Kneecap lead chants of ‘Andy Burnham is a w****r’ and ‘f*** Benjamin Netanyahu’ at Reading Festival
Rap trio Kneecap delivered another fiercely political performance as they topped the bill at Reading Festival on Sunday evening, directing expletive-laden attacks at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and branding PM Andy Burnham a “w****r.”
A Palestinian flag was displayed across the DJ deck throughout the set, which drew from their most recent record, FENIAN, alongside material from 2024’s Fine Art.
DJ Provai was absent from the lineup after welcoming a newborn child, with a stand-in taking his place behind the decks.
The group is made up of rappers Moglai Bap and Mo Chara alongside DJ Provai, and are no strangers to incorporating political statements between tracks.
Kneecap used their Reading set for more political outbursts
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PA
Halfway through their latest performance at Reading, the band urged festivalgoers to reflect on the privilege of attending a music festival while others were suffering.
“It’s important to us that we use this platform for what we believe to be right, and some people aren’t as f****** lucky right now, and that’s our brothers and sisters in Palestine,” they told the crowd.
Drawing parallels with Irish history, the group spoke of understanding “displacement, colonialism and forced starvation of a population” and called on the audience to show solidarity.
“So just remember how lucky we all are to be in a field with all our best f****** mates listening to tunes, and let’s be thinking at the same time about our Palestinian brothers and sisters, so f*** Benjamin Netanyahu, and free, free Palestine!” they declared.
Kneecap headlined Sunday at the festival
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In a separate incident, the band took aim at Mr Burnham over the question of Irish reunification.
“Andy Burnham said a united Ireland is off the table, so everybody, ‘Andy Burnham’s a wanker,'” they told the festival crowd, prompting a mass chant.
Their setlist spanned much of their catalogue, featuring tracks from their newest album FENIAN as well as older material from 2018’s debut 3CAG.
The anti-British 2019 single Get Your Brits Out, a track whose title alone hints at the group’s republican leanings, was also featured.
Kneecap are no strangers to political outbursts
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The group has garnered a reputation for causing controversy with their on-stage political outbursts before.
Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam Og O hAnnaidh, faced criminal proceedings after allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on November 21, 2024.
The charge related to showing support for a proscribed terror organisation, but chief magistrate Paul Goldspring threw the case out in September 2025, determining that the prosecution had been “instituted unlawfully.”
The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently challenged that ruling, but two High Court judges dismissed the appeal in March of this year.
The Prime Minister found himself in Kneecap’s firing line
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GETTYThe band was also condemned by DUP politicians back in 2019 after footage emerged of them leading “Brits Out” chants at a Belfast concert held the day after the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had visited the same venue.
Elsewhere on the final day’s main stage, Florence + The Machine delivered a set featuring tracks including Shake It Out and You Got The Love, with Idles guitarist Mark Bowen joining Florence Ms Welch on stage.
Drum and bass heavyweights Chase & Status also headlined, while Lola Young made an unannounced appearance earlier in the afternoon, performing her hit Messy in a Vivienne Westwood bodysuit.
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