The Murder Capital see second German show cancelled over Palestinian flag display

11 May, 2025

The Murder Capital have had a second show in Germany cancelled over their intention to have a Palestinian flag on stage with them.

Yesterday (May 10), the Irish band saw their gig at Club Gretchen in Berlin called off after the venue learned of their plans to display the flag of Palestine, something they have done regularly in recent months.

Now, frontman James McGovern has confirmed with a social media video that their show on Sunday night (May 11) in Cologne’s Gebäude 9 has also been pulled for the same reason.

Instead, the band will play an acoustic show in the open air of the city’s Rheinpark from 8pm local time, with fans encouraged to bring their own acoustic guitar. “Everyone welcome,” the band have said.

The band played a similarly impromptu acoustic show outside their original Berlin venue on Saturday night. Their show in Munich on May 8, meanwhile, went off without a hitch, and their current tour – in support of their third album ‘Blindness’ – continues around Europe later this week.

They are also scheduled to play at two festivals in Germany this summer – Hurricane Festival on June 21 and Southside Festival on June 22.

Explaining the situation, McGovern said: “We arrived into Cologne this morning hoping that what happened in Berlin yesterday would be an isolated incident. But tonight’s venue, Gebäude 9, has also told us that we cannot have the Palestinian flag on our stage.

We’ve tried everything we can to find another venue for tonight’s show, but it’s been impossible. So we’ll be putting on an acoustic show outdoors in a park somewhere this evening.”

The band have signalled they have no intention of changing their policy with regard to displaying the Palestinian flag, with McGovern arguing that it “needs to be on our stage and needs to be as visible everywhere in the world as possible.”

“These people are being eradicated, being starved, being bombed, and these war crimes and this genocide is being committed by the Israeli state, and funded and supported by governments around the world.”

“Us having a flag on our stage at a rock show is not a political statement, it is a human reaction to a horrific and unimaginable situation. But this is not history, it’s happening right now, today. We stand forever with the people of Palestine. Free the people of Palestine. Love from us.”

After the band’s Berlin show was cancelled, they gave an impassioned speech outside the venue in which they laid out their point of view – see the video above and read a transcript here.

Germany has strict laws against hate speech and antisemitism and Kneecap’s scheduled shows in the country were recently cancelled in the light of their outspoken comments at Coachella and elsewhere about the Israeli government’s ongoing operations in Gaza.

The backlash against Kneecap caused countless major artists to sign a letter written by their label Heavenly that stood up for artists’ “freedom of expression”. The letter read: “In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”

The Murder Capital, too, have been consistent in their support of Gaza and the Palestinian people, donating profits from their single ‘Love Of Country’ towards aid in Palestine. McGovern said the song is about “the dark side of patriotism and nationalism, and what they become when they are warped and weaponised.”

In a press release, he added: “Across the world, we are seeing hatred of “other” spreading like a disease. No claiming of land today is more barbaric than the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”

The band also discussed the issue with NME last year: “Nationalism, patriotism, all of these topics are hot on the tongue of everybody, for so many different reasons: the genocide going on in Palestine, Trump being re-elected. Irishness comes up all the time for us – more often than not, because we’re feeling pride for our country – [but also] dismay at the way things are being handled by our government, the way people are being let down and pushed into corners. There’s a lot of that in the world. Not just the people who are committing atrocities, but people who are filled with this hatred of ‘other’.”

NME awarded ‘Blindness’ three stars, noting: “‘Love Of Country’, recorded in a single live take, is a sprawling meditation on the push and pull between patriotism, nationalism and xenophobia, and shows McGovern’s songwriting at its most incisive. If The Murder Capital’s aim was to purge themselves of inertia, then ‘Blindness’ can only be judged as a success.”

The band are set to play their biggest headline show to date at the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin on July 19, with guests Soft Play and Mary In The Junkyard. Find any remaining tickets here.

Other major shows in the pipeline include supporting The Maccabees at All Points East 2025 in London on August 24 (tickets here) and opening for Queens Of The Stone Age at Sheffield’s Rock N Roll Circus on August 27 and 28 (tickets here).

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