Kneecap deliver assured headlining performance in Belfast

AT the SSE Arena in Belfast, Kneecap’s debut headlining gig to 9,000 adoring fans fell just a day after the death of member Móglái Bap’s father Gearóid Ó Cairealláin.

Far from being a subdued affair, the group didn’t leave fans wanting in a performance that showcased how far the west Belfast trio have come.

A key part of the experience includes the media noise they’ve become expert at generating.

This time, their merchandise was apparently banned in both the SSE Arena then later the Telegraph Building before another stand was set up at the Limelight.

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Outside the SSE, the group’s camera team were on hand to capture the excitement including making a dash to film one fan finishing a bottle of Buckfast – also a key stage prop – before joining the queue.

Inside, there was still plenty of Kneecap T-shirts on sale while volunteers handed out pamphlets on Gaza.

But with a hit movie, potential Oscar nominations and bags of publicity – the question remained as to whether Kneecap actually had the ability and hip-hop swagger to become worthy arena headliners.

Whether or not you agree with their politics and deliberately provocative imagery, it could not be disputed they had the crowd hanging on their every word.

Opening up with a projection condemning the war in Gaza, Kneecap had the production value you might expect from the visiting superstars the SSE usually hosts.

That an Irish language group from the Falls Road has pulled this off is not lost on them, and there was definitely a feeling of celebration among the crowd at seeing one of their own.

At various points the crowd are told how all are welcome to their gig, but that does come with a requirement of choosing to be in on the joke when it comes to their Brit-bashing persona.

That includes a mid-set singalong of “Maggie’s in a box,” a cartoon projection of the former DUP leader Arlene Foster and telling the crowd about the online outrage they’re fully expecting from the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.

“This must be the first time the SSE Arena has had 9,000 f****** fenians,” they declare, before launching into a profanity-laced track about a cross-community romance.

Later on, they praise support act Young Spencer, a Belfast rapper from the Shankill.

“Fair play to him, coming to do this. It’s a sign of the times that the young people want to be together having a f****** party…whatever your political beliefs is.”

In that spirit, a couple of boos in the audience were quickly shut down by other concert goers.

After challenging journalists to still call them sectarian, an onstage rant follows against the Tory government with a cheer for their recent court victory over a decision to deny them an arts grant.

Another memorable singalong of “your sniffer dogs are s****” follows what the group tells the crowd was an unsuccessful attempt to find drugs in their backstage dressing room.

In one of their many in between song riffs, they note that the only other headliner from Northern Ireland to fill the SSE Arena has been Snow Patrol – not that they’re impressed.

“Who gives a f*** about Snow Patrol? They’re way too sad them boys, cheer up,” they joke.

A sense of the bizarre is never far away, with the various guests joining them on stage including “the drug-dealing pagan,” a rapper draped in a deer’s fur with antlers.

With mosh pits aplenty, the energy remained high throughout the performance which concluded with a crowd singalong of the Fairytale of New York, while a black and white image of Gearóid Ó Cairealláin was projected on stage.

With confetti released over the crowd, the group’s emotional tribute to him was also one of confident celebration.