The Kooks
Leading Luke was a ball of energy; engimatic and all over the stage he drew the crowd's attention off the top and held it throughout the night. Technically The Kooks were a five piece this eve (counting the maraca-shaker half-hidden behind the tower of synths) but even the bass, guitar and drummer took a backseat to their singer. His barely interpretable mumbles (English to English) between songs were met with cheers and a silly amount of Blackberry flashes. Thankfully he wasn't there to talk and he knew it - singing through a wide variety of Kooks tunes from all three full lengths. New music like Rosie, Runaway and Eskimo Kiss filled out the solid seventy minute main set, whereas How'd You Like That? and encore-inclusion Junk of the Heart earned a more permanent place on future set lists. She Moves in Her Own Way was quite welcome - proving the strength of their debut - and how many disappointed people would there be if they didn't include Seaside? This was a Luke-solo-acoustic number as 'the boys grab a beer' and he stood raised-up at the stage-edge for the singalong. He remained there as the band returned for an all-acoustic number (how does an acoustic bass work?) that had the drummer just banging one single drum center-stage. It worked as an enjoyable intermission to break up the set. In fact, the back and forth from electrified to acoustic was also appreciated as it kept things fresh. Act II standouts included Ooh La and closer Do You Wanna?
Following a fairly lengthy absence Luke returned and sat his shaggy head of curls at the piano for a lesser-known (cover?) number before the aforementioned Junk of the Heart. For the night's final song he was back to his old self, prancing across the stage and crooning out Naive.
Altogether it was a fun, and full set from the English boys. They've definitely matured since that infectious first album and as with anything it's better to grow than stagnate - as long as they keep appeasing the Seaside lovers.
The Postelles
The Postelles must have been hand-picked as a crowd-pleasing opening choice for this tour as they are essentially The Kooks Junior, USA. The four pals from NYC play upbeat, jaunty pop in the same vein and seem to have some fun doing it. The all-ages, nearly all-female crowd ate out of their hands, except when they asked whether we wanted a Ramones or Elvis song. ('Who?' or 'Okay, I guess') Hound Dog followed. Not sure based on this performance that they've got what it takes to be top tier but that White Night tune could definitely earn some air play.
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