They’ve played Electric Picnic twice before – but Kneecap’s stock has never been higher and fresh off a high-profile performance at Glastonbury and a court battle in London, they’re set to take to the stage in Stradbally again this year.
The official Electric Picnic social media pages have posted an image of Kneecap today with a simple ‘This is going to be a special one’.
Kneecap – an unapologetically republican Belfast rap group that perform in Irish and English and – have become embroiled in political controversy in recent times.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged under the Terrorism Act for waving a Hezbollah flag at a London concert last year.
He appeared in court earlier this month but is on bail ahead of a further hearing on August 20.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he didn’t think it was ‘appropriate’ that the band be allowed to appear at Glastonbury but they performed in front of thousands of supporters where there was a large number of Palestine flags.
‘Brits out’ and ‘Tiocfaidh ar Lá’ were among the Kneecap lyrics performed at Glastonbury while they also had a blunt message for the UK Prime Minister, ‘F**k you Starmer’.
This will be the third year for Kneecap to take to the stage at Electric Picnic having performed previously in 2019 and 2022.
Electric Picnic organisers haven’t specified what stage or day they’ll be on but the group themselves have intimated on their own X (Twitter) account that they will be on main stage. Regardless, they should prove to be one of the biggest attractions of the weekend.
Chappel Roan, Fatboy Slim, Sam Fender, Kings of Leon, Hozier and Becky Hill are the other headline acts across the three days while rising Irish acts like Amble and Kinfishr are also included in the lineup.
This year’s Electric Picnic returns to its traditional date at the end of August/early September having been two weeks earlier last year.
SEE ALSO – Becky Hill, Amble and Kingfishr added as Electric Picnic announce latest line up for 2025 festival
