Kooks are jubilant in Brixton
Friday, 09 May 2008 15:07
Kooks - always where they need to be, even by a lake
inthenews.co.uk's Richard James sees the Kooks deliver an electric performance to a busy Brixton Academy.
Promoting their comparatively 'below-par' second album Konk, the Brighton quartet kicked off with the recent single Always Where I Need To Be, getting the heavily female-dominated crowd jumping around accordingly.
The band had the good sense to then blast out a couple of the key tracks from their debut album Inside In/Inside Out, including Matchbox and Eddie's Gun. The excellence of the band's first attempt is plain to see when performed live; every track is an instant crowd pleaser and Luke Pritchard is a front man of such natural exuberance that it is impossible not to be carried away with his enthusiasm.
The light show behind the band was a true highlight also; the flashing red, blue and green lighting silhouetted the band perfectly and proved how polished the band have become since their performance to an overflowing NME tent at Reading Festival in 2006.
On first listen the difficult-second-album curse appears to have struck the Kooks like many before them as Konk fails to really inspire much emotion. However, when heard live, with Pritchard bouncing round the stage calling on the crowd to sing "do you want to make love to me" back at him, the album's strengths are properly seen.
The Kooks make songs to be sung along to, they do chirpy, happy, bouncy tunes and their natural home is on the live stage.
The band had little time for chit chat with the Brixton crowd letting the music do the talking instead, managing to tread the thin line between live experimentation and complete and utter self-indulgence.
Naive and Ooh La brought the house down, with the infectious Pritchard finding a way through the hair and skinny jeans to belt out the crowd favourites perfectly.
The encore included a few acoustic numbers from Pritchard, including Seaside and Jackie Big Tits, before the band finished with Sofa Song.
It was an excellent performance from the band, where not one single member of the crowd could prevent themselves from joining Pritchard in his jubilant procession through the night.
Richard James
Check out the video for Always Where I Need To Be here
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