Kneecap have announced that their performance at the Scottish festival TRNSMT in July will not go ahead and will be replaced with a date at an O2 Academy venue.
Posting on X, the band said: “To the thousands of people who bought tickets, flights and hotels to see us play, we are sorry … it is out of our hands.
“Glasgow has always been a huge city for us. We’ve played there many many times, with no issues – ever. Make of that what you will. To try to make up for it, we will be at your O2 Academy on Tuesday July 8th.”
They also quoted that the decision was “due to concerns expressed by the police about safety at the event, Kneecap can no longer perform at TRNSMT”.
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Separately, the rap trio claimed last week that a campaign is being mounted to prevent their performance at Glastonbury this summer.
The group told the crowd at a surprise gig at the 100 Club in central London last Thursday night that they were being used as a “scapegoat” because they “spoke about the genocide [in Gaza]” at the Coachella music festival in the US last month.
A Met police spokesman said a policing plan was in place around 100 Club event “to ensure it passes off safely”.
Last week, Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged by police with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hizbullah at a gig in London.
The 27-year-old from Belfast was charged after an investigation by the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command and is scheduled to appear at Westminster magistrates court on June 18th.
Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged with displaying a flag at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21st last year “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, the Met said.
Thousands of fans went to support Kneecap at the Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park, south London, last Friday night.
Addressing the police charge from the main stage, Ó hAnnaidh said: “I went for an interview with counter-terror police and, within days, they came to their verdict that they were going to charge me.”
He later added: “They tried to stop this gig. Honestly, you have no idea how close they came to pulling us.”
This month, the Met said Kneecap was being investigated by counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting “up Hamas, up Hizbullah”.
Hamas and Hizbullah are banned in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.
Kneecap have said they have never supported Hamas or Hizbullah and apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs, but claimed footage of the incident had been taken out of context and was being “exploited and weaponised”. - Press Association/Guardian
