Kneecap have shared official footage of them performing ‘Better Way To Live’ with Fontaines D.C.‘s Grian Chatten in Manchester. Check it out below.
The set was held at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park last week (August 15), and saw the Irish hip-hop trio take to the stage as a support act for headliners Fontaines D.C.. Also on the bill was English Teacher, and the huge live show welcomed approximately 26,000 fans.
During their opening slot, Kneecap broke out a rendition of ‘Better Way To Live’ and brought out Fontaines frontman Grian Chatten for the performance. The collab comes as the original song was shared back in 2023 and featured the singer.
It marked the most recent time that Kneecap and Chatten have joined forces for the song live – having also done so at Glastonbury 2024, at the Belfast SSE Arena, on Ireland’s Late Late Show, and at London’s Finsbury Park.
Today (August 19), Kneecap have shared official footage of the collaboration in Manchester. “About a year and a half ago we did a tune with Grian,” they’re heard saying in the clip, just before the Fontaines D.C. frontman walked out, wearing an Oasis top. Check it out below.
The performance came after pressure was put on event organisers to drop Kneecap from the Wythenshawe Park line-up.
Last month, it was reported that talks were in progress between Manchester City Council and the concert’s promoter about whether the band should be pulled from the bill, apparently over “safety concerns”.
The “concerns” related to the band’s vocal support for Palestine, and member Mo Chara being arrested and appearing in court on a terror charge earlier this year. That charge stemmed from incidents where the band allegedly displayed a Hezbollah flag at a show last November, and made controversial comments about members of parliament while on stage.
A Labour MP, Christian Wakeford, then got in touch with the leader of Manchester City Council, and branded their place on the line-up as “completely inappropriate”. He added that “the message Kneecap seeks to spread is in direct conflict with those shared values” that the city holds, and that them appearing at the show would “lead to incitement of violence and anti-Semitic hatred”.
The members have repeatedly refuted accusations of supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, and denied accusations of antisemitism, suggesting that the label is being used against them to “distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.”
The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that no action will be taken regarding footage of Chara saying “kill your local MP” at a past gig, and when Mo Chara appeared in court on June 18, he was granted unconditional bail. He is due to appear in court again tomorrow (August 20).
While the band remained on the line-up for Wythenshawe Park, they were dropped from the line-ups for TRNSMT, Germany’s Hurricane Festival and Southside Festivals, and Cornwall’s Eden Project this summer due to the controversy.
The trio have also been “officially banned from entering Hungary” for three years for “antisemitism and glorifying terror” – a move which the country’s Sziget Festival disagreed with and Kneecap described as “fucking outrageous”.
At their recent Manchester gig, numerous Palestinian flags were brought by fans, and the band projected the flag onto the screen behind them. The members repeatedly claimed that Israel was guilty of “genocide” while on stage, and Mo Chara called Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal”.
“I heard a lot of stuff that we are using this for our gain talking about Palestine. This is something we have been talking about long before October [7, 2023],” he said (via Manchester Evening News). “This is something that’s dear to our hearts because of where we are from. And believe me I wish I didn’t have to get on stage every night to talk about this but until something changes Kneecap will use this platform.”
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide and denies committing any war crimes, maintaining that its operations are lawful acts of self-defence. Benjamin Netanyahu has also pledged to take full military control of Gaza insisting it was the “best way” to end the war, reports BBC News.
The United Nations (UN) Security Council, has condemned Israel’s plans and called for them to be reversed.
Next month (September 18), Kneecap will play a huge show at London’s Wembley Arena – their biggest England headline date yet – followed by a wider UK tour which will take place this winter and North American dates. Find remaining tickets to UK shows here, and tickets for the US tour dates here.
