British indie heroes The Kooks played a career-best concert at the O2 Arena tonight. The band took over the famous London venue with a hit-heavy set of indie anthems including ‘Naive’, ‘Ooh La’, ‘Seaside’ and more.
Introducing recent single ‘Sunny Baby’, frontman Luke Pritchard told 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. It's amazing we’re all here.”
The 20,000-strong crowd sang along to song after song, including deep cuts which have found a second life on TikTok - ‘Taking Pictures of You’ and ’Gap’ - before a communal encore, taking in ‘Ooh La’ and ‘Naive’.
The Kooks’ seventh studio album, ‘Never/Know’, dropped on May 9th, following the release of their feel-good, springtime anthem, ‘Sunny Baby’. The track was featured in The Times' Best New Songs and premiered on BBC Radio 2 with Jo Whiley. ‘Never/Know’ shot to Top 5 in the UK album charts, becoming their highest charting album since 2008.
The Kooks stunned fans and lit up the internet at Reading Festival in the summer with a euphoric mainstage set that featured an unlikely surprise: A-list Hollywood star Rebel Wilsonjoined them on stage for a raucous cover of the 1995 rap classic ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ by Coolio feat L.V.
Main support for the tour comes from Merseyside four-piece, The K’s, who were named ‘Breakthrough Act of the Year’ at the Northern Music Awards in 2024. Their second album, ‘Pretty On The Internet’ was released June 2025.
The Kooks played:
- Intro
- Sofa song
- Always Where I need to Be
- Eddie’s Gun
- Stormy Weather
- She Moves in Her Own Way
- Bad Habit
- Westside
- Sweet emotion
- Sunny Baby
- Junk of the Heart
- See Me Now
- Jacky Big Tits
- If They Could Only Know
- Seaside
- Sway
- Shine On
- Connection
- Taking Pictures of You
- Gap
- Down
- See the World
- Matchbox
- Do You Wanna
- You Don’t Love Me
- Ooh la
- Naive
- Time above the earth
About The Kooks
The Kooks, whose 2006 debut sold over 2 million copies, have unexpectedly found themselves beloved by a new generation. While their original fans remain, they’ve layered on a fervent Gen Z following, headlining festivals and selling out shows worldwide. Social media has made them a generations’ new favourite band again, introducing their unmistakable Brit-pop joy to fresh ears. Their debut was a defining moment for indie music in the 2000s, their first releases set the sound of a moment in time. There are few songs as defining of the 2000s as ‘Naïve’, but the band were never a one-hit wonder - their follow-up record, Konk, hit number one as one of four top 10 albums. The Kooks never stopped evolving, transitioning from indie rock to synthpop and krautrock influences. Over time, they’ve integrated wide-ranging inspirations—Harris' love of soul and opera, alongside Pritchard’s classic influences like Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.