22 November 2014 (gig)
29 November 2014
It would be 'Naive' of me to say you hadn’t heard of the Kooks before, [and] it could be fair to say that, much like me, you had firmly placed them in the nostalgic section of your music library – but this has all changed since I came across this tweet from Luke Pritchard (lead vocalist and guitar):
My initial reaction was “what?”, “when?”, “how?” and another dumbstruck “What?!” How could I have missed an album released by The Kooks? The Kooks! A band with much loved hits such as “She Moves in Her Own Way” and “Always Where I Need To Be” that are greeted with everyone in the car (Mum’s included) belting out all the lyrics too. I was both excited and overly curious as to what their new material would sound like. I was not disappointed. ‘Listen’ has boldly reminded me that they belong in the musical landscape of today, and as I lined up on the 22nd of November outside the Cardiff University Students’ Union alongside a range of fans (varying from old to young), I knew that they felt the same way too.
The Kooks exploited their new material well, opening with ‘Around the World’ with a burst of energy so frantic that even the audience members that hadn’t heard it before felt the overwhelming enthusiasm the band threw into the performance, which was kept up throughout the gig. The older and more well-known ‘Seaside’ and the newer, touching piano ballad ‘See Me Now’ (addressed to Pritchard’s late father) were both flawlessly performed on a half lit stage contrasting to the jazzy and funky performances of more upbeat songs such as ‘Down’ – showing the positive diversity of The Kooks on both new and old albums.
As Pritchard recently said in an interview with Vevo UK, “the new album’s quite danceable”, and he was in no way wrong, all audience members swayed and danced, mirroring the moves of Pritchard. As a front man he was perfect, combining the perfect mix of order and spontaneity to excite the crowd – not that his presence alone didn’t already lead to screams of delight every time he got an inch closer to the crowd (not to mention the hysteria when he teased a crowd surf) – confirming that the fan base isn’t leaving them anytime soon. In my opinion his stage presence resembled that of Mick Jagger, charismatic and adored by all.
Although it could be seen by short moments of silence throughout the beginning chords of the newer songs, such as ‘It Was London’ and ‘Forgive & Forget’, that some had not yet encountered much of the new album, they were met with exhilarated reactions by the time the chorus struck, which were reflected in the interval before the encore where there was a simultaneous chant of ‘We want more’ and a multitude of screams begging for them to come back on. Which indeed they did, ending with the much sought after ‘Naïve’, leaving the audience on a buzz of excitement - and in my case, having to drag a friend away from the stage barrier who never wanted it to end.
My only disappointment was that ‘Jackie Big Tits’ was not played, but since every song was a hit with the audience, their set list was suitably well chosen. A huge positive The Kooks can take away from this recent UK tour is that, unlike my assumption that I would be singing their classic songs from my younger years on my two hour car journey home, I was actually humming the new and catchy ‘Westside’ and desperately trying to recall the verses to the seductive tune where Pritchard unleashed a soft Princey falsetto – I now know to be ‘Sweet Emotion’ – meaning that even with the diverse new material of ‘Listen’, The Kooks are undoubtedly, as good as ever, and personally one of the most enjoyable bands I’ve seen live.
