Fresh from London where Mo Chara was granted bail until August for dubious terrorism charge, trumped up to smear him and the group for their vocal support of Palestine over the past several years. Kneecap will not be silenced and where better to make that clear with their first public performance since that court date in Dublin
As we enter Fairview Park on another unseasonably glorious evening, Dublin’s Gemma Dunleavy provided the perfect start to the evening. She knows how to work a stage; with her infectious energy she bops around making good use of the space. Although many concert goers were still queuing to get in or lounging on the grass in the sun, she got a good crowd of early arrivers into the mood with anthems like Up Da Flats. In line with the politically aware evening ahead she took the opportunity to raise her voice against the police brutality and continued advocacy for Terrence Wheelock and the continued lack of investigation. This paired with upbeat yet in your face tunes, she set us up perfectly for the night ahead.
Gemma Dunleavy- City hall – Cork – Celeste Burdon – 12/02/25
Soon after Gemma finishes, Gurriers bring some post-punk, grungy style to proceedings. As with KNEECAP and their proud Belfast origins, Gurriers proudly proclaim to be from Monaghan. Frontman Dan off asks the crowd if they are ready to dance and everyone roars in agreement; the volume increasing as the tent gets fuller and fuller. They smash through their set, showing off the reason why they are one of the hottest & rising acts in Ireland right now with songs like Approachable, Des Goblin, and Dipping Out tackling a host of topical issues from the housing crisis, immigration and the rise of Irish populism. If you haven’t heard of them yet, now is the time to jump on to this bandwagon.
No one would guess they are an up-and-coming band with the way they apply themselves on stage, they’re as well tuned as a new car. As the momentum of the evening builds the crowd gets rowdy as they align with the outspoken stance of all three artists on the bill; plenty of Palestinian flags are on display but are outnumbered by the tricolour balaclavas that were on sale outside the grounds.
Gurriers at Beyond The Pale 2025. Photo by Owen Humphreys www.owen.ie
KNEECAP
These three west Belfast boys do not hold back whatsoever, even in the set up of the concert grounds; they drove in with their own repurposed police vehicle, spray painted with ‘Free Mo Chara’ complete with a paper cut out of his face in the window and a security guard taking audience members photos. Surrounding the grounds slogans including ‘Get England out of Ireland’ and as seen plastered on billboards across London – “More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish, Mo Chara”.
They even had giant Papier-mâché characters wandering about to venue making it feel like a festival dedicated to KNEECAP rather than a one off show. Even before they stepped on stage, the atmosphere was thick with anticipation and triumphant joy – the result was a crowd that was impossibly loud and likely heard across the north side of Dublin.
As the lads started, they used their 3CAG interlude that starts their album ‘Fine Art’, priming the crowd for DJ Próvaí, Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara to take the stage at which point the crowd erupted in deafening cheers and within minutes chants of Free Palestine and Free Mo Chara started and continued to pop up between tracks throughout the night.
Kneecap at Fairview Park. Photo by Owen Humphreys www.owen.ie
As soon as 2023 single It’s been Ages started mayhem was upon us and the crowd started moving and screaming along to the bilingual lyrics. The set rolls on, with KNEECAP classics like Guilty Conscience, Get Your Brits out, Your Sniffer Dogs are Shite and Fenian Cunts are intermingled with songs from the album and it become quite clear that they’ve perfected the set list and their antics– with Móglaí Bap cajoling the crowd into creating multiple mosh pits that grow together and separate again almost like cells dividing.
For each song, they have different animations filling the screens behind them from cartoon union-jack covered arses to newspaper pages featuring their own ‘crimes’ this coupled with the incredibly well-designed light show makes this a visceral multi-sensory experience. Even from outside the mosh pits, the energy is unlike anything I’ve seen before – with the tent becoming a container for ruckus enjoyment and hedonistic pleasure.
When Better Way to Live starts, Grían Chatten of Fontaines DC appears on the screen behind the guys, all of us non-Irish speakers are a bit more confident in screaming along and somehow the decibels increase further still with all 8,500 people in the tent taking the opportunity to scream along.
When addressing the crowd, Mo Chara shared his appreciation for the unwavering support from the fans – especially in the funding of his very expensive lawyers. This was echoed Móglaí Bap stating that without the fans they wouldn’t be playing to such a huge crowd in Baile Átha Cliath. They have an uncanny ability to rouse a crowd, either into a dance or a chant – even joking with the crowd to forget seeing the movie on Prime and instead get it off their dodgy box. They also paused to make a heartfelt tribute to their lighting designer Conor Biddle who sadly passed away in April.
Closing the night with H.O.O.D left the park shaking with energy, it’s almost an anthem for the band at this point, with its catchy chorus and addictive beats there’s no question as to why. As the laser show halted, ‘Free Palestine’ was emblazoned on the big screen once more. As the crowd shuffled away the chanting remained ongoing. You may agree or disagree with Kneecap’s politics but in the age of sanitised pop it’s a wonderful thing to see an act willing to risk their own career for what they believe in. For now, they’ve certainly been found guilty of putting on a good show. And hopefully the courts will realise that’s all they’re guilty of too.