Kneecap's opening Glastonbury montage divides fans as band boast over crowd size

Daily Mirror

10 hours ago

Irish band Kneecap shared a peek at their controversial Glastonbury set after the BBC refused to show their performance live on Saturday
Irish rap trio Kneecap took to social media to share their opening Glastonbury montage with their followers. The band's performance at the Worthy Farm event caused controversy with many having called for them to have been removed from the artist list.
While the calls failed, the BBC refused to air the group's set live on Saturday as they took to the West Holts stage. And the group were keen to give fans a glimpse of what they missed.
They also said they were sharing as some in the crowd wouldn't have been able to see either due to the sheer size of the turnout. Organisers had to announce the stage had been shut down prior to Kneecap's performance to deal with crowd levels.
Taking to Twitter /X, the band said: "We made a wee intro video for Glasto - crowd was so big a good few heads couldn't see it so here yis go x," and also added a popcorn emoji. The clip showed a number of high profile people who were against their appearance.
It included Sharon Osbourne, who was booed by the crowd at the set. Keir Starmer and other political members also featured in the upload.
The video divided users on social media. While some loved the stance, others hit out at the band. One user wrote: "Boasting about having the counter terrorism squad investigating you ain't the flex you think it is."
However, another was full of praise, saying: "What an intro," alongside a fire emoji. Another said: "Class lads," with an okay hand emoji. And another urged the band to share an unedited version of their set after they joked on stage that BBC would have their hands full in the editing studios.
As the musicians performed to a lively crowd, chants of "f*** Keir Starmer" bellowed out on a number of occasions.
Mo Chara also defiantly told the thousands of fans in attendance that he is a "free man". It came after his court appearance last week.
During the court hearing, the 27-year-old was said to have been "well within his rights" to voice his opinions on Israel and Palestine, but the alleged incident is a "wholly different thing".
At the hearing, Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said: "Of course, support for the one is not the same as support for the other. So the issue in this case, and the reason it has come to court, it centres on the apparent support by Mr Óg Ó hAnnaidh of a proscribed terrorist organisation."
Óg Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on August 20. Due to his release, the band was allowed to play their controversial Glastonbury set.
The band was, however, keen to reiterate that the "story isn't Kneecap". They made it clear hat the key talking point shouldn't be themselves, but instead said the focus should be on what is happening in Palestine.