Review: The Kooks @ Hindley Street Music Hall 04/03/25

The Kooks had Adelaide in full voice during a hit-filled set of indie rock tunes.

Words by Tobias Handke

Image supplied

The Kooks @ Hindley Street Music Hall 04/03/25

Of all the bands to emerge during the UK indie scene of the early 00s, few have managed to endear themselves to Aussie audiences like The Kooks. Despite diminishing returns over the years and several lineup changes (only frontman Luke Pritchard and guitarist Hugh Harris remain), the band continues to attract massive crowds to their shows, something that was clear to see when the band arrived on stage at Hindley Street Music Hall.

Rapturous applause echoed around the venue as The Kooks emerged, with Pritchard, looking every bit the rock star in tight black pants, black tank top and open white shirt, lapping up the near sold-out crowd’s attention.

The Kooks opened with fan favourite ‘Sofa Song’, one of the stand-out singles from their acclaimed debut, Inside In/Inside Out. Songs from that album, which peaked at #2 on the UK Album Chart, unsurprisingly dominated the setlist. ‘Ohh La’ saw Pritchard whip out the acoustic guitar, ‘Eddie’s Gun’ had punters in the rafters punching the air and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ heralded the first of many mass crowd singalongs.

“Sweet Adelaide, we missed you,” Pritchard claimed as he discussed their Australian tour being the first promoting their forthcoming seventh album, Never/Know. That meant several new tunes were played, with the bar seeing the most action during these performances. Of the new tunes, ‘Never Know’ did get a decent response. It’s quintessential Kooks – a catchy riff paired with an easy-to-sing chorus that’s made for dancing.

Other notable highlights included Pritchard playing keys on ‘See Me Now’ (a recent addition to their setlist), a rousing rendition of ‘Do Ya Wanna’ and the inclusion of Listen deep cut ‘Sweet Emotion’. A woman jumped on her partner's shoulders during ‘Westside’ as the audience clapped along and ‘Bad Habit’ saw the big screen playing the song’s music video intercut with graphics and photos of the band.

Pritchard whipped out the acoustic guitar again mid-set for ‘Seaside’, prompting another crowd singalong, before declaring he was going to “pick a random song” to play and hope the audience knew it. The song in question was ‘Taking Pictures of You,’ and by the reaction of the crowd, who belted out the words at the top of their lungs, the majority in attendance were familiar with it.

Throughout The Kooks’ nearly hour-and-a-half set, Pritchard continually thanked the crowd between songs and seemed stoked by the reaction. Despite two decades in the music business, you can sense he still loves what he’s doing and carries himself with an infectious swagger that makes you want to move and groove to the band’s joyful indie fare.

“This is our last song,” Pritchard proclaimed before ripping into ‘Junk of the Heart (Happy)’. Of course, it was never going to be the final tune. The crowd began chanting “One more song” as the houselights went down before the four inevitably returned for two more songs. ‘See the World’ had the mosh rocking before ‘Naive’ brought the house down with another epic crowd singalong.

“We’ll remember this one,’ Pritchard proclaimed, echoing the sentiment of everyone in the venue.

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