Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has commented on Kneecap calling him out at a Glasgow show earlier this week, basically adopting the same position as the rap trio themselves: that spats between musicians and politicians in the UK shouldn’t be distracting people from the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Both Kneecap and Bob Vylan referenced the ongoing controversies around their on-stage support for Palestine during UK gigs this week. Kneecap played a show in Glasgow on Tuesday in place of their cancelled appearance at the city’s TRNSMT festival this weekend.
The festival’s promoter officially pulled the group from the bill because of concerns raised by Police Scotland, but Swinney previously said it was “unacceptable” they were on the TRNSMT line-up after footage emerged of a Kneecap gig where they said “the only good Tory is a dead Tory - kill your local MP”.
Swinney said the group’s on-stage comments were “beyond the pale”, amid outrage over the ‘dead Tory’ line and the group appearing to express support for Hamas and Hezbollah at a different show.
On Tuesday, band-member Mo Chara referenced Swinney’s previous comments just ten minutes into the gig. He asked his audience “what’s your First Minister’s name?”, before swearing and then adding, “They stopped us playing TRNSMT but they can’t stop us playing Glasgow”.
Discussing the Kneecap gig the following day, Swinney told journalists “I understand I got a mention”, before adding, “the last thing I want to be commenting on is bands, I want people to enjoy their music and make their choices”. But, he said, “if bands say things that cause widespread concern, there shouldn’t be a surprise to bands that I get asked about them”.
He then went on, “I think the most important thing at this moment is that we all focus on the issue that Kneecap are concerned about, which is the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. I want to see a ceasefire implemented, I want to see humanitarian aid put into Gaza”.
Both Kneecap and Bob Vylan have repeatedly insisted that politicians and pundits railing against their on-stage comments against Israel and in support of Palestine are a massive distraction from the real story, which is what is happening in Gaza, and the UK government’s policies towards Israel.
Bob Vylan, of course, have joined Kneecap in the mainstream media glare ever since their BBC broadcast Glastonbury set, in which frontman Bobby Vylan led the crowd in a chant of “death, death to the IDF” - referencing the Israeli Defence Forces - before declaring “from the river to the see, Palestine will be free”.
As with Kneecap, Bobby Vylan’s on-stage statements have been commended in some quarters, but outright condemned by others, resulting in some shows being cancelled.
During a surprise show at London’s 100 Club yesterday, the duo’s fans started an impromptu chant of “death death to the IDF”, to which Bobby Vylan responded “you are going to get me in trouble”
He then added, “apparently every other chant is fine, but yous will get me in trouble”, before instigating an alternative chant of “Free, free Palestine”.
According to The Independent, the musician also told his audience, “It’s been a busy week, been a busy couple of days, do you know what I mean? Just putting out fires you know? We never ever could have imagined that we would create a conversation that needed to be created and needed to be had”.
While admitting that the post-Glastonbury controversy had put the duo’s album back in the chart, Bobby Vylan also seemed keen to remind people that the controversies around the duo shouldn’t really be the story, stating, “We just want to see the liberation of the Palestinian people. That’s it. I don't think it’s too crazy a thing to ask”.