Live Review: The Kooks - The O2, London 11/10/2025
“Let’s blow the roof off!” exclaimed The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard last Saturday as the British indie heroes took over London’s O2 Arena. Their biggest headline show to date was a career-defining performance that crystalised the band’s status as legends of the indie sphere whose cultural legacy is still being written.
Pritchard, joined with guitarist Hugh Harris, drummer Alexis Nuñez, and bassist Jonathan Harvey, treated the 20,000-strong crowd to a true feat of performance endurance as they cascaded through their mammoth 27-track setlist. New material from their seventh studio album Never/Know, which soared into the UK top 5 in May to become their highest-charting release since 2008, nestled effortlessly between decades-old hits such as ‘You Don’t Love Me’, ‘She Moves in Her Own Way’, ‘Sway’ and ‘Always Where I Need To Be’.
Anticipation mounted across a selection of excellent and easy-going tracks by rising Aussie outfit Day We ran, followed by a more raucous performance by Merseyside four-piece The K’s, whose sophomore album Pretty On The Internet soared to the top of the UK charts at the start of August. Around 9pm, Pritchard triumphantly sauntered onto the stage clad in a sparkly black jacket and leather trousers, musing to the expectant crowd “We could have the best night of our lives”, before launching into the first energetic notes of ‘Sofa Song’.
For a band that found fame nineteen years ago with their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out, their crowd is strikingly multi-generational. In recent years, they have accrued a fervent Gen Z following attracted to their lively brand of indie rock, and half of their fanbase is now 18-24. At the O2, the audience’s vibrant energy perfectly matched a setlist that bounced from hit to hit with a youthful energy understating the band’s seasoned status. Spinning into ‘Bad Habit’, Pritchard cuts a theatrical presence on stage, throwing shapes and regularly quipping to a captivated audience hanging on his every word.
Although it was a dark October evening, there was a fierce optimism in The Kooks’ upbeat tracks and energetic stage presence that evoked the brightest rays of summer. Introducing ‘Sunny Baby’, a standout track from their new album, Pritchard addressed the crowd: “So listen, 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.” As the band reached the song’s warming chorus, these feelings of rapture were infectious, proving Pritchard’s words true as 20,000 of us swayed to the joyous track. This is The Kooks at their glass-half-full best, and palpable ripples of euphoria cascaded throughout the arena with the percussive intro of their next feel-good track ‘Junk of The Heart (Happy)’.
In a particularly heartfelt moment, a piano was wheeled on stage for the striking ‘See Me Now’, a song with “special weight” to Pritchard as its lyrics came from a letter he’d written to his late father. He went on to dedicate the ballad to his three-year old son, now the same age as Pritchard was when he lost his dad. With the O2 lit by a swarm of swaying torchlights, it was a tender moment as thousands of fans sang “If you could see my smile, see your little boy, would you be proud?”. In an emotionally charged show, another tender moment came later as Pritchard stood alone on stage with just a guitar to perform the timeless ‘Seaside’.
Catapulting into the final third of their set, the energy and intensity began ramping up as the four-piece played a slew of crowd-rousing favourites. After playing ‘Gap’, a deep cut from their chart-topping sophomore album Konk that has found a second life on TikTok, the band barrelled through ‘Down’, followed by ‘See the World’ and ‘Matchbox’. The raunchy ‘Do You Wanna’ was the heaviest track of the night, ending with a ferocious breakdown worthy of punk and hardcore royalty. With sweat beading down his forehead, Nuñez dealt the final hammer blow to his drum kit, and thunderous applause engulfed the arena.
When The Kooks departed the stage, it wasn’t long before they returned with a red-hot performance of ‘Ooh La’. Finally, there was one unforgettable track left to play, and Pritchard thanked the audience for “coming on this crazy journey with this band”. With red confetti exploding into the air, the triumphant chorus of ‘Naive’ echoed across the O2, and the jubilant crowd erupted. This was the unmistakeable sound of an era-defining band cementing their place as royalty of the UK’s music scene.
Words by Taran Will
Photography by Harry Wassell
