The Kooks + Clean Cut Kid @ o2 Academy, 22nd April, 2017
Formed in Brighton in 2004, The Kooks rose to fame with the release of their debut album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ back in 2006 which spawned a number of successful singles such as ‘Naive’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ that are still heralded as indie anthems today over 10 years on. Tonight acts as a ‘Best Of’ tour to highlight the successes over the bands career, of which there have been many and such is a testament to the reasons that The Kooks have managed to remain relevant whilst many of their peers have fallen by the wayside.
Opening the show were Liverpool’s Clean Cut Kid ahead of the release of their debut album Felt, who did well to entertain the growing crowds with their brand of indie synth pop.
Heralded as a ‘Best Of’ tour it was probably only right for The Kooks to open with ‘Eddies Gun’, ‘You Don’t Love Me’ and ‘Sofa Song’ to get the crowd dancing and singing along for a night of both retrospection but also looking ahead to the future.
Tonight’s set moves and veers throughout the band’s career with a heavy load being taken from the first two records. Singer and guitarist Luke Pritchard is like a bolt of energy onstage, more so when given the freedom to roam the stage without his guitar.
With a limited production on this tour, the evening is all about the songs and these truly come in abundance. ‘Naive’, ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ and ‘Ooh La’ sound as good as they ever have whilst newer tracks such as ‘Broken Vow’ and ‘Be Who You Are’ show that there’s much more to come from the band.
If there has to be a critique of tonight it would be that there were perhaps too many new songs and slower cuts for a tour that’s highlighted as a ‘Best Of’ set, with some tracks being used purely as talking and toilet breaks for the audience. But for there to be highs then I suppose there has to be lows, and these highs are some of the best nostalgic tracks you could wish to hear on a Saturday evening.
Eddie’s Gun
You Don’t Love Me
Sofa Song
Bad Habit
Down
Pull Me In
She Moves in Her Own Way
Seaside
Be Who You Are
Forget
See the World
Sway
Rosie
See Me Now
Sweet Emotion
Matchbox
Ooh La
Broken Vow
Always Where I Need to Be
Westside
Junk Of The Heart
Around Town
Shine On
Naïve
Reviewer: Dan Earl
Photographer: Adriana Vasile