Over a decade on from their first album and The Kooks have proven once again they still know how to rock it.
Performing at Castlefield Bowl for Sounds of The City with special guests The Sherlocks & The Sea Girls, The Kooks transported fans back to the mid 2000s.
Strutting on stage to The Clash, Rock The Casbah the tone of the evening was set immediately as the crowd erupted. It was flares and mosh pits galore as the first notes of Always Where I Need to be were played to the rowdy crowd.
We thought Ringo Starr was on stage for a moment as frontman Luke Pritchard encouraged the crowd to spread peace & love after spotting a fight break out.
Luke then went on to introduce See Me Now from their fourth album which he dedicated to his dad who passed away when he was young and anyone else who can relate.
There was a calmer moment in the electric performance where they played Seaside, encouraged by the band to get on shoulders and shine phone lights it made for a moment to remember.
The crowd were left restlessly awaiting an encore as The Kooks left the stage after performing Junk of The Heart. After a restless few minutes, the band finally returned to the stage for an encore closing on the song everyone had been holding out for – Naive.
Not often are a band able to pull people from all walks of life together. But as the whole crowd, young and old bounced along to the noughties loveliness delivered at Castlefield, everyone felt pretty united.
So to wrap things up The Kooks have definitely still got it, and for once we were very glad Alex Turner wasn’t around to unplug their guitars.