Kneecap has announced its biggest-ever English show with a huge headline date at London’s OVO Wembley Arena this coming September.
The Belfast hip-hop trio will head to the 12,500-capacity show on Sep. 18 and follows their headline show at London’s Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park in the capital in May. Tickets for the show will go on presale on Jun. 4 at 10 a.m. BST, with a full general sale on Jun. 6 at 10 a.m. BST .
In April, the group came into wider focus following their shows at Coachella Festival where they shared a Pro-Palestine message on stage. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.” Following the shows, the trio split with their booking agent, and Sharon Osbourne and right-wing critics called for their visas to be revoked.
A month later in late May, band member Mo Chara, born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offense following historic videos which allegedly showed the MC shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” in reference to the two militant groups. Both are proscribed terror group status by the U.K. government, and alleged support is forbidden under the 2000 Terrorism Act. Ó hAnnaidh denies the charge, and called it “a carnival of distraction” away from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on June 18.
In response, several shows in Germany were cancelled, and the group were removed from the Eden Session lineup in Cornwall, England and TRNSMT in Glasgow, Scotland. The trio announced make-up gigs in nearby cities which sold out instantly. A number of acts including Massive Attack, Brian Eno, CMAT and more have backed the group in an open letter, calling for artistic freedom of expression.
The group are due to play a number of massive shows this summer. Later this month the group will head to Glastonbury Festival, before shows at Green Man, 2000 Trees and shows with Fontaines D.C. in their home city in Belfast in August. They released their album Fine Art in 2024 and are currently working on a follow-up.
