This Is The World Calling: Kneecap Share the Stage with the Palestinian Ambassador in Mexico City

“Being in this city, I’ve realised that Mexico and Ireland are very similar,” said Móglaí Bap, in front of around 4,500 people gathered at the Pabellón Oeste venue at the Palacio de los Deportes, in the north of Mexico City. Behind him, a screen proclaimed “Free Palestine”. Irish, Mexican and Palestinian flags were waved among the crowd.

“We both have unpleasant neighbours, we love to drink, and we’re always ready for a good fight,” he added with a laugh.

On Thursday 15 October, Kneecap made their Mexican debut with a concert that brought local fans and members of the Irish diaspora together in a shared celebration. Amid Gaelic football jerseys, lucha libre masks and Palestinian flags, the audience found common ground between two countries marked, in different ways, by colonisation, dispossession and resistance. Kneecap’s struggle to preserve Irish identity and defend the Palestinian cause found particularly fertile ground in Mexico City.

After ‘Favourite’ by Fontaines D.C. played over the venue’s speakers, the stage lit up in the colours of the Irish flag and the projectors came on: more than 100,000 people have been killed by Israel since 2023. They are committing genocide against Palestinians and Lebanese people. This is backed by the United States government, which arms and supports Israel. Free Palestine!

Amid shouts of “Fuck Donald Trump”, the band took to the stage to begin the customary show on their FENIAN (2026) tour, with tracks ‘Éire go Deo’ and ‘Smuggles & Scholars’ setting the already heated Mexican venue alight. ‘Better Way to Live’, featuring Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C., raised the energy even further, fuelled by the considerable popularity the Dublin band enjoys in this Latin American country.

With ‘Sick in the Head’, ‘Gael Phonics’ and ‘Cold at the Top’, the concert revealed another dimension of the group: a blend of abrasive electronics, drum and bass, and punk energy that turned the venue into a mass of moving bodies. Thousands of kilometres from Belfast, Kneecap’s music continued to hit home with the same urgency.

By the time ‘An Ra’ arrived, the concert had taken on an even greater symbolic weight. It was not only Kneecap’s first concert in Latin America, but also the first show in the band’s history at which they had the freedom to embrace their political convictions fully and invite an official representative of the Palestinian people onto the stage without any repercussions.

Kneecap in Mexico City. Photo: Alan Cortes.

Nadya Rasheed, the Palestinian Ambassador to Mexico, took to the stage amid euphoric cheers from the Mexican audience. Mexico is undoubtedly one of the countries that has shown the greatest support for the Palestinian people throughout this genocide. “Free Palestine” began to thunder from the throats of the sold-out crowd.

“Let’s keep going together with strength, love and hope that this genocide will end. End the occupation, and let Palestine be free,” the ambassador declared, before saying pf Kneecap that she was “very proud of these people, of all the courage they have shown, and of how they have turned their empathy into action. They are an example to follow, and history will not forget them.”

The ambassador celebrated the Irish and Mexican peoples as her “allies” and addressed the younger generation. “You have the power,” she said, “you have the vision, you know what is right and what is wrong, and you are speaking out.” Before leaving the stage, she concluded by shouting: “Thank you, Ireland, thank you, Mexico, long live Mexico and Free Palestine!”

Her appearance turned the concert into something more than a platform for expressing support for a cause. For a few minutes, the stage became a meeting place between a band that has accepted the cost of its political activism and a diplomatic representative publicly acknowledging that solidarity. The audience’s response made it clear that the message was being received as an essential part of the show.

Kneecap then returned to one of the ideas that had run through the night from the beginning: the relationship between Ireland and Mexico. Both countries, the band recalled, have had to confront imperialist and expansionist neighbours who have sought to strip them of their territory and humanity. The group then performed ‘Get Your Brits Out’, one of their most explicit songs against British rule in Ireland.

This same message of brotherhood between the two countries resurfaced several songs later. Before performing ‘Fine Art’, Mo Chara took the microphone to express his pride in John Riley, the Irish general who fought for Mexico during the US occupation. “This man… this man left behind the genocidal regime of the United States to fight for the people of Mexico,” he said. “This concert is in honour of the San Patricios.”

Palestinian Ambassador to Mexico, Nadya Rasheed joining Kneecap in Mexico City. Photo: Alan Cortes..

After the song ended, Mo Chara shared some details of the Hot Press photo shoot, which we will reveal very soon. It took place at the Casa del Risco Museum, “a place dedicated to the Saint Patrick’s Battalion”, he said, describing the visit as one of the most important moments of his time in Mexico.

The tribute links the band’s history with one of the most significant episodes in the relationship between the two countries. The Saint Patrick’s Battalion was made up of soldiers, most of them Irish, who deserted the US Army and fought alongside Mexico during the war of 1846 to 1848. For Kneecap, their story represents a moral choice: abandoning the ranks of an invading force to stand with a people fighting for their territory.

There was room for humour too. DJ Próvaí addressed the audience in Spanish with “¡Me la pela el sistema!” and “¡Muchas gracias, chingue su madre!”, expressions that the crowd chanted back amid laughter. Meanwhile, he swapped his usual balaclava for a lucha libre mask embroidered in the colours of the Irish flag: an image that captured the meeting of the two countries’ symbols better than any speech could.

“We knew Mexico liked to party, but this is fucking crazy!” the band declared, adding that this was undoubtedly the most energetic and fun audience they had encountered in their career. Móglaí Bap, however, added that the city’s altitude was forcing him to take a few extra breaths.

After 22 songs, the trio reminded the crowd that it was Mo Chara’s birthday. The audience responded by singing “Las Mañanitas”, turning the farewell, for a moment, into an intimate and collective celebration. The band thanked them and left the stage as ‘Bella Ciao’ played.

Kneecap’s visit to Mexico City brought music, identity and political solidarity together in a single night. Palestinian flags, the tribute to the San Patricios and a lucha libre mask in the colours of Ireland shared the same space without needing to become a single story.

The band and the audience recognised the points of connection between them. And here lies our ultimate strength: in connection and solidarty.

Kneecap in Mexico City. Photo: Alan Cortes.