Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap finish triumphant Australian tour with sold-out show at Metropolis Fremantle

“There’s gonna be a bloodbath.” Fiercely Irish republican hip-hop trio Kneecap leveled Metropolis Fremantle on St Patrick’s Day. Kneecap. Freo. St Paddy’s. What could go right? Green shirts, tattoos and bowl-cuts (plus members of local rock royalty, psych-rockers Pond) packed into the port city venue for the final date of the West Belfast juggernaut’s completely sold-out debut Australian tour. The visit also saw 10,000 fans flock to a free show at Federation Square in Melbourne and the severed head of a King George V statue gifted to the group at one gig. Kneecap’s 2025 tour de force tour is officially up there with Nirvana in 1992 and The Beatles in 1964. Iconic. Unforgettable. While entire cities didn’t turn out in the streets for the Northern Irishmen a la the Fab Four, Metropolis may have squeezed in one or two more than its 1500 capacity to see the trio rattle through tracks wildly veering from English to Irish and back again. The Freo gig kicked off with a series of early singles, including opener It’s Been Ages, Amach Anocht and Thart agus Thart — high octane rap salvos laced with techno beats and shouted to the heavens by the braying crowd. “Got any Irish here today,” asked either Mo Chara (real name: Liam Og O hAnnaidh) or Moglai Bap (Naoise O Caireallain). The near-identical baby-faced rappers front Kneecap while DJ Provai provides an explosive soundtrack reminiscent of Public Enemy’s production gurus, the Bomb Squad. Provai performs in an Irish tricolour balaclava (this is serious, mam), even though he was rumbled as teacher J.J. O Dochartaigh in the brilliant 2024 mockumentary depicting a romanticised version of Kneecap’s origin story. If you’re yet to see it, Kneecap (the movie) is best described as This is Spinal Tap meets 8 Mile. Spinal ‘Cap. While hard-edged hip-hop dominates their arsenal, belters such as Better Way to Live, I’m Flush and Guilty Conscience off chart-topping 2024 album Fine Art turned Metropolis into an absolute hooley. Rhythm and melody. Judging from the sweaty crowd, I’d say you’d have wrung a few pints out of O Dochartaigh’s woollen balaclava by the end of the gig. There was a serious intent behind the, at times, cartoonish depictions of life under occupation. Kneecap’s raison d’etre is to keep the Irish language alive. Debut single C.E.A.R.T.A was inspired by O Caireallain’s mate, who refused to speak English to police after being arrested. (An incident turned into a pivotal scene in the movie.) Early single H.O.O.D. and the hilarious Get Your Brits Out sent the Fremantle mob into raptures, while a “Free Palestine” chant and chat about being on stolen land made it clear Kneecap kick against the pricks, wherever they may be. Not so much a gig as a rally with sick beats, these lads put the rad into radical. The verdict: 4.5 stars out of 5.