Kneecap were set to perform at the Hurricane Festival in June, one of Germany’s largest festivals and its sister event, the Southside Festival. The festivals issued a statement last week saying: “Kneecap will not be performing at Hurricane and Southside Festival this year,” without providing further context. At the same time, the ticket provider for the events also stated that the events have been cancelled.
Following their performance at the US Coachella Music Festival in April, where Kneecap displayed “f*** Israel, free Palestine” on the stage, the band has received a surge of backlash, including calls to revoke their work visas to the US, championed by TV personality Sharon Osborne.
The US booking agency Independent Artist Group (IAG), which sponsored Kneecap’s US work visas, announced the band is no longer their client. The band were set to tour in the US in October, with most of the shows being sold out.
Thank you. Any kind of repression is unhealthy, which is one reason why I’m against some republican/conservative beliefs. I was trying to see it from the organisers’ point of view.
Unfortunately, it seems that announcing their progressive views ahead of attendance at Kneecap, a host that openly prefers regression, only resulted in rejection on account of said host’s intent to reject any view that doesn’t align with their own.