Concert Review: The Kooks Turn Terminal 5 Into An Adult Playground

The Kooks feel like a “happy band” to me, which seems like a cheap description. Yet, their crowd treated going to their show like it was a free trip to Disney. Thus, their songs splashed around parks like, The Magic Kingdom and Epcot, to prove that music can build engulfing worlds of fun.

The crowd raised their hands to see if tracks like, “She Moves In Her Own Way,” “Pamela,” and “Do You Wanna” were, actually, falling confetti you could grab from the sky. For them, The Kooks were a full sensory experience, in part, because they make you feel like “the kid who stole from the cookie jar” and got away with it. For them, who cares about your inner child! What happened to your wild one? Their ability to make harmless mischief feel invigoratingly sonic is why their Terminal 5 show was sold out, and why they are, in many ways, living an artist’s dream.

Every artist prays for these two things A) to reach a point in their career where they can financially support themselves through their music B) the assurance that there will always be a crowd to see them. The Kooks are beyond that point, but there Terminal 5 felt like a celebration of achieving it. If an artist’s life is a marathon, then The Kooks have passed the finish line and are safe. Luke Pritchard, Peter Denton, Hugh Harris, and Alexis Nunez approach the stage with a “We’ve been got this!” smirk that makes your mind reel with how settled they feel in their sound and performance. Pritchard gives you his heart especially in tracks like, “See Me Now.” He maneuvers his voice to make you feel giddy and saddened by Wonder; as if it is the most hopeful, unstable thing we all share.

As The Kooks teased and smized at the audience, their frolicked melodies in songs such as, “Bad Habit” and “Four Leaf Clover” became the soundtrack to their adult playground/ concert. Lyrically, they bring the nostalgia everyone has for the days when life felt lucky and known to you, but then you grew up and had to make relationships and “mature” choices. It may sound strange but “I miss playing!” I miss being able to go down slides in jungle gyms, running around in sprinkler, or hopping onto park swings without some security guard/ parent saying, “Um, excuse me, Creep. but are you are too old for this!” Playing seems to feel like something that stops in adulthood, except for The Kooks and their fans. For More Information On The Kooks Click Here.