Kneecap @ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 29 Apr

Journeying to Edinburgh from Glasgow for a Kneecap show is not unlike making your way to a football match: scarves, flags, merch, picking up more and more people from the same army as you get closer to the venue. And it really is a lot of people. Not just in The Liquid Room itself, which is quickly packed shoulder to shoulder not long after doors at 7pm, but also outside, where fans wait hoping for a last-minute ticket, or even just a glimpse of the band as they jump off the bus. This is the fever that’s built up around Kneecap in recent years.

Those years have seen the band celebrated, pilloried, arrested, turned into a political football and become one of the most talked-about acts in the country. That they’ve been quietly working on a new album during that period of scrutiny says something that comes across loud and clear live: there’s method to the madness.

This show is part of a record shop out-store tour for FENIAN and sees them perform in one of the smallest rooms they’ve played in a while, a space they’ve most definitely outgrown. It’s their first time in Edinburgh and, judging by the loud boos at any mention of the capital, most of the crowd don’t spend much time there either.

The setlist sticks closely to the album brief. They open with a run of unreleased material: Carnival, Gael Phonics, Occupied 6. The driving dance-inflected An Ra has the DNA of a future hit. On paper, it’s a stretch of unfamiliar songs. In practice, it doesn’t land that way. The crowd are committed to the bit, chanting, surging, starting mosh pits, embracing the chaos regardless. It’s hard to take in the detail of the new tracks. For now, it’s about energy, and there’s a bunch of it.

Between songs, the band are experts at wrangling that chaotic energy, keeping things playful but staying on message and taking the crowd along with them. Reflecting on their rise and the responsibility that comes with it, Mo Chara tells the crowd: “I have a platform and I’m gonna use it,” touching on a united Ireland, Palestine, and the group’s dislike of Keir Starmer, “let’s get this album to number one to really wind him up.” They thank the crowd, most of whom bought the upcoming album as part of the ticket. “Touring is the only way we make any money… thanks for buying it.”

They go beyond the promised 45 minutes, dipping into older material. Moving from FENIAN straight into H.O.O.D is an unreal double-header that tips the room over the edge. By the end, the floor is thick with empty plastic cups, so many you have to kick your way out through them like leaves. Outside, fans who missed out ask how it was, keen for even the tiniest taste of that atmosphere. It’s clear Kneecap are experts in hype, but with FENIAN they’re proving that they’re equally serious about the music and the message, and are determined to last.