LEGENDARY Scottish rockers Primal Scream are among huge names in music backing Irish rappers Kneecap amid calls for the group to be axed from TRNSMT line-up.
The Belfast-based trio have come under fire after footage emerged appearing to show them calling for the deaths of MPs.
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The Belfast-based trio have come under fire after footage emerged appearing to show them calling for the deaths of MPsCredit: Getty
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Primal Scream are amongst the huge names in music backing the Irish rappersCredit: Getty
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The Jam frontman Paul Weller has also come out in support of the groupCredit: Getty
Footage of the band at a November 2023 gig appeared to show one person from the group telling the crowd: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
It comes just days after a clip from another performance in November last year emerged which showed a member of the trio shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
And First Minister John Swinney has called for the group to be axed from the TRNSMT line-up this July.
He added: “It would be unacceptable to me for the band to perform on such a stage.”
The group, composed of Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, claim they are facing a “co-ordinated smear campaign” because of their stance in support of Palestine.
The band said they have never supported either Hamas and Hezbollah, condemned all attacks on civilians and ‘rejected any suggestion they would seek to incite violence’ against any individual.
Several artists and big music names have now signed a joint statement in support of Kneecap.
Primal Scream, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, The Jam frontman Paul Weller, Massive Attack, Pulp and Fontaines D.C are among many who signed the open letter by the group’s record label, Heavenly Recordings.
The statement said there had been a “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” the band.
It accused “senior political figures” in Westminster and the UK media of being “openly engaged in a campaign to remove Kneecap from the public eye”.
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It added: “As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.
“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”
Meanwhile, English trip hop group Massive Attack put out their own statement on Instagram which said: “Language matters of course.
“The hideous murders of elected politicians Jo Cox and David Amess means there’s no scope for flippancy or recklessness.”
It added that politicians are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band” while “ignoring a genocide happening in real time”.
It comes after Kneecap were dropped from a festival line-up in Cornwall at Eden Sessions in July.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Some have also called for the group’s Glastonbury slot to be axed and their music removed from streaming sites in the Commons.
The Met is now assessing the video along with a separate clip from a November 2024 gig in which a Kneecap member appeared to shout: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – both proscribed terrorist groups in the UK.
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There have been calls for Kneecap to be axed from the TRNSMT line-upCredit: PA
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Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac has also signed the joint statementCredit: Getty