Predictable, soft, fuzzy indie first springs to mind when someone mentions The Kooks. And that mass of curls of course. After seeing The Kooks at Brixton Academy in 2008, however, it was truly a testament to how a live performance breathes life into a band and a record. Three years and another album later, on October 11th 2011 at the same venue, The Kooks put on another spectacular show and show they are back kicking and punching.
Sheltering from a crisp autumn evening, Tribes provided a tight set to warm up the crowd, prompting questions of why they aren’t headlining their own tour of obscure underground venues already. Moving on and despite cancelling shows the previous week in Birmingham and Leeds due to a throat and lung infection, Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, Peter Denton and Paul Garred gave a magnificent tour de force of their three albums. Although the tour coincides with the release of their third album, “Junk of the Heart”, they played many of their previous hits, including “Naive”, “She Moves In Her Own Way” and “Ooh La” to a rapturous reception.
Kicking off with “Is It Me”, from the new album, the crowd erupted into dancing from all ages. Pritchard’s ear for a melody that would seduce anyone certainly paid off and the evening continued in this way. Even a, rather out of place, mosh pit (most likely started by a few testosterone fuelled lads who were just there because their girlfriends dragged them along to ogle Pritchard) soon turned into a hippy-esque ‘dance pit’ with couples twirling and jiving in the centre to the infectious “Eskimo Kiss”.
The band played a lot from the new album to a good reception but it was their more well-known songs which, naturally, prompted the best reaction from fans. Pritchard is completely drowned out by the audience during “Seaside” and played the adored rockstar to perfection during “Naïve”, walking the right side of the line between being an arrogant d**k (see Jared Leto’s Reading Festival performance for an example) and retaining some modesty.
The distinction between the band’s new material and their old tracks is clear, with “Junk of the Heart” channelling a more mature sound, inspired in parts by reggae and ska. Rounding off the night with “The Saboteur” (which was released as a ‘teaser track’ for “Junk of the Heart” but doesn’t actually feature – I sense a ‘Special Edition’ version in the pipeline…) and “Naïve”, The Kooks prove that performing live is what they do best. I would urge anyone who likes their music to see them live because you won’t be disappointed.
