Live Report: The Kooks extend the summer with their boisterous tunes at Electric Picnic

From the first few boisterous notes of set opener ‘Sofa Song’, Brighton heavyweight The Kooks considerably warm up the stage of Electric Picnic’s Electric Arena on Sunday evening. With their joyous brand of mid-2000s indie pop, the band extends, just for an hour, the soon-to-end 2025 summer season.

The trend steadily continues on the delightfully sugary ‘Ooh La’, before they immediately jump into their hit song ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’. By playing one of their most recognisable tracks so early into the show, The Kooks easily set the scene: in the tent, the crowd-wide choir will be kept up for the whole show.

The Kooks’ flavour of anthemic pop-rock is an ideal candidate for this 9pm Sunday slot at the Electric Arena, audiences still eager to sing and dance along as the end of their weekend dangerously approaches. Above anything else, the gig is incredibly fun, melodic and boisterous.

On the occasional stripped back, romantic ballad, such as the pretty number ‘Seaside’, frontman Luke Pritchard takes over the instrumentation with a simple acoustic guitar, allowing for audience members to accompany him on backing vocals in a lovely, emotional moment.

A large chunk of The Kooks’ brilliance lies in Pritchard’s incredible charisma, and his absolute control of the crowd. It also appears clear how much of a blast the band is having up there, playfully interacting with each other all throughout the hour-long gig, big smiles plastered on their face.

Closing with the gorgeously anthemic ‘Naive’, the band offers the Electric Arena one last occasion to dance their heart out with the joyful, nostalgic melodies of the hard hitting pop tune. It’s hard not to leave the tent without feeling a bit warm and fuzzy in the chest.