By Sophie Williams
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Kneecap band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (blue cap and wearing keffiyeh) leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court on August 20, 2025 in London, England.
Carl Court/Getty Images
Occasionally the musical universe conjures astonishing success stories that we might never have thought to ask for and had no right to expect. Depending on who you’re talking to, Kneecap, a fiery, sharp and dexterous rap trio from West Belfast who have seen a wild ascent over the past year, might fall into that bracket.
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It’s a sentiment clearly shared among the thousands that descended upon London’s OVO Wembley Arena on Thursday night (Sept. 18), an audience that skewed across multiple generations. Since they released their debut project 3CAG in 2018 (their first full-length record, Fine Art, followed last year), it’s been argued that the appeal of Kneecap has been centered as much – if not more – around the collective giddiness they inspire as much as the music itself.
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Whichever it is, the concourse felt bulging at the seams with an unending sea of football shirts in varying green hues, keffiyehs draped across shoulders, and Irish accents of every lilt. Everything from Abbey Road-aping poster prints and Kneecap-branded crew socks to sweat bands and tricolour balaclavas could be found at the merch stand. Such was the size of the crowd near the bar, that arena staff were left to direct punters through the jubilant mob with the focus and movements of a team of aircraft marshals.
The build-up to this headline show had been dizzying. Less than a year ago, Kneecap were playing London venues that were merely a fifth of the size compared to OVO Wembley’s 12,500 capacity, but nearly 12 months on and they are one of the most hotly debated acts of 2025, continually garnering headlines (and new fans) the world over.
Over the summer, rapper Mo Chara attended two court hearings over what his bandmate Móglaí Bap has called a “trumped up” terrorism-related offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag – a proscribed terror group by U.K. law – in resurfaced footage from a past concert, a charge he denies. Mo Chara is on unconditional bail and will return to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court next week (Sept. 26); the proximity of the upcoming hearing means the band had to cancel their planned U.S. tour this fall.
Kneecap’s vocal and longstanding opposition to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza first brought them global attention back in the spring, after they ended their Coachella set by describing Israel’s military action as a US-funded genocide. In following months, the former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne called for their US work visas to be revoked, while a number of their U.K. and European summer festival sets were pulled, including TRNSMT in Glasgow.
Yet they have marched on. Kneecap’s live show continues to be a medium for their message; prior to their set at OVO Wembley, they welcomed Massive Attack members Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall to the stage, who aired a moving anti-war video. Palestine flags were waved across the crowd and draped across seats as a giant one was displayed on screen. Fontaines D.C.’s “I Love You,” a song written about disillusionment and political violence, blared over the speakers in the moments afterwards.
That ineffable charge continued to feel palpable as the lights went down and a thunderous roar went up. “What a year we’ve had,” said Mo Chara a few songs in, making scarce reference to recent events and instead directing his energy towards speaking about the Palestine cause in vivid and passionate language.
Behind the decks, a mischievous, trigger-happy DJ Próvaí occasionally came in a beat too early, adding an air of levity to the occasion. Kneecap zipped through tracks at high speed: 21 songs in barely an hour. It was a smartly relentless approach that encouraged fans to rearrange themselves into a series of moshpits, egged on by Mo Chara. The frenzied energy carried a show that didn’t have much visual excitement beyond a screen showing animated illustrations, or amorphous blobs of colour during “Rhino Ket.”
In between the roaring maximalism of tracks like “I’m Flush” and “Parful”, there was space for an emotional exchange with longtime collaborator Jelani Blackman, who joined Kneecap for “Harrow Road.” For the rest of the night, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap played the role of solicitous emcees, introducing songs, thanking the crowd for their support and encouraging security to hand out more water to those along the barrier.
Most touching of all was watching the group – known to many as little more than a rowdy, subversive force of nature – pause to highlight and take in the significance of how, as a predominantly Irish language act, they managed to fill out such a vast room. “This means the absolute world to us,” they said repeatedly, standing tall and proud.
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