Punk provocateurs Kneecap and Fontaines DC play it safe as crowd still attempts death chant

Telegraph

6 hours ago

Fontaines DC have become the Irish face of punk in Britain, and the 45,000 people who cheered, jumped and even cried at their biggest headline gig to date last night in Finsbury Park proved that they are here to stay. Yet they were nearly outshone by Kneecap, their supporting act, who drew an enormous balaclava-clad crowd themselves. This was the first major opportunity for these two politically outspoken bands to respond to the furore over Glastonbury last weekend, where fellow stars of the genre Bob Vylan led chants of 'death, death to the IDF'. Bob Vylan and Kneecap alike are currently under investigation by police for their Glastonbury sets. Perhaps that's why there was only a muted, veiled retort offered in north London.
For young people angry with their government, this was the hot ticket. People came draped in keffiyehs and Palestine flags. Not for the first time, Kneecap led a 'F--- Keir Starmer, you're just a s--- Jeremy Corbyn' chant which their fans revelled in. 'It's great to be back in London and not up in court,' said Kneecap's rapper Mo Chara, to the crowd's cheers. But while last weekend he called for 'riots' outside of court in Westminster, where he'll appear in August on terrorism charges for holding up a Hezbollah flag at a gig, this time the rapper asked for 'support'.
At two points, groups in the crowd started up Bob Vylan's 'death to the IDF' chant. Kneecap's past sets have clearly created an expectation that such sentiments are welcome at their gigs. But if the call was heard on stage, it went ignored. By the time Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten came out to chant 'free, free Palestine' along with the trio, the crowd's drive for a fight had passed like a post-Glastonbury hangover.
Bob Vylan didn't get a mention until another support act, Australian punk band Amyl and the Sniffers. 'Some dogs can't be muzzled,' said singer Amy Taylor, who dedicated one of the band's screaming, angsty anthems to the duo. By contrast, Fontaines DC had their muzzles firmly on from the start of their set. Bob Vylan got nothing more than a restrained nod: their song I Heard You Want Your Country Back was played on the speakers minutes before the headliners took to the stage. Chatten was understated, breaking off to chant 'free Palestine' only once.
The stage was lit up in red and green during I Love You, a song with lyrics about genocide and corruption. A flash on the screen read that 'Israel is committing genocide, use your voice'. It was the same slide that the group used on stage at Primavera Festival in early June, long before last weekend's controversy gave it a new significance. Maybe it was conscious: Chatten came out in a long tartan skirt and shirt printed with a picture of Sinead O'Connor, a hand covering her mouth.
Regardless, the band carefully swerved real controversy and proved that their music alone is good enough to unite the crowd which, post-Kneecap, was filled by as many families and older couples as young people covered in tattoos and piercings. They are an act you have to see live to 'get', and this was them at their best. From the soft piano rendition of Starburster that opened the set, to the crashing drums that carried their angriest track Liberty Belle ('you know I love that violence'), to the gnawing, Nirvana-style guitar that luxuriated through the moody Roman Holiday while Chatten waltzed around the microphone, the group proved that they can hold up mass appeal. Boys in the Better Land sounded as good shouted in a field as any other rock or pop hit.
The police at the back of the park must have expected to handle a clash. They were treated to a dazzling set instead.