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Firebrand Irish rappers Kneecap have made their first appearance since the Glastonbury chant furore last week at a show supporting Dublin band Fontaines DC.
While both groups, who are known to be politically outspoken, played it relatively safe at the London concert over the weekend, some within the crowd allegedly chanted “death to the IDF”, The Telegraph UK reported.
The concert comes amid a police investigation into Kneecap and UK rap duo Bob Vylan for potential public order offences over various chants led from the stage, including Bob Vylan’s cries of “death to the IDF” – a reference to the Israel Defence Forces. Besides sparking the police probe, the Bob Vylan chant prompted widespread criticism, including from the Glastonbury Festival, organisers who said they were “appalled”.
Some within the crowd at Fontaines DC’s show over the weekend allegedly chanted “death to the IDF”. The performers did not echo this. Credit: Getty Images
According to The Telegraph, about 45,000 people attended the London gig on Saturday night (local time), some draped in the Palestine flag and others in Kneecap’s signature black balaclava. Twice, members of the crowd reportedly chanted Bob Vylan’s “death to the IDF”, but they were not echoed by the performers.
The chant was also heard in Melbourne over the weekend when pro-Palestinian protesters attended a demonstration less than 48 hours after an antisemitic attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
The same night as the attack on the synagogue, a group of 20 people stormed Israeli restaurant Miznon in the CBD, turning over tables and chanting “death to the IDF”.
Though the members of Kneecap did not join in on the alleged “death to the IDF” chants at the UK show, they did lead the crowd in saying “F--- Keir Starmer, you’re just a shit Jeremy Corbyn”.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh of Kneecap, better known as Mo Chara, performed for the first time since the Glastonbury chant furore in June.Credit: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
“It’s great to be back in London and not up in court,” rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh, better known as Mo Chara, said. In August, he will appear on terrorism charges for allegedly holding up a Hezbollah flag during a concert in London on November 21, 2024.
Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten later chanted “free, free Palestine”. The stage was also lit up in red and green during the song I Love You, which explores themes of genocide. On the screen, it read “Israel is committing genocide, use your voice”.
The band did not directly mention Bob Vylan; however, they did play the English rap duo’s song I Heard You Want Your Country Back through the speakers before taking the stage.
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Also on the bill for the London show were Melbourne punk band Amyl and the Sniffers, who dedicated one of their songs to Bob Vylan, with whom they toured in January as part of their Cartoon Darkness Australian series of gigs.
“Some dogs can’t be muzzled,” Amyl and the Sniffer singer Amy Taylor said on stage during the weekend show.
In the wake of the Glastonbury controversy, Amyl and the Sniffers posted a message of support for Bob Vylan on Instagram.
“The British media in a frenzee (sic) about Bob Vylan & Kneecap but artists all weekend at Glastonbury from pop to rock to punk to rap to DJs spoke up on stage & there were tonnes of flags on every streamed set,” Taylor wrote on Instagram.
Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s Glastonbury sets in June triggered outrage among viewers and supporters of Israel, who contrasted them against the massacre of Nova music festival-goers by Hamas gunmen during the October 2023 attacks, when more than 1200 Jews were murdered across southern Israel and 251 hostages seized.
The BBC broadcast the Bob Vylan set without edits or bleeps to cover any chants or lyrics that might be deemed offensive. The corporation later cut the live feed for the Kneecap set, saying an edited version would be available on demand later.
Following the sets, police said they would examine video footage of the shows for any potential offences.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer lashed the Bob Vylan performance, noting that he had previously urged organisers not to “platform” Kneecap.
“There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech,” he said.
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