Readings from Mahmoud Darwish sat alongside contemporary stories, giving the evening a purposeful balance between art and testimony.

For Eno, the concert aligns with a career that often merges experimental music with public causes, from ambient installations to campaigns for human rights and climate awareness. “This was about finding a way for art to meet empathy,” he said in a short statement after the show.

Production was understated but precise in delivery: Devlin’s moving set pieces and Mattar’s canvases framed the performers, while lighting shifted between warm tones and stark monochrome to match the flow of performances and speeches.

By the close, Together for Palestine had eclipsed its fundraiser status. It stood as a cultural moment inside the UK’s live-music schedules, positioning Wembley as a gathering place where musicians and audiences directly engage with wider issues while still celebrating the art of performance itself.