‘Expect energy’ as Kneecap play home gig after year of controversy

South Belfast should “expect a lot of energy” and a “pretty intense” atmosphere when Kneecap support Fontaines DC at Boucher Road Playing Fields on Friday night, one fan has said.

Jamie Jamison will be seeing both acts for the third time and says the way they “challenge the establishment” adds to their appeal.

It is a homecoming for the rap trio, eight months since they last played Belfast. In that time they have been the centre of political controversy and the subject of police investigations.

The show is taking place days after one of Kneecap’s members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, appeared in court in London accused of a terrorism offence, a charge he denies.

Fontaines DC, a five-piece punk band who formed in Dublin, have voiced support for the Palestinian cause and criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Fan Jamie says both groups have been in the news “more for their views on the likes of Palestine or their political stance than the music”.

He says people value the message that “you don’t have to accept the status quo”.

“We’ve moved on from generic X Factor groups.”

A keen gig-goer, Jamie says “people are as excited to see Kneecap as to see Fontaines” and believes Kneecap will appeal to the younger people in the audience with their high energy, while Fontaines DC can be “more mellow”.

His favourite songs by both?

Kneecap – Parful

Fontaines DC – Boys in the Better Land

Kneecap, formed in Belfast in 2017, consists of Mo Chara and his bandmates Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh).

Kneecap rap in a mixture of England and Irish, and have broken new ground by bringing the Irish language to global audience of music and film fans, including through an Oscar-nominated and Bafta-winning film.

But by April this year, Kneecap’s vocal opposition to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza brought them attention of a very different kind.

The former X-Factor judge Sharon Osbourne called for their US work visas to be revoked after they ended their Coachella festival set with pro-Palestinian messages describing Israel’s military action in Gaza as a US-funded genocide.

During the fall-out from that row, videos of some of their previous performances began to be re-circulated, which led to two police investigations in the UK.

These included a November 2023 gig in which a band member was filmed saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

The band quickly apologised for the comment and for the hurt caused to the families of MP Jo Cox and Sir David Amess who were murdered in previous attacks.

In a statement, they said they rejected “any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual”.

They also claimed the remark was “taken out of all context” and that they were victims of a smear campaign due to their stance on Gaza.

But the story caused widespread furore and a number of festival organisers began to cancel Kneecap slots.

By May, a list of about 40 artists including Fontaines DC signed an open letter expressing support for Kneecap, saying there was a concerted attempt to censor and “deplatform” them.

Metropolitan Police counter-terror officers assessed the “kill your MP” footage but said the group would face no further action, partly because the time limit for prosecution had elapsed.

But they also assessed a second show in November 2024 in Kentish Town, during which Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh allegedly displayed a flag in support of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, a political and military group based in Lebanon, is a proscribed organisation in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.

Mr Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June and he is currently on bail waiting to find out if he will stand trial.

He denies the offence and the band said its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah.

The court case has been adjourned until 26 September, which was close to the start of the band’s planned US tour.

Earlier this week, Kneecap announced they were cancelling all 15 of their sold-out US tour dates in October due to the proximity of the upcoming court hearing.

Fontaines DC formed in 2014.

Its members are originally from different parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and Spain but they got together after meeting at music college in Dublin.

Lead singer Grian Chatten once said he and his bandmates Carlos O’Connell, Tom Coll, Conor Curley and Conor Deegan were drawn to one another “because of our appreciation of poetry”.

The group released their debut single Liberty Bell in 2017, a track which makes reference to a working class area of inner city Dublin known as the Liberties.

Two years later their first album, Dogrel, inspired by everyday life in the city, was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

They have since released three more studio albums, the latest of which was last year’s Romance, while Chatten released his first solo album in 2023.

Friday’s Belfast Vital show is the second night of two back to back festival nights at Boucher Playing Fields in the south of the city.

The gates open at 17:00 BST and the music begins at 18:00 with support acts Dead Dads Club and Chalk, followed by Kneecap and then headliners Fontaines DC.

The organisers have warned fans not to queue outside the venue too early and issued a public information notice for ticket holders attending the gig.