Kneecap at Glastonbury Festival: What happened during the hip-hop trio's set
After weeks of controversy surrounding the Irish rap trio, crowds at the West Holts Stage went wild as Kneecap appeared on the stage. Audiences cheered and chanted in response to the group, who said they played to their 'biggest crowd' at Glastonbury Festival 2025.
The crowd were given a two minute warning ahead of the band's appearance. The trio consists of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí, who entered the crowd at one point wearing his signature Irish flag balaclava.
Mo Chara told the audience "I'm a free man" when the group appeared on West Holts Stage on Saturday afternoon. Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury became one of the biggest talking points of this year's event - with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer even chipping in on whether they should be allowed to perform.
But with such high anticipation and a whole lot of buzz around the gig, they attracted a huge crowd of passionate fans - with many Palestine and Irish flags waving in the audience. As huge crowds were building outside the West Holts Stage at Worthy Farm almost an hour before the gig was due to take place, the festival decided to close off the stage to try and prevent overcrowding.
At one stage, Kneecap called for a riot as they headlined the West Holts stage. The group called for people to "start a riot" outside of court for Mo's next date at Westminster. However, they later backtracked and said they didn't want a riot before adding: "But the stress we are under is nothing compared to the Palestinian people."
At one point, a moshpit opened up for the most excited revellers, while others started up political chants of "F**k Keir Starmer" have joined shouts of "Free Palestine" and "F**k the Daily Mail". Musician Jelani Blackman joined Kneecap on stage for Harrow Road, before finishing his guest appearance with calls of "free free" to which the crows responds "Palestine".
Kneecap also took some time in their set to thank the Eavis family for not being pressured to drop them from the schedule. There had been calls from many to axe them from the festival amid the court case but the Eavis family stayed strong in their wish and Kneecap kept their place on one of the festival's many stages.
A SomersetLive reporter, who was in the crowd during the set, said that at least two people were removed from the crowd at various points, though it is unclear what they were removed for.
As the show was coming to an end, sparking boos from the crowd, the Irish trio asked if there were "any English here today". While some subdued cheers came from the audience, one band member said: "No no, we're better than that."
"We f***ing love the English people, it's the English government we don't like," came the response as the audience burst into loud cheers once again.
"With a final chant of "free free Palestine" Kneecap has ended their Glastonbury set, to the 'biggest audience' the trio say they've ever had.
As they closed their set, Kneecap had one more message for the crowd. "The story isn't about Kneecap, it's about what's happening in Palestine," they told fans before leading one more chant of f*** Keir Starmer and a screen read: "The British Government is enabling genocide."
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