Kneecap turn controversy into catharsis at electrifying Wide Awake headline show

48 hours ago, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at their show at Kentish Town Forum last November. 24 hours ago, Kneecap announced a snap show at 100 Club – a historical epicentre for London’s counterculture – which sold out in 90 seconds with thousands on the waiting list. Riot vans lie in wait on the curbside; Ó hAnnaidh arrived on stage with his mouth taped shut.

In the fallout, their headline performance at Wide Awake has cast into doubt, having to be clawed back through swathes of red tape. “Historical”, was the consensus of what this show would be: Kneecap, the iconoclasts born in an Ireland ruined by British foreign policy whose music revives the language torn from their culture; Kneecap, who have sacrificed their freedom – sacrificed it all – to grab the West by the collar to confront the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people which they accuse their governments of being complicit in. “I wish I didn’t have to do this, but the world isn’t listening,” says Ó hAnnaidh.

The vitriol against Kneecap – particularly their vehemently anti-British principles which saw their funding be revoked, and feud with politicians which led to a call to “Kill your local MP” which they since apologised for – is central to their performance. They take to the stage against a backdrop of negative news stories against them in the right-wing media before displaying, in unequivocal black and white, the facts of the suffering in Gaza. “Free, free Palestine” is chanted by thousands, not just once, but throughout. This is a Kneecap show, but as they have insisted time and time again in their recent statements, “We are not the story. Genocide is.”

Their music, which careens from haemorrhage-inducing DnB to the unflinching Belfast-born grime – with shots of pop knocked back – acts as a conductor for a long-suppressed rage without an outlet. DJ Próvaí, 36, their balaclava-donning lord of misrule who was formerly a school teacher, dives into the mosh pits which rip open urgently like consuming black holes. London rapper Jelani Blackman makes a surprise appearance for their incendiary track “Harrow Road”, and defining anthem “Get Your Brits Out” is chanted back to them by an audience who know it word for word.

They temper the severity of their circumstances with gallows humour and the cheekiness which has long been their charm (“That’s my death row meal, a big line of ket”; “Everybody get their grannie to light a wee candle for me”) – but Kneecap are unafraid of sincerity. Their gratitude for the support, for being here at all, is repeated and deeply felt - Ó hAnnaidh, in particular, reminds us that we are lucky to be together like this with our friends without the fear of bombs falling from the sky.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Kneecap to be banned and Commons Leader Lucy Powell has said the group should not be allowed to perform at Glastonbury next month, where they are listed for the Saturday. Ó hAnnaidh is due to appear in court a week before the festival begins.

He said: “We are being make an example of. The Israeli lobbyists are trying to prove to other artists that ‘If you speak out, we’re going to hit you where it hurts most. They’re trying to cancel gigs, they’re trying to cancel my freedom of travel. And the fact that I’m speaking to this amount of people – and I assume the majority of you will agree – shows that we are on the right side of history.”