After much discussion and controversy, Kneecap played Glastonbury 2025 this afternoon, hitting out at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Rod Stewart during a packed-out set.
Politicians including Starmer had called for the band to be removed from the festival’s line-up, with prime minister saying it would not be “appropriate” to have them on the line-up.
It comes after the band’s Mo Chara – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – was charged with a terror offence after he allegedly displayed a Hezbollah flag onstage during a show in London late last year. They have since been removed from the Scottish festival TRNSMT due to police safety concerns.
“Glastonbury, I’m a free man!” Chara said at the outset of the afternoon set on the West Holts stage, which was attended by so many that the entire area had to be cordoned off.
Hitting out at Starmer later in the set, Chara said: “The Prime Minister of your country – not ours – said he didn’t want us to play. So fuck Keir Starmer,” encouraging the crowd to join in the chant.
Rod Stewart was also the subject of comment from the band, with Chara saying: “Anybody going to Rod Stewart tomorrow? The man is older than Israel!”
“You might have seen Mo Chara was in the Westminster courts this month,” bandmate Moglai Bap added later of the terror charge. “Mo Chara’s back in court for a trumped-up terrorism charge. It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system. So if anybody’s available on August 20 at Westminster, we’ll go to support Mo Chara and start a riot outside the courts… that’s for the Daily Mail!”
Later on in the set, he then issued a “disclaimer” on the earlier comments, saying: “I don’t want anybody to start a riot. No riots, just love and support and more importantly support for Palestine, because that’s what it’s all about.”
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The band then thanked the Eavis family, Glastonbury organizers, for keeping them on the line-up despite the pressure for them to be removed. “They stood strong, and fair play to them,” Mo Chara said.
The set wasn’t live-streamed as planned on the BBC iPlayer, but Kneecap took to Instagram earlier in the day to confirm that the BBC “WILL put our set from Glastonbury today on the I-player later this evening for your viewing pleasure.”
This story originally published on Rolling Stone UK.
