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Kneecap Shocks as Expected With Raucous Glastonbury Set: “The BBC Editor Is Going to Have Some Job”

The Irish rap trio has drawn widespread criticism in recent months, with U.K. politicians criticizing the choice to allow them to perform at the musical festival.

On Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury’s West Holts stage, which was fenced off as they came on due to overcrowding, Ó hAnnaidh told the 30,000-person crowd: “Glastonbury, I’m a free man!” Clips of newsreaders announcing his terror charge played before the band came on, as well as pro-Palestine messages and videos of various U.K. politicians criticizing the decision to have the band play at the festival. “The prime minister of your country didn’t want us to play… So fuck Keir Starmer!” The band repeated this sentiment a lot over the course of the one-hour set, getting the audience to chant it back to them. In May, the Met Police said it would investigate after online videos showed the band calling for the death of British parliament ministers, as well as chanting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” It is illegal in the U.K. to express support for Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and military group in Lebanon, as it is considered a terrorist organization in Britain.

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