Kneecap have announced their biggest headline show to date at London’s Crystal Palace Park with The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog and more next year – check below for details.
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Taking place next year at London’s Crystal Palace Park on Saturday June 27, the Irish-language rap trip will be joined on the day by special guests The Mary Wallopers, Fat Dog, Biig Piig, Gurriers and Madra Salach.
Artist presale kicks off at 9am this Wednesday (November 26), and fans can sign up here. Alternatively, tickets go up on general sale at the same time on Friday (November 28), and you can find yours here.
Speaking about the landmark gig, the band said they were “back to the belly of the beast for our biggest ever headline show,” adding: “Our last wee venture into London was to beat the government in court…again. This time it’ll be even better: 25,000 sound heads in a park together.
“We’re delighted to have some of our best mates and best bands around to join us. This is one we can’t wait for.”
News of the gig follows Kneecap sharing the new Sub Focus-featuring single ‘No Comment’, which addressed the legal case against rapper Mo Chara, real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, that was thrown out in September.
The rapper had been charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a previous gig in London in November 2024, and was thrown out on a technicality relating to the way in which it was brought about.
Weeks after the case was thrown out, a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said they would be “appealing the decision to dismiss this case”, and Kneecap responded on Instagram by describing it as “political policing,” saying: “This whole process has not been driven by the police or the courts, it has been driven by politicians backed up by British media.”
Their statement came after Chara said he was “absolutely” considering legal action against the British state, adding in an interview with Virgin Media: “Even if it had’ve went to court, we would’ve won anyway.”
“It was a complete circus, it was a carnival, a distraction from what’s actually going on. And the more that they dragged this out, the longer they could keep this in the news, rather than talk about the actual issues.”
Both Kneecap and next year’s special guests The Mary Wallopers have seen their messages censored on stage this year. The latter band had their sound cut by Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival organisers and the Palestinian flag they had on stage taken away, a decision that was met with furious responses from both the band themselves and many of the other artists on the bill.
We caught Kneecap’s incendiary set at Wembley Arena in London back in September, and in a five-star review of the show, NME noted that just 24 hours earlier, “in this same room, Together For Palestine put on all-star fundraiser for the cause, the biggest of its kind. It’s significant that gigs like this should happen at a time like now. The state may try to crush them, but Kneecap have a power of their own.
“As they spit on ‘It’s Been Ages’: “Controversy won’t phase us, we hold all the cards and they’re aces, try to protect your kids but they’ll hear us.”
