Will Kneecap headline at London’s Wide Awake 2025? Organisers share updates following band’s Coachella controversy

Kneecap will headline at London's Wide Awake 2025 festival show. The organisers have come forward with the announcement that the band's performance will go on as usual on May 12, 2025, stating in their statement that the festival has discussed the matter with all stakeholders before deciding to go ahead with the Irish band's performance:

"After positive discussions with key stakeholders, Wide Awake Festival can confirm that, as planned, Kneecap will be performing at this year’s festival on Friday, 23rd May at Brockwell Park.Wide Awake Festival 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."

The band's performance at the festival has been under question after UK politicians started calling for the suspension of their performances, while some of their alleged statements against Tory MPs are now under investigation by the British counterterror police.

Several of the band's shows in the country have been canceled already, such as the one that was scheduled at the Hurricane and Southside Festivals, with the band having to announce alternate shows as replacements.

Kneecap will be part of a lineup also featuring the English Teacher at the festival

Alongside Kneecap, Wide Awake Festival 2025 will feature performances by English Teacher and more. The lineup for the festival is listed below:

• Kneecap
• CMAT
• English Teacher
• Fat Dog
• Peaches
• Cobrah
• Daniel Avery Live
• Fcukers
• Mannequin Pussy
• Marie Davidson
• Nadine Shah
• Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
• Puzzle
• Sega Bodega
• Sprints
• Warmduscher
• Acopia
• BRDMM
• Chanel Beads
• Curtisy
• Debasement
• Donny Benet
• 3L3D3P
• Erol Alkan
• B2B Optimo (Espacio)
• Famous
• Frankie & The Witch Fingers
• Gaye Su Akol
• Getdown Services
• Gurriers
• Hello Mary
• Hitech
• Jasmine 4.T
• Luvcat
• Martin Rev (Suicide) & VJ Divine Enfant
• Mermaid Chunky
• Patriarchy
• RIP Magic
• Sextile
• Snooper
• True Blue
• Ugly
• W.I.T.C.H
• Wine Lips
• Yuuf
• plus DJs

Kneecap's performance at the 2000trees festival in July will go on as usual. The band is currently set to perform at Glastonbury, TRNSMT, and Green Man festivals.

The band has apologized for their anti-Tory statements and labeled the furor over their criticism of Israel and similar statements as a smear campaign, stating:

"They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide. Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria."

The band's statement continued:

"This distortion is not only absurd - it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation.All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel.At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed."

The statement went on:

"The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head."

The statement continued:

"Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine.This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards...The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power. Shame on Them."

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Kneecap has not been the only Irish band to suffer controversy over their support for Palestine and their protests against the actions of Israel. It's the government, and it's the countries supporting it. Recently, The Murder Capital, an Irish punk band, also faced cancellations of their shows over their support of Palestine.

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