Irish band Murder Capital have Berlin gig cancelled over Palestinian flag on stage

Irish Independent

11-05-2025

The Murder Capital. Photo: Getty
The Dublin post-punk band, established in 2018, were set to play a show in Club Gretchen in Berlin on Saturday.
The band were setting up the stage on Saturday afternoon with a Palestinian flag on display, as they have normally done for their recent shows, when venue management told them this was not allowed.
The band posted a video on social media of them speaking to fans in Berlin, explaining the situation.
In a video on Instagram, the band's frontman James McGovern said he was speaking 'totally from the band's point of view' and not 'their crew's or their management's'.
'We pulled into Berlin this morning,' Mr McGovern said in the video. 'We had no idea that we weren't allowed to fly this [Palestinian] flag here today.
'We found out early this afternoon. We discussed it for an hour at length, what we should do. We came to the decision that we were not going to take the flag off the stage.
'That was a decision pretty easily made, but we discussed possible outcomes - what if they decide to cancel the show?
'We thought about all of you deeply, because we care about you deeply, and I mean that,' he added.
The Dublin band, which consists of five members – vocalist James McGovern, guitarist Damien Tuit, guitarist Cathal Roper, bassist Gabriel Paschal Blake, and drummer Diarmuid Brennan - decided that they were going to put the Palestinian flag on stage.
'We put it up at about 2pm as we set up the stage, ready to play. After that, we said: 'We discussed a little bit on and off, would we replace the flag with a banner that said: 'Free Palestine'? They wouldn't allow us to do that either,' McGovern said.
'So it's not just about national flags. It's about political statements. And to us, this isn't just a political statement, it's a humanitarian statement.
'We've been saying that in interviews for the whole time that we've been speaking about it, as people.
'It's not all about politics. It's about people who are dying and being slaughtered every day, and that's happening right now.
'So for us, as a band, who's had this flag on their stage for countless shows now, it will be the wrong thing for us to do to take it off the stage, just so that the venue is kept happy. We don't agree with that,' he added.
He continued: "We spoke earlier today about this, about how we wish live music and arts and theatre could be free of political discussion and things like that, but as the world as it is, unfortunately, it just cannot be.
'That's the way it is. So we'll be back to you as soon as we can. We appreciate all your support deeply. But most importantly, free Palestine,' he said, which was followed by applause from the crowd who gathered around the musicians.
The venue in Berlin – Club Gretchen - which cancelled the band's show last night later posted a statement on social media to address the situation.
"We are very sorry that the show with The Murder Capital didn't take place,' they said in a post on Instagram. "We, as venue, have a 'no national flag' policy since many years. That means that we do not tolerate any kind of national flags in our venue.'
"This is also written down in our venue specs, so that also artists get to know about that. During the sound check this late afternoon, it turned out that the band had a Palestinian flag on stage.
'We asked them to take the flag away, but they decided that for them and their show, this flag is too important to be able to do the show without.'
"We try to be a safe place for many different communities and really believe that music is able to build bridges - beyond borders and nationalities. Therefore, we deeply believe that national flags are not helpful all at,' a spokesperson added.
The Murder Capital are currently on their Blindness World Tour and are due to perform in Cologne today, followed by gigs in Brussels, Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Paris, and Athens before coming to Dublin on July 19.
They will then go on tour to the US, starting off in Seattle on September 22.
It comes as several shows have been cancelled in Germany over Irish artists' public support for Palestine.
Several gigs by Belfast rappers Kneecap were pulled due to their vocal support of Palestine and an investigation by the counter-terrorism police in the UK over on-stage comments that 'the only good Tory is a dead Tory'.
Their headline shows in Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg in September, as well as performances at the Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany, were cancelled.
Irish folk group Lankum had a gig in Leipzig cancelled in November 2023 due to the band's support for Palestine.
In April, an Irish citizen was reportedly arrested in Berlin during a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the Irish embassy for leading chants in the Irish language at a demonstration.
In the same month, two Irish protesters were facing deportation from Germany after taking part in pro-Palestinian protests.
Shane O'Brien (29) and Roberta Murray (31), Irish citizens, were among four, including a Polish and a US citizen, facing deportation.