KNEECAP: Demanding Peace & Ketamine

photo: @raphph

Chaos. Courtrooms. Call for justice.

Wide Awake returned to Brockwell Park with both organisers and headliners facing court battles leading up to the festival — but it was Belfast trio Kneecap who carried the night, turning controversy into triumph. Interspersed with irreverent humour and bursting with raw energy, they tore through blistering tracks like “Get Your Brits Out” and “Rhino Ket,” sending the 20,000 strong crowd into a frenzy.

The band’s chaotic charisma was on full display as they entertained the crowd, at one point jokingly inviting the entire audience to attend their court date “with a nice big bag of ketamine”. But beneath the humour lay a serious undercurrent.

The set closed not with a riot, but with a raw and heartfelt plea: a call for solidarity with the “bombed and starved” people of Palestine. No grandstanding, no theatrics — just a direct, emotional appeal that sparked a powerful chant of unity impossible to ignore.