Kneecap suggested as ‘secret set' to replace Bob Vylan at Manchester festival
Bob Vylan's performance at Radar festival in Manchester was cancelled after singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, led crowds in chants of "death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)" during their Saturday afternoon set at Glastonbury.
Kneecap performing on the West Holts Stage
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images )
Kneecap were suggested as a replacement for Bob Vylan by organisers of a festival who dropped the punk duo after Glastonbury.
Bob Vylan's performance at Radar festival in Manchester was cancelled after singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, led crowds in chants of "death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)" during their Saturday afternoon set at Glastonbury.
Speaking on the 2 Promoters, 1 Pod podcast, Radar organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith said the festival was "forced into a position" they did not want to take in dropping the band from their upcoming headline slot this Saturday.
On acts that could replace Bob Vylan, Ms Jackson-Smith said her colleague Joe had suggested a Kneecap "secret set" in order to "make a statement".
"You can say nothing publicly but if you go and book, and as I did mention, Joe's first response was, 'What if we did Kneecap as a secret set?' because that makes a statement, and it makes a statement without having to make a statement and that is what we wanted to do so we are going through options," she said.
"We might end up with somebody that has no discernible political opinion in any manner at this point because if they're free and they could play on Saturday, maybe that is the criteria that we're looking for at this stage."
Article continues below
Irish rap trio Kneecap, whose member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence, performed on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury after Bob Vylan.
As of Friday afternoon, Radar has not announced a replacement for Bob Vylan and the festival's website lists the Saturday line up as "headliner TBA (to be announced)".
Of the conversation Radar organisers had with Bob Vylan, Ms Jackson-Smith said it was "one of the most horrendous professional discussions" she has ever had.
"I cannot express clearly enough that I wanted Bob Vylan to perform at our festival," she said.
"Bob Vylan know that we wanted to book them. Why else would we have booked them?" she added.
"And Bob Vylan also know that we didn't want to pull them, because we tried our hardest not to do that... but ultimately, it still ends at the same point the headlines will be 'Radar festival pulled Bob Vylan'."
Bob Vylan issued a statement on Tuesday claiming they were being "targeted for speaking up".
It has emerged that Bob Vylan were already under investigation by police for comments made at a performance one month before Glastonbury.
Video footage appears to show Bobby Vylan at Alexandra Palace telling crowds: "Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF."
Article continues below
The duo have had their US visas revoked before their tour later this year and have been pulled from an upcoming performance at a German music festival, following their appearance at Glastonbury.
They are currently expected to perform at the Boardmasters surfing and music festival in Newquay, Cornwall, in August.
The group was formed in Ipswich in 2017, and are known for addressing political issues in their albums including racism, masculinity and class.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out
6 hours ago
- Time Out
The Lost Paradise line-up has just dropped – it's bringing big international and Aussie acts to a magical valley just outside of Sydney
Since it first popped up at the end of 2014, Lost Paradise – the four-day festival set in the magical, sun-soaked bowl of Glenworth Valley – has cemented itself as a New Year's ritual for a sizeable portion of Sydney's dance lovers. Just over an hour's drive from the CBD, it's renowned as a creative, colourful oasis: a place to escape reality and welcome the year ahead. This morning, the organisers (Sydney-based events agency Finely Tuned) released the line-up for the 2025–2026 edition – here's what's in store. Spanning four main stages, this year's music program features more than 100 acts, headlined by international heavyweights Ben Böhmer, Duke Dumont and Maribou State. Other highlights include Irish DJ Kettama, British electronic duo Underworld, and international festival favourites Folamour and Ross From Friends. Alongside the big-name internationals, the line-up also celebrates homegrown talent, with performances from Confidence Man, Anna Lunoe, Big Wett and Bella Claxton alongside a heap of other Aussie artists. While music is the main drawcard, Lost Paradise is equally known for its creative side program of movement classes, talks and craft workshops. Details for this year are still under wraps, but based on previous editions you can expect morning yoga sessions, daily tea ceremonies, hands-on pottery workshops and thought-provoking talks covering everything from mindful intimacy to sustainable living. The festival runs from Sunday, December 28, 2025, to Thursday, January 1, 2026. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, August 27 – you can check out the full line-up and sign up for tickets here.
Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Maura Higgins lands another major TV role in the US as she's set for stateside future
Reality TV star Maura Higgins has landed a new hosting role in the U.S. as the face of Aftersun for the upcoming second season of Love Island Games, following her success on Love Island USA and The Traitors US Maura Higgins is continuing her rise in American television, landing yet another high-profile role just weeks after appearing on The Traitors US. The Irish presenter, 34, has officially been confirmed as the host of the newly commissioned Aftersun series for the upcoming second season of Love Island Games. Having already impressed as the face of Aftersun for Love Island USA last year, Maura has firmly established herself as a fan favourite with U.S. audiences and producers have clearly taken notice. According to reports, the former Love Island UK star will soon be jetting off to Fiji, where Love Island Games will begin filming next month. It comes after Maura's defiant stance as she's set for awkward Danny Jones run-in after their controversial BRIT Awards kiss. A TV insider explained: 'The first series of Love Island Games didn't include an Aftersun show, as it was filmed in advance and broadcast later. But this time, it's going out in real time like the main show. "That's why bosses have decided to create a dedicated Aftersun, and Maura was the obvious choice to host it.' The source added to The Sun: 'Maura was thrilled to be asked to do it, as Games is a totally separate show so there was no guarantee she would be offered it. When bosses approached her, she was over the moon because it proves how happy they are with her and she is seen as a key fixture in the Love Island USA family.' This new role builds on Maura's growing success in the U.S., following her recent stint on The Traitors US, which was filmed in Scotland. There, she rubbed shoulders with American reality royalty, including Real Housewives stars Lisa Rinna and Caroline Stanbury. Producers clearly view Maura as an essential part of the Love Island franchise's American expansion. Her on-screen charm and quick wit have helped her stand out in a saturated TV landscape and it's no surprise she's becoming a regular face across U.S. reality formats. According to insiders, Maura is eager to continue working in America and sees this latest gig as another major step toward building a long-term career there. Love Island Games itself brings together stars from various international versions of the show, placing them under one roof where, unlike the traditional format, they'll compete in physical and mental challenges for the win. While Love Island Games was previously hosted by Maya Jama, she has since stepped down. Ariana Madix, best known for Vanderpump Rules, will now take over main hosting duties, with Maura leading the spin-off.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- The Guardian
Gaza's journalists are talented, professional and dignified. That's why Israel targets them
The first time I met Al Jazeera's Gaza team lead, Tamer Almisshal, was in July last year. His team had already buried two journalists, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa. The rest, he told me, were hungry. They were also dealing with trying to get hold of protective gear, threats from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the killing of family members. Ismail al-Ghoul hadn't seen his wife and child in months and was missing them intensely. Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Qraiqea and Anas al-Sharif were asking for time to secure food in the morning before they could start reporting. Today, they are all dead. I spoke with various members of the Gaza team while writing a profile of Gaza's veteran reporter Wael al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three of his children and grandson. All spoke of their work as a duty that needed to be carried out despite the risks. Three members of that team have since been killed in a chain of assassinations. Each time I sent condolences, the response was always that the coverage would not cease. 'We are continuing,' the Gaza editor told me last week, after he lost his entire Gaza City team in the targeted strike that claimed the lives of Sharif, Mohammed Nofal, Ibrahim Thaher and Qraiqea. 'We will not betray their message, or their last wishes.' As these killings dazed the world – and the response to them became mired in unproven and in some cases risibly implausible claims that some of these journalists were militants – little has been said about the calibre of journalism in Gaza. How fluent, articulate and poised its journalists are under impossible circumstances. How much they manage to capture horrific events and pain on a daily basis, in a journalistic Arabic that they have perfected to an art, while maintaining a professional, collected presence on camera. How much they manage to keep their cool. I struggled often to translate their words into English, so rich and expansive is their expression. Even Sharif's final message, a text for the ages, loses some of its power in translation. In it, he addresses those who 'choked' our breath, but the word he uses is closer to 'besieged' – evoking not just physical asphyxiation but the silencing of a surveilled people's voice. What strikes me when I speak with journalists in and from Gaza is how evangelical and heartbreakingly idealistic they are; how much journalism to them was a duty even if it meant certain death. All who have been killed had a choice, and those who are still alive and reporting still do. Sharif said he had been threatened several times by Israeli authorities over the past two years. Al Jazeera told me that he was sent a warning by Israeli intelligence and told to stop reporting. When he refused, his father was killed in an airstrike. When Ghoul took over from Dahdouh early last year, Dahdouh told him that it was a dangerous job, and no one would fault him for leaving his post and returning to his wife and child. Ghoul refused, and was decapitated in a targeted strike. What the Israeli government is trying to do with these killings is not just stop the stream of damning reports and footage, but annihilate the very image of Palestinians that these media professionals convey. The credibility, dignity and talent that Gaza's journalists exhibit to the world in their reports and social media posts has to be extinguished. The more Gaza is a place that is teeming with militants, where there are no reliable narrators, and where Israel's justifications for killing and starvation cannot be challenged by plausible witnesses, the easier Israel can prosecute its genocidal campaign. A recent investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call identified the sinisterly named 'legitimisation cell', a unit of the Israeli military tasked, in the words of the report, with 'identifying Gaza-based journalists it could portray as undercover Hamas operatives, in an effort to blunt growing global outrage over Israel's killing of reporters'. According to the investigation's sources, the effort is 'driven by anger that Gaza-based reporters were 'smearing [Israel's] name in front of the world''. Central to this effort is Israel's ability to rely on western media to treat its claims as somehow plausible, despite the fact that time and time again, it has made claims that turn out not to be true. Emergency workers who were killed because they were 'advancing suspiciously', according to the IDF, were said to be found in restraints with execution-style shots. The claim that Hamas was systematically stealing aid, which is used to justify blockade and starvation, was contradicted by sources within the Israeli military itself. It is Hamas that is shooting Palestinians queueing for aid, Israel has said, not us. Eventually, this behaviour deserves to be called what it is: systemic deception that forfeits your right to be a credible authority. And still we are told that Israel has killed a journalist, but here is Israel's claim that the journalist was a militant. You can make up your mind. The resulting ambiguity means that even if these claims cannot be verified, they are imbued with potential truth. Do you see how that works? The truth is that journalists in Gaza have been colossally failed by many of their colleagues in the western media – not just in terms of how their killings are reported, but in how the entire conflict is described. Figures of the dead and starving in Gaza are often described as coming from 'Hamas-run' ministries, but you don't see the statements coming from Israeli authorities caveated as serially unreliable, or the phrase 'wanted by the international criminal court' attached to the name Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, the word of Palestinian journalists is never quite enough – not until foreign media (who are not allowed into Gaza) can give the final gold-standard judgment. They are cast out of the body of journalism, their truth buried along with them. In Gaza, however, there will always be someone brave and clear-eyed who continues the coverage. Who puts on a press flak jacket that makes them a target. They continue to bear, alone, the responsibility of bringing the world the reality of events in Gaza, even as their voices and breaths are besieged. Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
