Live Review: KNEECAP - O2 Academy, Liverpool 12/11/2024
Energy, charisma and a sense of unity: Irish breakout stars Kneecap brought all of this and more to Liverpool’s O2 Academy.
The West-Belfast trio have certainly made themselves known in recent times, with word spreading far and wide about their high-octane live shows and language blending in their music.
Not only are they smashing it on the music-front, though, they are also proud owners of a critically-acclaimed film that is named after the group themselves. It’s safe to say that 2024 has been a busy year for them, and their final run of shows before 2025 hits have been nothing short of incredible.
With almost every single ticket being snapped up for every date, it’s clear that the group are soaring in popularity. They came to Liverpool on a Tuesday night, and the room was packed and ready long in advance of the only support act of the night: Gemma Dunleavy.
Her set was special, with the packed-out crowd really taking a shine to Dunleavy’s unique style on stage. She arrived with her extremely talented harpist and a control panel for pre-recorded backing tracks. Her incredible voice did the rest. Liverpool lapped up each and every one of her songs, and many in attendance will hope that she returns for her own shows. Her live sound was great: melodic dance music met the beautiful sound of the harp… and Dunleavy’s voice perfectly matched the vibes created instrumentally.
If Liverpool didn’t already love her performance enough, Dunleavy treated them to a rendition of huge dance hit ‘Heaven’. This got the floor bouncing.
Dunleavy closed out a fantastic support set with her biggest track: ‘Up De Flats’, which was fantastic.
With that, the support slot was concluded.
It was then time for the main event: Kneecap.
The three-piece entered the stage to the sound of their album-opener: ‘3CAG’, an anthemic track that perfectly brought each of them out. First came the iconic balaclava of DJ Próvaí, before the two front men- Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara- came out. All three received a thunderous roar of admiration from the crowd.
They kicked straight into ‘It’s Been Ages’, which gave the crowd their first chance to lose it and go wild.
From the off, Kneecap were impressed at just how rowdy Liverpool was, with it being a Tuesday night and all. Both front men then quickly agreed that they had anticipated this show being a big one, before labelling Liverpool as “The 33rd county of Ireland”, which received a huge cheer.
From this point on, Kneecap blew the crowd away, track by track. Each song brought its own mosh pit, with some getting multiple. Some of those which kicked off, good and proper, were: ‘Sick In The Head’, ‘Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite’ and ‘Better Way To Live’. The last of those was belted out, word-for-word- by the crowd. This one has proved extremely popular since its release. This may be because of the inclusion of vocals from Fontaines D.C. front man: Grian Chatten. Nonetheless, the track is incredible, and it sounded top in Liverpool.
What must be said of Kneecap’s live shows is that they are truly special. You will struggle to find live music that is quite as raw and authentic as what Kneecap offer. Their incredible blending of languages to talk about all manner of things, from getting off your face with your mates to defying the laws and standing up for things you truly believe in, Kneecap cover it all.
It was clear to see that Liverpool embraced the group as the culturally significant outfit that they are. The fact that Kneecap are so unapologetically themselves seems to be thrilling fans all over the world. This was certainly the case in Liverpool.
Liverpool went wild for Kneecap hits such as ‘Fine Art’ and ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’, but perhaps the best moment of the night came when they performed ‘Get Your Brits Out’. This one felt charged full of emotion.
The group took to their microphones after this one to use their platform to raise awareness of the horrors that are being experienced in the middle east. Their voicing was extremely well received by the Liverpool crowd. Móglaí Bap then explained how he is running 10 kilometres every day of their tour to raise money for food parcels in Gaza.
This feat is fantastic, and the crowd were ecstatic that the group used their platform for such a worthy cause.
Kneecap then concluded a great evening with ‘H.O.O.D’, which has become something of an anthem for the group. Liverpool belted it out, and the crowd bounced one last time. DJ Próvaí even surfed the crowd, balaclava on.
With that, the evening ended. Kneecap nearly blew the roof off Liverpool’s O2 Academy, with a performance that showed exactly why they’re such a hot prospect right now.
Words by Matthew Caslin
Photography by Maryleen Guevara // IG: @maryleenphoto
