The Kooks – The Piece Hall, Halifax – 19^th June 2026

READY TO DELIVER

Taking to the stage at The Piece Hall on a warm and sunny Friday night, the Brighton indie five-piece look ready to deliver a set packed with the kind of early-2000s indie-pop energy that made them one of the defining bands of the era.

As I stand in the crowd I think back twenty years to when The Kooks made their breakthrough. My life was very different back then. I’ve changed, in many ways, but thankfully The Kooks haven’t, and they remain remarkably good at what they do.

From the moment they arrive on stage lead vocalist Luke Pritchard invites us to feel the early 2000s feel of the songs. There are plenty of people in the crowd in their early 20s so they won’t have been born then, but there are enough in their 40s and 50s to suggest that I’m not the only one to be revisiting the soundtrack of my youth tonight. And The Kooks are happy to oblige by playing plenty of hits from their debut and sophomore albums.

CATCHY GEMS

They open with the trio of Sofa Song, Always Where I Need to Be and Eddie’s Gun. These songs have endured well and feel fresh. Stormy Weather, Westside and Sunny Baby sit comfortably alongside the classic She Moves in Her Own Way, which along with Seaside gets one of the biggest reactions of the evening. Two decades on these tracks are still catchy gems. Sweet Emotion and Bad Habit inject a bit more variety and more guitars to the mix.

Luke Pritchard is an engaging frontman. He’s effortlessly charming as he interacts with the crowd. He recounts a story of why he came to write See Me Now – “I was ruminating on my life and I realised that the loss of my father at age three is really the whole reason I make music. When my dad died he left me a stack of records and a Les Paul Gibson guitar and that was my education in music.” The song is a poignant tribute to his dad.

The Piece Hall is a truly excellent venue. The sound is very good (and has been on all our visit so far this season – note that Joe Rusby is working in the sound tent so expect no less), the sight-lines of the stage are very decent around the whole venue and the organisation and security is also very tight which is appreciated as not all venues are as concerned about crowd safety and comfort. The venue continues to re-establish itself as one of the UK’s finest outdoor concert venues, and on a warm summer evening its historic courtyard provides the perfect setting for The Kooks’ feel-good brand of music.

And Pritchard and the band agree: “I can’t believe how beautiful this place is. Hundreds of years of history. Crazy.” This really is a wonderful opportunity to experience a live performance of The Kooks who I’ve never seen live before and I’m really happy to be here to enjoy it. Sway and Shine On are two of my personal favourites so I’m delighted that they make the set list too.

IRRESISTiBLE

The band sound tight throughout offering up strong vocals, crisp guitars, infectious melodies, big choruses and plenty of energy. Do You Wanna and You Don’t Love Me complete the main set before an encore of the irresistible Ooh La and Naïve.

Twenty years on from their breakthrough The Kooks are still loving creating music and playing it live. There’s clearly still a lot of affection for these guys and they’ve repaid the crowd tonight with a great set of hits. And there’s a promise – “We’ll come back next year!”

The Kooks: Website

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