After many festival cancelations due to Kneecap's pro-Palestine activism and a terrorism charge for member Mo Chara, the Irish-language rap trio made it to Glastonbury and performed a successful set that featured disses of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Rod Stewart.
Ahead of the show, Starmer told The Sun about Kneecap's place on the Glastonbury lineup, “This is about the threats that shouldn’t be made, I won’t say too much because there’s a court case on, but I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Chara told the massive crowd, “Glastonbury, I’m a free man!” He added, “The Prime Minister of your country — not ours — said he didn’t want us to play. So fuck Keir Starmer,” encouraging a chant. Then, Stewart caught a stray: “Anybody going to Rod Stewart tomorrow? The man is older than Israel!” Chara quipped.
Bandmate Moglai Bap offered an update on Chara's legal situation, saying, “You might have seen Mo Chara was in the Westminster courts this month. Mo Chara’s back in court for a trumped-up terrorism charge. It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system. So if anybody’s available on August 20 at Westminster, we’ll go to support Mo Chara and start a riot outside the courts… that’s for the Daily Mail!”
Later on, he backtracked, “I don’t want anybody to start a riot. No riots, just love and support and more importantly support for Palestine, because that’s what it’s all about.”
“We’re all watching it, we all have a phone, there’s no fucking hiding it," Chara also said. "Israel are war criminals. It’s a fucking genocide. And it’s important… I can see the amount of Palestinian flags here, and it’s fucking insane. The BBC editor’s gonna have some job. So sometimes we feel helpless. Sometimes we feel like we’re not doing enough. And that’s probably true sometimes.
"But the difference it makes to people in Palestine when they see people from the other side of the world, this many people screaming..." he concluded before leading the crowd in a "Free Palestine" chant.
Their performance wasn’t livestreamed, but Kneecap assured fans on Instagram that the BBC “WILL put our set from Glastonbury today on the I-player later this evening for your viewing pleasure.”
The British punk/grime act Bob Vylan performed right before Kneecap, opening with a message of support for the group and criticism of those who tried to get them censored. The duo's Bobby Vylan led “Free Palestine” and “Death to the IDF” chants, which were broadcast on the livestream. Afterwards BBC said those comments were “deeply offensive” and that the set would not be viewable on-demand.
"We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises,” Bobby also said. “We are the violent punks, because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak, unfortunately.” Their 2023 single "Censored (Interlude)" included the lyric "Johnny Rotten tried to warn us way back / Maybe if I made pacifist punk / non-violence always makes for a great track."
Avon and Somerset Police now say they are assessing festival performances “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”
Bob Vylan starting the #DeathToTheIDF chant is fucking beautiful, and just what the world needs to hear!#NaziIDF #GenocideByIsrael #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/JdZvelL31U
— Kav (@KavsWord) June 28, 2025
We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon.
Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation. pic.twitter.com/w2RQ4LdQf3
— Avon and Somerset Police (@ASPolice) June 28, 2025
