Kneecap have formally cancelled fifteen shows due to take place in the US in October. It’s thought the band have been having visa issues, though an official statement simply says that the cancellations were necessary because of the US tour’s “proximity” to band member Mo Chara’s next UK court hearing on terror offence charges. But those ongoing legal issues could well be impacting on the band’s US visas.
“With every show fully sold out, to tens of thousands of fans, this is news we are sad to deliver”, the band said in their statement, before adding, “Once we win our court case, which we will, we promise to embark on an even bigger tour to all you great heads”.
Kneecap’s performance at France’s Rock en Seine festival went ahead this weekend, despite some controversies in the run up regarding the band’s on-stage support for Palestine.
Though the main controversy this weekend when it comes to on-stage politics at music festivals was in the UK, after the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth halted a set by Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers because they displayed a Palestinian flag on-stage.
When The Last Dinner Party and others pulled out of the festival in protest, the event’s organisers issued an apology, admitting they’d failed to properly communicate a general no-flags policy. “This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen”, they said, adding, “we would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned”.
There have been lots of political controversies around music festivals this year, of course, mainly relating to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Some of that involves artists expressing support for Palestine while strongly criticising Israel on stage. Plus some festivals have come under criticism for having owners or sponsors with connections to Israel.
Kneecap’s festival shows have been in the spotlight ever since they shared strongly pro-Palestine and anti-Israel statements at their Coachella set in the US earlier this year. Some have commended the group for using their platform to express support for Palestine, while others have condemned the rappers and called for their shows to be cancelled.
French festival Rock en Seine lost €40,000 in local authority funding after it booked the rap trio, with a local mayor saying the group’s involvement made the event political, and therefore not something the council could financially support.
Ahead of the band’s performance at the festival this weekend, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the authorities would be monitoring the set for “any comments of an antisemitic nature, apologies for terrorism or incitements to hatred”.
None of those things happened, but there was the customary on-stage politics, including a projected statement in French that translates as follows, “The French government is complicit: it sells and facilitates the trade of weapons to the Israeli army”.
As the band took to the stage at the festival a small number of pro-Israeli protestors waved anti-Kneecap flags and blew on whistles to disrupt the show, but they were quickly removed. As that was happening, the group’s Móglaí Bap told his audience: “They wanna try and stop us. They don’t want us to play the festival. We’re not going to allow them to get away with it”.
According to Euronews, he then added, “We’re not like them. We’re not like Israel. We’re not here to cause fights. We’re here to have a good time. If anyone blows whistles, let security know, we’ll get rid of them. No aggravation. It’s all love, all support for Palestine”.
Kneecap’s own US headline tour has been in doubt ever since the controversy surrounding the band’s Coachella set. Some critics immediately called on the US government to cancel their visas, and then they were dropped by their US agents, who were believed to be the sponsors on the band’s visa applications.
Footage then appeared of the band seemingly expressing support for proscribed terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah at a London show last year, leading to Mo Chara’s current criminal case, which is due back in court next month.
Even though he’s not been convicted of any crime, the charges will likely hinder the rapper’s US visa application. Although Kneecap don’t specifically discuss visa issues in their statement about the cancelled American tour, four Canadian dates scattered around the US shows are going ahead.
Back at the Victorious Festival, The Mary Wallopers had their set cut short by the event’s management after the band displayed a Palestinian flag on stage. Apparently the fact it was a Palestinian flag wasn’t the problem, instead the festival has a general no flags policy, for some reason.
In an initial statement, the festival said it wasn’t even the flag that resulted in its production team cutting off sound from the stage where the band were performing. A spokesperson claimed that the band voluntarily stopped performing after the no flags policy breach was raised. Production then cut the sound after the band’s members started “used a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context”.
However, the band hit back at that statement, insisting that it was the festival that cut their set short, and that that happened because of the flag rather than any chanting.
They then posted a video of their short set to social media, in which the only chanting that can be heard is “free Palestine”. We also see a festival crew member removing the flag, which the band then reclaim and put back on display. The crew member then tells the band “you aren’t playing until the flag is removed”.
The band said in their own statement that the festival was “misleading” the press, adding, “We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately”.
The festival did then issue a different statement, saying, “The Mary Wallopers are a fantastic band and we were very much looking forward to their performance at Victorious on Friday. We are in the business of putting on great shows, not cutting them off and this is the last thing we wanted, for the band, their fans and ourselves”.
“We absolutely support the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage, within the law and the inclusive nature of the event", it went on, before adding that “our policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right”.
“We didn’t handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached”, the statement continued. “This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned”.
The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic all pulled out of the Victorious Festival over its treatment of The Mary Wallopers. In their own statement, The Last Dinner Party wrote that “as a band we cannot cosign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today”.