Brighton indie-rockers The Kooks put on a spirited and career-spanning show at London’s O2.

For a band that has been embraced by fans across the world for nearly two decades, it can come as a surprise that indie legends The Kooks have only just played their first headline performance at The O2 in London. The Kooks are a festival mainstay with their anthemic songwriting. They continue to have a multi-generational pull, especially thanks to the impact of 2006’s Inside In/Inside Out still being felt today. Nevertheless their grand debut at the venue on Saturday night—in support of their seventh studio album Never/Know—was a triumphant evening full of fan-favourites and even the odd rare deep cut.

Frontman Luke Pritchard, guitarist Hugh Harris, and drummer Alexis Nunez took to the stage shortly after 9pm. After opening with “Sofa Song”, the group launched into “Always Where I Need to Be” off their 2008 sophomore LP, Konk. The stage set-up involved a large screen showing visuals throughout the evening and a rectangular light display directly above them. Backed by the roar of the crowd, Pritchard acknowledged the audience for the first time after blasting through “Eddie’s Gun” and “Stormy Weather”. He said: “Good evening London, how are you, you beautiful people. This is amazing, I can feel incredible energy tonight. We are very humbled… it only took us 20 years to get here. Let’s blow the roof off this one.”

Songs from their debut album dominated the set, but fans of 2011’s Junk of the Heart were treated to the title track, and numerous songs from 2014’s Listen such as “Bad Habit”, “Westside”, and “Down” were also played. When introducing the first of two tracks to be played from Never/Know, “Sunny Baby” and “If They Could Only Know”, Pritchard said: “So listen, it’s crazy times and there’s a lot of hurt and a lot of crazy going on. You know, music is the healer. Music is the thing that can heal us. It’s amazing we’re all here.”

There were so many genuine moments of tenderness throughout the set, yet emotions ran highest when Pritchard paid tribute to his late father by performing the piano-led ballad “See Me Now” as phone lights lit up The O2. Other highlights on the night included hearing songs such as “Matchbox”, “Seaside” and even a performance of “Gap”, which before this tour was last played in 2016. It was a joy to watch the crowd echo back some of these songs with real force as mass singalongs ensued through the night.

For the final section of the show, there was a juggernaut ending of back-to-back hits including “You Don’t Love Me”, “Ooh La”, and a confetti cannon ending for “Naive”. Prior to performing “Naive”, Pritchard spoke to the crowd one last time. He said: “Thank you, London, you guys have been amazing, thank you so much. Thank you for coming on this crazy journey with this band. We love you so much, goodnight.”

Earlier this year, The Kooks frontman sat down with 1883 to discuss the new album and wanting to see new and old fans on tour. And when you looked around The O2, it felt like the band’s growing fanbase has no signs of slowing down. The crowd was a mix of young teens, adults of all ages, and even families enjoying the concert with their children. It was beautiful to see how the band’s music continues to resonate with different generations.

Although it may have taken some time for The Kooks to finally play The O2, it was well worth the wait. They are a band at the height of their powers, still vocally and sonically tight on stage. Surely Wembley Arena is next.

Words Cameron Poole

Photography Raphael Buisson

The Kooks played:

Intro

Sofa song

Always Where I need to Be

Eddie’s Gun

Stormy Weather

She Moves in Her Own Way

Bad Habit

Westside

Sweet emotion

Sunny Baby

Junk of the Heart

See Me Now

Jacky Big Tits

If They Could Only Know

Seaside

Sway

Shine On

Connection

Taking Pictures of You

Gap 

Down

See the World

Matchbox

Do You Wanna

You Don’t Love Me

——

Ooh la

Naive

Time above the earth