KNEECAP's Wide Awake headline show to go ahead as planned

KNEECAP will perform as planned at this year's Wide Awake Festival in London on May 23.

The festival released a statement on their social media saying that "after positive discussions with key stakeholders, Wide Awake Festival can confirm that, as planned, KNEECAP will be performing at this year’s festival."

Wide Awake also added that it has "a proud history of supporting the alternative music scene, and we look forward to staging another unforgettable event showcasing the very best emerging and established talent".

KNEECAP's headliner in Brockwell Park will mark their first live performance since Coachella, where they projected a slogan saying "Fuck Israel, Free Palestine" that made international headlines.

In response to their statements at Coachella, the rap trio has faced what they have described as a "smear campaign" from concert organisers. A series of scheduled gigs such as Eden Sessions and Plymouth Pavillions in the UK and Hurricane and Southside Festivals in Germany were cancelled.

Along with the announcement, Wide Awake Festival shared a statement from KNEECAP's label Heavenly Recordings titled "We Stand for Freedom of Expression", which included hundreds of signatories from the music industry including Fontaines D.C. and CMAT.

Today, the Belfast group released the sale of T-shirts where they are depicted as "WANTED" by UK counter-terrorism units, likely in reference to the UK police reviewing their concert footage.

 

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