The Kooks - Nottingham Marcus Garvey Ballroom
Its been sound weekend. A late night one. An alcohol fuelled one. Nothing new there then. But, oddly for a Monday morning, you have a smile on your face as you get yourself sorted for leaving the house. You can hear echoes in your mind. Echoes of the weekend's soundtrack. Your head's not full of the corporate wasteland that lies ahead. Just the vision of around 9.45 on Saturday night at the Garvey as a tousle-haired Luke Pritchard, acoustic guitar in hand and looking every bit the young Marc Bolan, enters the stage. The place is rammed. And expectant. There's a tangible electricity in the air.
mad for it
He strums a few chords, and launches into the album opener. “Do you want to go to the seaside”, he sings. And everyone's mad for it. You've heard about The Kooks' reputation. One of the hottest live bands around, or something like that. They are certainly one of the successes of the latest wave of indie rock, as their current top 10 album “Inside In/Inside Out”, which has rarely been off your stereo over recent weeks, gives testimony to. You stand and watch and finish the remains of your Red Stripe. As the acoustic chords fade, Pritchard is joined onstage by his fellow band members - guitarist Hugh Harris, bassist Max Rafferty and drummer Paul Garred - and they start the delivery of the full on rock and roll assault. And if you like your music hard and passionate but with some classic hooks then you wouldn't want to be anywhere else. You join the mosh pit and are carried forwards as the album's given the full treatment. The awesome “Eddie's Gun” receives a rapturous reception. The same greeting awaits all the gems - “Sofa Song“, the anthem “Naïve“, “You Don't Love Me”, “She Moves In Her Own Way” and the rest.
a band on top
Then there are the reggae influences which come to the fore regularly. Pritchard is a master of the guitar refrain. Knocking out skanking rhythms with confidence and a panache that comes only from a lead singer of a band on top of its game. They cruise through the set, as you move and sway. And its over quicker than you could imagine. As you join in the calls for “more”, its apparent that this is the moment for The Kooks. And to prove the point they put the icing on the cake with the first of the encore. Pritchard again walks on stage and moves into an acoustic version of “Jackie Big Tits”. It's inspired all right, delivered impeccably by the charismatic front man. Put him in the class of Weller or Gallagher or Preston. Luke Pritchard is a switched on, clued up, star in the making. An icon to a generation. But you're back to Monday. Time to head off out of the house.
smile on your face and a strut in your step
You slip on your loafers on then your headphones. Navigate around your MP3 player. Through the door as acoustic chords echo into your ears. “Do you want to go to the seaside”. And you're back there, on Saturday night in the Garvey. You don't care what the day's got in store. For now there's a smile on your face and a strut in your step. You're in that place that only music and those eternal rock and roll dreams can take you. You're walking on air. Rob Massey