The Kooks

Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam (31st January 2015)

You know what makes us grumpy? Not getting tickets to a gig we want to see. You know what makes us even more grumpy?! A band or artist we want to see not coming to London as part of their tour. Now that may sound a bit spoilt (and we are – we’re usually spoilt for choice!), but we like to be able to take in all those events we want to without having to worry about complications. The Kooks were kindly the most recent band to challenge us but, fear not, we simply made a short trip to Amsterdam to make sure we saw them in person as they showcased their most recent comeback.

Having not been a huge fan of Listen when it was released last year, we were only cautiously optimistic that this was going to be a sound decision… We’re glad we made the effort though – putting on an adept show, complemented by one of the best stage sets we’ve seen in a while, along with wholesome acoustics in a great venue, the boys had us fully tuned in from the get-go.

It’s easy to forget that The Kooks were around more recently than you think. Having experimented with their indie rock/ pop sound over the years, their third album (Junk Of The Heart, released in 2011) did not capture in the same way their first and second did and so went mostly unnoticed, for me anyway. As previously mentioned, their most recent offering, Listen, incorporating more soul and funk influences, also disappointed.

I have so many fond memories of their debut, Inside In/ Inside Out, released back in 2006, which contained hit after hit – I want all of their music to excite me in that same way. That being said, I have since revisited Listen following the gig as I feel the boys gave enough to persuade me it was worthy of another listen (no pun intended). It still doesn’t work for me the way their early material did, but it is slowly growing…

Opening on the night with Around Town, the boys took to the stage in their skinny jeans (with the exception of guitarist Harris who opted for a snazzy suit), flanked by guitars. What a clever stage set – whilst relatively simple (visual displays in the form of TV screens of various sizes), the effect was striking and allowed for an ever-changing backdrop upon which the gig unfolded.

By the time they moved onto It Was London, the boys had found their groove and once Brixton was mentioned (Kate’s home!), we too had found ours.

The venue itself was fantastic and we could do with more mid-sized venues like this in the UK. At a minimum, the UK could learn from the efficient running of HRH – a free cloakroom, drinks purchased with pre-paid tokens, limited queues… Offering a main hall that provided ample space for ~ 5,500 people to get a really good view, HRH also has a smaller space on the first floor that provides a stage for ~ 700 guests to enjoy an afterparty should they choose to stick around.

Continuing through their repertoire, something relatively off-putting for me was lead vocals Luke Pritchard’s apparent American accent (the boys are from England). Accepting that it is easy to pick up accents, I can’t help but find it distracting, which is a shame as Pritchard is great at maintaining engagement with the crowd.

Closing on Naive, all those fond memories of the early days came flooding back and the chorus filled the main hall as everyone sang along in unison. You could never guarantee a reception like that but I can imagine it must feel pretty bloody good to be greeted by a sea of bodies chanting one of your hits.

We left the venue satisfied that the journey to a land less ventured was worthwhile: not only did we get to see a fantastic show, our opinion of the boys’ latest album was brought into question (in a good way, although it may be one that sounds better live than recorded) and we found a new venue that would feature highly in any top 5 list. It’s clear we need to consider embarking on more adventures like these in the future!

Set list:

• Around Town
• See The World
• Ooh La
• It Was London
• Bad Habit
• Down
• She Moves In Her Own Way
• Seaside
• Dreams
• Sofa Song
• Westside
• See The Sun
• Sway
• Sweet Emotion
• Always Where I Need To Be
• Eddie’s Gun
• Forgive & Forget
  Encore –
• See Me Now
• Junk Of The Heart
• Naive

Visit our Flickr page to see photo highlights from the night, and our YouTube channel where you can watch extracts from the show.
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You can also check out our Past Events page to see our music archives.

 

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