Kneecap
Main Stage, Electric Picnic
★★★★★
Unsettled conditions. Turbulent skies. A notice to expect anything. That was the weather forecast for Saturday at Electric Picnic this weekend. It’s also an accurate characterisation of the eager, skittish, expectant mood at the festival ahead of Kneecap’s arrival on the main stage at 3.30pm, for a performance booked in the wake of their highly publicised Glastonbury set.
It comes just days after the group’s member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, aka Mo Chara, appeared in court in London charged with displaying the flag of Hizbullah, a proscribed terrorist organisation in Britain, an offence he denies.
On Monday, the band cancelled their sold-out US tour dates, citing the proximity of their next court hearing in London to the first date of the tour.
It’s heavy stuff. But if the burden of being a spokesperson for a generation left reeling by the news cycle is weighing on Mo Chara’s shoulders, the Kneecap rapper isn’t showing it.
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As fat drops of rain threaten to become a downpour, and screens flash up “No more Israeli war bonds” and “Get the US military out of Ireland”, Kneecap emerge to an enormous Electric Picnic crowd looking relaxed, confident and in control.
“Has anyone been watching the news?” Mo Chara says. “Looks like jail, Ted. Our brothers and sisters in Palestine are under tremendous pressure. I don’t mean to lecture you, but until something changes I’ll take time out of every gig to talk about this on stage or whatever platform we have.
“Netanyahu is a war criminal. It’s about time politicians started doing something about it. It’s not fair to put the burden on the people when elected representatives are doing f**k-all.”
Formed in Belfast in 2017, the group long ago honed their material in festivals here and abroad, and their confidence in their stage craft and in each other shows. The interplay between Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh) is instinctive, exhilarating and often very funny. “It’s not Nile Rodgers, like,” Mo Chara says, referring to the Chic frontman’s main-stage performance later this evening. “We’re like the Wolfe Tones on cocaine.”
As they dip into tracks from Fine Art, their 2024 album, an early highlight comes with Better to Live, a single they recorded with the Fontaines DC frontman, Grian Chatten, before the set settles into more dubby, bass-heavy material.
“Open up,” Mo Chara commands, and great spaces appear in the crowd before fans rush each other. The vibe could be threatening. It’s actually incredibly joyful. A snatch of The Auld Triangle is performed before the gig elevates again: Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite, Cearta, Get Your Brits Out and Hood are chanted back at the band, lines as Gaeilge chanted perfectly in time.
“Nothing is going to top this,” a fan wearing an Irish flag as a dress says. She’s right. Against stiff competition and in a difficult time slot, Kneecap have taken the Electric Picnic crowd and delivered a performance for the ages.
