Glastonbury 2025: Bob Vylan lead chants of “death to the IDF” and “free, free Palestine” in provocative set

Bob Vylan led chants of “death to the IDF” and “free, free Palestine” during a provocative set at Glastonbury 2025.

• READ MORE: Glastonbury 2025: Lorde secret set, Lewis Capaldi’s return and the biggest headlines from Friday

On a day of political statements at Worthy Farm, Bob Vylan played a set on the West Holts Stage on Saturday afternoon (June 28) immediately before the much-anticipated Kneecap appearance and led the capacity crowd through a raucous performance.

The set saw frontman Bobby Vylan call for solidarity with bands that “use their platform to speak up for the Palestinian people”, namechecking Kneecap, The Murder Capital and Amyl & The Sniffers in particular.

He also said that he was aware that the performance was being streamed on the BBC and so he would not say anything “too extreme”, adding that he would “leave that to those lads”, referring to “their mates Kneecap”.

Live on BBC: pic.twitter.com/ao8gMzzbii

— ashok | ಅಶೋಕ್ (@broseph_stalin) June 28, 2025

Yeaaaaah Bob vylan #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/NGqmjr1iBA

— Jasmine (@_jasminehahn) June 28, 2025

The BBC: try to ban Kneecap and when that fails refuse to air the set.

Bob Vylan:

Top set so far #Glastonbury #bobvylan pic.twitter.com/2M6ZQdg2nF

— Matt Price (@Matt_Price_1971) June 28, 2025

Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.

“I heard you want your country back, shut the fuck up”. pic.twitter.com/oNbOPM6D03

— Wokerati Marty (@David75234833) June 28, 2025

The set is still available to watch on the BBC iPlayer’s West Holts Stage live stream feed, which you can access here, but their set has yet to be uploaded separately.

After the crowd instigated a chant of “free, free Palestine”, which they did multiple times, Bobby said, “Have you heard this one?”, before leading a chant of “death, death to the IDF”, referring to the Israeli Defense Forces, which are involved in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Bobby also said: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises,” referencing lyrics from their 2023 single ‘Censored (Interlude)’. “We are the violent punks, because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak, unfortunately.”

Throughout the performance, political slogans were projected onto the screen behind them, including “Free Palestine – United Nations have called it a genocide – the BBC calls it a ‘conflict’”.

Authorities had closed off access to the stage beforehand due to the demand to see the Irish rap trio that have been at the centre of a storm of controversy in recent months, with their set starting just half an hour after Bob Vylan’s.

Kneecap went on to deliver an incendiary set in which they again accused Israel of “committing genocide against the Palestinian people, aided by the UK government”. They also took aim at Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as Rod Stewart for his recent comments in support of Nigel Farage.

Others to use their platform to speak out at Glastonbury 2025 include Amyl & The Sniffers, who took on colonisation, the war in Palestine, AI and J.K. Rowling in their fiery set on the Other Stage on Saturday. Inhaler and CMAT also made pro-Palestine remarks on Friday, among others.

Elsewhere, Glastonbury has seen a surprise set from Lorde – who performed her new album ‘Virgin’ in full (and scored a five star review in the process), a spunky set from Wet Leg, Lewis Capaldi’s triumphant return for a secret set at the Pyramid Stage, a surprise appearance by Peter Capaldi at Franz Ferdinand’s set, and more.

The 1975 headlined the Pyramid Stage last night (June 27), earning a four-star review from NME, which read: “With their one show of the year, “The 1975 from the Internet” clear the decks on their career so far to deliver a reminder of their chops for tunes and showmanship away from the headlines.”

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.

The post Glastonbury 2025: Bob Vylan lead chants of “death to the IDF” and “free, free Palestine” in provocative set appeared first on NME.