On May 21, it was announced that Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence.
The charge – which was made under the Anglicised version of his name, Liam O’Hanna – alleges that the band member allegedly displayed a flag in support of the terrorist group Hezbollah at a gig in North London last November.
It’s just the latest episode in a saga that stretches back all the way to February, when the Northern Irish band got into hot water for displaying a sign that read ‘Free Palestine, F*** Israel’ at their Coachella gig. That sparked an international furore, which was only heightened when the British counter-terrorism police announced that they were opening an investigation into the band’s conduct at two of their London concerts in recent years.
Kneecap have strongly defended themselves the whole way through. But with an actual police charge under their belts now – and a summer full of gigs on the horizon – what now for the band? And will they play Glastonbury later this year? Here’s what we know.
Will they play Wide Awake?
As of today, the band has given no indication of whether they will play their headline slot at the upcoming Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park on Friday – or indeed, if they will be able to.
In the meantime, Kneecap have released a statement saying that the decision to charge Ó hAnnaidh is “political policing” and part of a “carnival of distraction.”
“We deny this offence and will vehemently defend ourselves,” the band wrote in a statement released since the news broke. They’re not backing down – so unless Wide Awake post anything in the next 24 hours (which they haven’t), it certainly looks like their gig is going to happen.
What next?
The band are scheduled to play a host of festivals around the UK – and the world – in coming months, including at Barcelona festival Primavera, Northside Festival in Denmark and at Finsbury Park in July, supporting Fontaines D.C.
Some of these (like that at the Eden Project) have already been cancelled. There has also been controversy over the remaining gigs. According to the Daily Mail, a group of music industry agents have allegedly written to Glastonbury, urging the organisers to ban them from playing.
The email chain was apparently leaked to Kneecap, who threatened to take legal action in return. So far, Glastonbury themselves have said nothing about whether or not the band will be playing for the festival, which this year starts on June 26.
In terms of the legal situation, Ó hAnnaidh is due to appear in front of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, but hasn’t been taken into custody.
Will there be new music?
There already has been. Kneecap have already teased new music in the wake of the controversy around their Coachella set earlier this year. “Yis don’t wanna miss this one,” they wrote, in an Instagram post accompanying the news.
The song, which is titled The Recap and is a collaboration with the drum and bass artist Mozey, starts with a clip of a news presenter talking about the police investigation into the band.
“There’s a little bit of breaking news to bring you and that is that counter-terrorism police will investigate the rap trio Kneecap,” the presenter says. The band have form with this – their song Fine Art also featured a remix of a news report from the BBC’s Steven Nolan. There are also rumours of a collab with The Streets’ Mike Skinner: so stay tuned.
