I’d always seen The Kooks as a light-hearted band – almost the epitome of fun and breezy.
By Miles Salter
Feature photo by John Hayhurst (taken at Leeds Festival 2024)
Their songs are good natured things, little rockets of happiness, harmless but energising. The kind of thing Thom Yorke might despise. But this affability has worked wonders for The Kooks – this summer they are celebrating 20 years since their debut Inside In / Inside Out came out and, blimey, there are 7000 people in Scarborough to see them. Plenty of these are young, too – a substantial part of the crowd are in the 18 – 25 bracket, perhaps stumbling across the band via Instagram or TikTok.
Half-way through the gig, though, there’s a stunning moment of revelation. Luke Pritchard, the good-looking face of the band and lead singer (a latter-day Jim Morrison, but better adjusted) tells the audience, bravely, about his father’s death. Luke was only three when the tragedy happened. Bob Pritchard was also a musician and died of a sudden heart attack. Doctors tried to save him by using a pig’s heart and a human heart but did not prevail.
“He left me a guitar and a box of records,” says Luke on stage. The audience emits a sigh of empathy. Luke goes on to play the song See Me Now, which is a heartfelt cry, a longing to connect. This moment made me see The Kooks in a whole new way. Luke seems pretty confident and happy, but the emotion in this song is undeniable. At its end, a picture of Bob, a smiling, handsome man, goes up on the screen.
Given that so many of The Kooks’ songs have a ‘happy-go-lucky’ feel, this could be seen as a triumph of the will. Get out there, live life, give it your best shot, even if things are far from perfect. The fact that the band have released eight albums is a testament to this.
Luke’s sideman is Hugh Harris on lead guitar, Peter Denton on bass and Alexis Nunez hammering the drums. The musical palette is fairly straightforward – indie guitar pop, but they do it really well.
Sunny Baby sounds like a bright summer day, even if the images of skinny girls in the accompanying video is not welcomed by everyone. Seaside is a nod to the occasion and venue. We get the infectious She Moves In Her Own Way fairly early.
They save Naive, probably their biggest song, for the final track, the teenagers dancing and roaring their approval. At the end, the band hover on stage, clearly delighted with the venue and gig. “We’d like to come back next year,” says Luke. Top band, top gig. Your Dad would be so proud, Mr. Pritchard.
The Kooks performed at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on 18 June 2026.