KNEECAP (IRL) Returning to Aotearoa New Zealand

Their balaclava logo has been spotted on local posters provoking intense speculation, and now Irish rap activists KNEECAP have announced their imminent return to Aotearoa New Zealand. The Belfast trio of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí have headline dates locked in for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland's Spark Arena and Pōneke Wellington's TSB Arena this coming February, joined for both sure to be rowdy events by Afro-Pasifika club figurehead Lady Shaka.

KNEECAP's turbulent rise in post-Troubles, 2010s Ireland was retold in director Rich Peppiatt BAFTA-winning 2024 film of the same name, helping boost the trio to further widespread success. Famously leading the Glastonbury Festival 2025 crowd in chants of "fuck Keir Starmer", KNEECAP's staunchly decolonial, anti-genocide stance has triggered cancellations and even travel restrictions. They'll be down under touring their new album FENIAN, the trio's first record to enter Aotearoa's Official Top 40 Albums chart.

Fiercely advocates for their own indigenous language (Gaeilge) and heritage, KNEECAP have partnered with MG Live and I OH YOU to donate a portion of ticket sales to Manaaki Rangatahi youth homelessness collective:

"Kneecap alongside MG Live and I OH YOU will be making a $1 donation from every ticket sold to the Manaaki Rangatahi Youth Homelessness Collective which aims to prevent and end youth homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand through a coordinated, evidence based, kaupapa Māori approach.

The partnership with Kneecap is very exciting, an Irish group dedicated to revitalizing their reo (language) through their music is what we are all about, returning to your indigenous cultures language and practices is very healing, especially for our youth. We are inspired by their unrelenting decolonisation stance, which of course for us as tangata whenua, is an ongoing struggle without end.

Manaaki Rangatahi is Aotearoa's only national collective built to prevent and end youth homelessness, and we're not stopping until the job is done. We advocate hard, we work together, and we revolutionise the housing system. We do it for our mokopuna (grandchildren) because youth homelessness will end in this generation." - Bianca Johanson - Manaaki Rangatahi

"Aotearoa we are coming. It'll be almost 2 years since we landed on your shores. One of our favourite places on earth...we are buzzing to get back." - KNEECAP

KNEECAP
Aotearoa / New Zealand Tour
with special guest Lady Shaka

Tuesday 9th February 2027 - Spark Arena, Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland
Wednesday 10th February 2027 - TSB Arena, Pōneke / Wellington

MG Live Presale from 10am, Monday 7th September, subscribe at mg.live/kneecap
Tickets on sale from 10am, Wednesday 9th September via ticketmaster.co.nz
All shows lic. all-ages

Hit play on the title track to KNEECAP's new album FENIAN...

Here's KNEECAP's massive 2019 smash 'H.O.O.D'...

Press release:

Irish rap renegades KNEECAP today announce their return to New Zealand for two dates in February 2027, as part of a worldwide tour revealed to fans yesterday. The freshly announced shows are a follow up to their blistering run of dates across Aotearoa and Australia in 2025 that left critics raving and audiences heaving.

Kneecap - Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí – redefine language, politics and put on a riotous live performance. Their last New Zealand appearances set a new bar for what a rap show could be and a sense that live music could still feel dangerous, joyful and necessary.

On their remarkable second album FENIAN released in May this year to critical acclaim and produced by Dan Carey, Kneecap have come out fighting, sharpening their sound and expanding their vision delivering a record that is darker, more confrontational and more assured. Featuring singles Liars Tale and Smugglers & Scholars FENIAN confirms Kneecap operating at the height of their powers and now their return to Aotearoa promises the same mix of provocation and celebration that made their previous shows instant legend.