The Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap are ploughing ahead with their European tour despite a ban on entering Hungary, the cancellation of a string of concerts in Austria and Germany, and the intense scrutiny of authorities in France.
The Irish-language group will this Sunday play in front an expected 40,000 spectators at the Rock en Seine festival west of Paris, one of France’s biggest live music events of the year, just days after one of their members appeared at a London court on a terrorism charge.
France’s interior ministry gave the green light to the Paris concert after establishing that “there is no longer a risk of serious disturbance to public order” that would justify banning the band from appearing at the festival in the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, a 460-hectare park.
Kneecap had agreed to abide by a code of conduct after facing a ban from playing the Eurockéennes festival at the Lac de Malsaucy Belfort nature reserve in July and had abided by that code since, said the interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, in a letter to the French MP Caroline Yadan. Yadan has called for the group to be banned from entering the country. “Any excesses will be immediately prosecuted,” Retailleau said.
Yadan, who represents French residents overseas in parliament, has accused Kneecap of promoting Islamist terrorism and inciting “murder and hatred of Jews”.
Last month, the town council of Saint-Cloud withdrew a €40,000 (£35,000) subsidy for Rock en Seine over the rappers’ appearance, saying “it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality”.
Founded in 2017 by Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, Kneecap first made a name for themselves with bawdy songs that explored Irish identity and drug culture. At the Coachella music festival in California in April, however, the group invited political scrutiny when they accused Israel of carrying out a genocide on the Palestinian people.
Footage was uncovered of incendiary on-stage statements from their 2023 UK tour, including “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP”, which brought condemnation from the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and an investigation by the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command.
In an ensuing statement, the band apologised to the families of two murdered British MPS, saying they “never intended to cause you hurt” and adding: “We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always … We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual.”
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who goes by the name Mo Chara, was greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday for a three-hour hearing. Prosecutors allege Ó hAnnaidh, 27, displayed a flag in support of the proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, last November. Ó hAnnaidh, of Belfast, is yet to enter a plea to the charge and is on unconditional bail.
Reaction to Kneecap in some parts of Europe has been swift. Shortly after the Coachella furore, the band was uninvited from the Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany, on 20 and 22 June; gigs in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg were cancelled when the UK police started to investigate the group over the Hezbollah flag incident in May.
In July, Hungary’s rightwing populist government announced Kneecap had been classified as a national security threat and formally banned for three years from entering the country. They had been scheduled to appear at the Sziget festival in northern Budapest earlier this month.
A concert in Vienna on 1 September was cancelled at the start of this month after political pressure from Austria’s far-right Freedom party and the conservative ÖVP, with the promoter Racoon Live Entertainment citing “acute security concerns on behalf of the relevant authorities”. A screening of Kneecap’s Bafta-winning biopic as part of Vienna’s mobile open-air film festival Volxkino was also called off.
The band’s appearances at festivals in Poland, Finland, Norway and Belgium have gone ahead, however, and Kneecap are due to play sold-out solo shows in Copenhagen and Amsterdam next month.
“We are aware that one member of Kneecap has been charged under British law with glorifying a terrorist organisation,” said Søren Gaden, a spokesperson for Copenhagen’s municipality-backed Vega concert venue, where Kneecap are due to play on 3 and 4 September.
“In Denmark, we follow the principle of being ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and no conviction has been made,” Gaden added. “The group has also issued a clear statement that they do not support violence against civilians, terrorism, or the organisations Hamas or Hezbollah.”
The decision to book Kneecap at Vega has been criticised by Copenhagen’s mayor for children and youth, who said: “We are pure idiots.” Gaden said: “We comply fully with Danish law in all respects, both on and off stage – including the right to freedom of expression.”
Jurry Oortwijn, a spokesperson for Amsterdam’s Paradiso venue, said he had received strong negative reactions from the public over the two sold-out Kneecap shows his cultural centre is due to host on 5 and 6 September. Nonetheless, he affirmed the shows would go ahead.
“We consciously choose to programme Kneecap,” Oortwijn said. “Not to provoke, but out of the belief that a free pop culture must make space for sharp voices. Paradiso is not a place where criticism is silenced, but where dialogue remains possible.”
