Brighton Indie Pop darlings The Kooks played quite possibly the biggest and best show of their 20 year career at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night. A night of nostalgia, of celebration and of cementing themselves as one of the best British bands formed in the 21st century.
The Kooks @ The O2
One of the most exciting breakout British bands of 2024, The K’s have continued their upward trajectory into 2025 and took the lead support of The Kooks on their arena run. You can tell that this won’t be the last time they’ll be performing on this stage. Rockshot Magazine spoke to Ryan Breslin, guitarist of the Earlestown band earlier this year and he told us that their sights were set at the top. It’s great to see them continue to progress and tackle their biggest venue to date. The majority of the capacity crowd had gotten to their seats early to see the North West foursome played a breathless forty minute set containing songs from their two studio albums.
Drummer Nathan Peers was in the crowd tonight rather than on the stage with his bandmates as he had broken his hand pulling on a suitcase. Probably one of the least rock n roll injuries that could happen and at such an important time of the band’s journey but stand in Jake Hopkins who took the gig on 24 hours notice gives the band a continued driving energy throughout including the stand out Gravestone.
“We released our 2nd studio album 9 or 10 weeks ago, we’ve had a bit of time to sit with it & all agreed this is the best song on the album” singer Jamie Boyle says, as they go into The Bends (Here We Go Again). Crowd favourites Chancer and finale Sarajevo, the latter beginning with a short rendition of The Pogue’s Dirty Old Town, replacing “Old Town” with “Earlestown”, the hometown of Jamie, Ryan and Dexter from the band.
There was a real buzz about The Kooks in the lead up to their first record, which happened to be released on the same day as Arctic Monkeys iconic Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Whilst the media and the charts focused on the Sheffield group, their debut Inside In / Inside Out stayed in the public consciousness throughout the year and hit the top 5 of the album charts nearly 6 months later throughout July and August, peaking at number 2. Founding members Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris were just 20 and 18 respectively when their debut album came out and their youthful exuberance came through the words and the music. Now approaching middle age, the duo haven’t lost any allure, or any desire to entertain. Their music sounds as immediate and important as it did first time around and with a fresh generation of new followers thanks to social media, there were just as many people who weren’t born when the Brighton band released their debut album, as there were people who were playing it on iPods on the school bus or in University halls. I was in the latter category. On the floor of London’s O2 Arena however, in the midst of swathes of swaying bodies, none of that matters. You become one with those around you, reminiscing, creating new memories, forgetting struggles and the sorrows of the world, whilst singing at the top of your lungs.
The Kooks @ The O2
Playing Sweet Caroline over the PA is a sure-fire way to gee up an already packed O2 Arena as the band took to the stage at 9pm. Kicking off with Sofa Song followed by personal favourite, 2008’s Always Where I Need to Be, singer Pritchard, dressed in a black sequined jacket, needed no time to whip up the adoring fans into a frenzy with singalongs galore. One thing I wrote down in my frenzied notes mid way through is rhythm. This band has rhythm, it’s upbeat and it’s infectious. Listening to She Moves In Her Own Way immediately took me back to the summer of 2006 and I couldn’t help but think it might be one of the best British pop songs of the last 20 years. Despite landing a decade after the peak of the Britpop movement, The Kooks seemed to hark back to 60’s influences like The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. Both their debut and their second album Konk were actually recorded at Ray Davies’ studio of the same name.
“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.” And Pritchard is right. It unites us, it distracts us, it motivates us, it can lead to inspiration, to protest, to live and to love.
The seventh studio album by The Kooks, Never/Know has landed at number 5 in the official UK music charts – their highest charting album in 17 years. The beautifully warm harmonies of Sunny Baby are a joy and the equally bright If They Could Only Know didn’t seem out of place in a largely nostalgic setlist with two thirds of songs from the bands first two records, 17+ years ago.
Whilst the night was immersed in positively, there was a sense of reflection on the poignant See Me Now from 2014’s Listen. A song whose lyrics came from a letter Pritchard had written to his late father. A sea of phone torches lit up the Arena as the frontman dedicated the song to his three-year old son, who is the same age as Pritchard was when he lost his dad. They balance their show with grace, charm and humour; immediately aiming to lighten the mood by moving onto Jackie Big Tits, being prefaced by the tongue-in-cheek “As you know, we’re very serious about songwriting.”
Pritchard now front of stage on his own with an acoustic guitar performed Seaside a beautifully delicate and oddly somber love song. Joyful synth singalong Westside and Bad Habit from their fourth album were both highlights where Hugh Harris got to flex his guitarist muscles. Do You Wanna showed that they can lean into a more classic rock sound with Harris effortlessly riffing throughout and drummer Alexis Nuñez drove forward with a pulsating beat.
“We went through social media to find songs we don’t play that often but our fans love, so most of you might not know this song but a few of you might love it,” Pritchard said introducing Gap from their sophmore album, of which they hadn’t played prior to this tour since 2016.
Ending their set with 2006’s You Don’t Love Me the energy in the room was palpable. After a brief flirt with leaving the stage, the band returned to perform two of their most iconic tracks; Ooh La and Naïve which ended with an explosion of red confetti raining down on the near 20,000 euphoric revellers.
Two decades into their career, The Kooks have asserted themselves as a great live act that are attracting more and more fans with every year that goes by. They can cast a spell over audiences on the biggest stage. As a band named after a David Bowie song, things are pretty hunky dory.
Live review of The Kooks’s @ The O2, London by Chris Lambert on 11th October 2025. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.
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