THE KOOKS + THE K’S + DAY WE RAN – BRIGHTON CENTRE 5.10.25
The Kooks are back at Brighton Centre for the fifth time this evening as part of their seven-date UK Arena Tour in support of their recently released seventh album ‘Never/Know’. They’ve already played dates in Manchester and Cardiff, with venues in Glasgow, Newcastle, and Birmingham to follow, before rounding off the tour with their biggest headline show at The O2 in London on 11th October. The K’s are the very special guests for the tour, with Day We Ran performing as the show openers.
DAY WE RAN (19:00 – 19:19)
Day We Ran are an Australian four-piece guitar-driven indie surf-rock band consisting of Matthew (lead vocals/guitars), Daniel (bass guitar/vocals), Michael (guitar/vocals), and Tone (drums). Matthew, Daniel, and Michael are brothers. They hail from Lennox Head in New South Wales and have been captivating audiences in Australia and New Zealand. Back in May of this year, they played dates in Manchester, Bristol, London, and Newquay, as well as appearing at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton with performances at Komedia (Studio) and Three Wise Cats.
As the lights dimmed at 7pm, the standing area in the hall is about a third full as Day We Ran arrive on stage to a healthy amount of cheers. They go straight into their opening song, ‘Carolina’. Matthew has the word ‘Carolina’ emblazoned across his T-shirt. The music is pleasant and easy listening, with clear-worded vocals from Matthew, with his brothers providing harmony. They seem very happy to be here, with Matthew responding to applause after the first song with, “Thanks very much, we are Day We Ran, thanks to The Kooks for having us. Let’s have a fun night.”
The second song of tonight’s short four-song, nineteen-minute set is ‘Naked (At Your Door)’, then they play their debut single from February 2023, ‘Foaming’. This one has a long guitar intro, then Tone’s bass drum comes into play, followed by a mix of drums and guitar before the lyrics kick in. There’s definitely energy in the song, and it’s worth checking out if you’ve not heard it before. It features in an episode from season four of popular Netflix US teen drama ‘Outer Banks’. The final song is ‘Alive Again’. The applause for the band seemed to get louder the more songs they played, so it was a shame the set was so short. Hopefully they will be back in Brighton again at some point so I can see them play a longer set.
Day We Ran:
Matthew Lough – lead vocals/guitars
Daniel Lough – bass guitar/vocals
Michael Lough – acoustic guitar/vocals
Tone Cullen – drums
Day We Ran setlist:
‘Carolina’ (unreleased)
‘Naked At Your Door’ (unreleased)
‘Foaming’ (a 2023 single)
‘Alive Again’ (unreleased)
THE K’S (19:50 – 20.28)
The K’s entered the stage at 7.50pm to a recording of radio messages regarding the recent success of their second album ‘Pretty On The Internet’, landing at number one in the Official UK Albums Chart. The four-piece line-up of Jamie (lead vocals/guitars), Ryan (lead guitar/backing vocals), Dexter (bass guitar), and Nathan (drums) are joined by two additional musicians: a fourth guitarist and a keyboard player. For tonight’s eight-song, 38-minute set, they start with ‘Before I Hit The Floor’, which is the opening track from their chart-topping album. Like most of the songs from tonight’s set, the vocals get lost in the mix, unfortunately. The drums are thumping and the guitars are rocking. Still, this doesn’t deter the younger members of the audience, as they are having a great time. “Thank you very much, Brighton. We are called the K’s. Has anyone seen us before?” says Jamie after the set opener.
Next is ‘Chancer’ from their 2024 debut album ‘I Wonder If The World Knows?’, then Jamie is back on his mic to say, “We are from the North West. We released our second album two months ago, and it got to number one.” Following some cheers from the audience, Jamie continues, “This is our second single from it. It’s called ‘Gravestone’”. Lead guitarist Ryan adds some backing vocals to this one. Jamie then switches to acoustic guitar to play ‘Hoping Maybe’. The vocals sound clearer on this one, and it’s one of the highlights of the set.
The frontman then reminds us that they have a number one album again. This is clearly something the band are really proud of, as you can probably realise. They play another one from it. Jamie thinks it’s the best song on the album. It’s ‘The Bends (Here We Go Again)’. After ‘Black And Blue’ from their debut album, Jamie sings ‘Helen, Oh I’ without the use of a guitar. Some of the onlookers sing along to this one. Jamie approaches his mic to say, “Thanks for being so nice to us, Brighton. We can’t wait to come back. This is our last song. It’s called ‘Sarajevo’.” This is their debut single from 2017. The opening chords of this one have me thinking they are going to play ‘Delicious’ by Sleeper. Clearly they are not though, as the song soon changes direction. It’s the catchiest song of the set and a real crowd pleaser. Jamie throws a plectrum into the crowd before he follows the other band members off stage.
The K’s are back in Brighton on 13th October when they headline Concorde 2 to play their new album in its entirety. Grab your tickets HERE.
The K’s:
Jamie Boyle – lead vocals/guitars
Ryan Breslin – lead guitar/backing vocals
Dexter Baker – bass guitar
Nathan Peers – drums
? – keyboard
? – guitar
The K’s setlist:
‘Before I Hit The Floor’ (from 2025 ‘Pretty On The Internet’ album)
‘Chancer’ (from 2024 ‘I Wonder If The World Knows?’ album)
‘Gravestone’ (from 2025 ‘Pretty On The Internet’ album)
‘Hoping Maybe’ (from 2024 ‘I Wonder If The World Knows?’ album)
‘The Bends (Here We Go Again)’ (from 2025 ‘Pretty On The Internet’ album)
‘Black And Blue’ (from 2024 ‘I Wonder If The World Knows?’ album)
‘Helen, Oh I’ (from 2025 ‘Pretty On The Internet’ album)
‘Sarajevo’ (a 2017 single)
THE KOOKS (21:00 – 22:40)
English indie rock band The Kooks were formed at BIMM (British and Irish Modern Music Institute) in Brighton in 2004 and signed with Virgin Records within four months of playing their first shows together. Their debut album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ was a great success, reaching number two in the Official UK Albums Chart on its release in early 2006. It featured six top 40 singles, including two that made it into the top ten. The follow-up album ‘Konk’, released in 2008, went straight in at number one and featured their biggest chart-placing single ‘Always Where I Need To Be’. Since then, the band have had three further top ten albums, including their latest long-player that made it to number five back in April.
The current line-up features two original members, Luke Pritchard (lead vocals/guitars) and Hugh Harris (lead guitar/keyboard/backing vocals), as well as Peter Denton (bass guitar/backing vocals) and Alexis Nunez (drums).
Two minutes prior to their appearance on stage tonight, Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ is played over the sound system to get the crowd going. At 9pm the lights dim for the third time this evening, and three of the four Kooks (baring Luke) make their way onto the stage. ‘Sweet Caroline’ fades out, rousing applause follows as Luke makes his appearance. The quartet go straight into ‘Sofa Song’, the first of ten songs being played this evening from ‘Inside/Out’. There is a quick “Here we go” from Luke, then it’s on to the next one. It’s the already mentioned ‘Always Where I Need To Be’. There definitely seems to be a bit of The Strokes in those two openers. Next up is their debut single ‘Eddie’s Gun’. This one reminds me of The Libertines. Luke says, “Good evening, Brighton. It looks like we have some stormy weather coming up. How are you doing? It’s good to be back.” As you may expect, they play ‘Stormy Weather’. The crowd is encouraged by Hugh to clap along to this one. After a few more words from Luke, the opening chords of a crowd favourite, ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’, are played, and there’s plenty of applause as well as phones in the air to record some of the on stage action.
After those frantic five opening songs, we move on to a trio of songs from 2014’s ‘Liberty’ album, starting with ‘Bad Habit’. The other two, ‘Westside’ and ‘Sweet Emotion’, feature Hugh switching between keyboards and guitar. Luke then mentions the latest album, and we hear ‘Sunny Baby’. Surprisingly, this is one of just two songs that are played from the new album this evening, despite the set stretching to 26 songs. After 2011’s ‘Junk Of The Heart (Happy)’, Luke says, “Thank you so much, you beautiful creatures. You guys are amazing.” Another one from the ‘Liberty’ album is next. It’s the ballad ‘See Me Now’, which Luke dedicates to his father, who passed away when Luke was just three years old. Lights from onlookers’ phones are shone around the hall as the talented frontman plays piano and sings along to his well penned song, with the rest of the band joining in for the second part, including backing vocals from Hugh and Peter.
Luke doesn’t dwell on the song for long as he says, “We are a serious rock ’n’ roll band, and every now and then we write a song like this.” They play ‘Jackie Big Tits’, another from the debut album. Then it’s the other new one, ‘If They Could Only Know’. Luke is back at his mic again to say, “Thank you. The next song brings me back to this beautiful town.” It’s sung solo with acoustic guitar. It’s another crowd pleaser, it’s the excellent ‘Seaside’. ‘Sway’ and ‘Shine On’ from the chart-topping second album are next, then it’s ‘Connection’, the only song of the night from 2022’s ‘10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark’ album.
The set moves on with a deep cut ‘Taking Pictures Of You’ from 2011’s ‘Junk Of The Heart’ album. ‘Gap’ follows this, then it turns a bit groovy with ‘Down’, yet another one from the ‘Listen’ long-player. Luke says, “Let’s go. I want to see you up for this one” as they launch into the faster-paced rocker ‘See The World’. Next, we get ‘Matchbox’ then the following two songs, ‘Do You Wanna’ and the wonderful ‘You Don’t Love Me’, show drummer Alexis in his prime. Luke says, “Thank you, Brighton. Good night,” and the band exit the stage to a round of applause.
A couple of minutes later, the band return to the stage for their encore which features two more songs. Both are crowd favourites, ‘Ooh La’ and ‘Naive’. There is plenty of singing along from the fans. After ‘Ooh La’, Luke says, “Thank you so much, we love you so much. We’re not going to forget this. Peace and love in our times. We cannot go without playing this one.” As ‘Naive’ starts up, those in the standing area get littered by red paper petals that are launched from the lighting rig above the stage. It’s an amazing sight. The band then applaud the crowd, take a bow as their track ‘Time Above The Earth’ is played out over the sound system.
The Kooks:
Luke Pritchard – lead vocals/guitars
Hugh Harris – lead guitar/keyboard/backing vocals
Peter Denton – bass guitar/backing vocals
Alexis Nunez – drums
The Kooks setlist:
‘Sofa Song’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Always Where I Need To Be’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘Eddie’s Gun’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Stormy Weather’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Bad Habit’ (from 2014 ‘Listen’ album)
‘Westside’ (from 2014 ‘Listen’ album)
‘Sweet Emotion’ (from 2014 ‘Listen’ album)
‘Sunny Baby’ (from 2025 ’Never/Know’ album)
‘Junk Of The Heart (Happy)’ (from 2011 ‘Junk Of The Heart’ album)
‘See Me Now’ (from 2014 ‘Listen’ album)
‘Jackie Big Tits’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘If They Could Only Know’ (from 2025 ‘Never/Know’ album)
‘Seaside’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Sway’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘Shine On’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘Connection’ (from 2022 ‘10 Tracks To Echo In The Dark’ album)
‘Taking Pictures Of You’ (from 2011 ‘Junk Of The Heart’ album)
‘Gap’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘Down’ (from 2014 ‘Listen’ album)
‘See The World’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Matchbox’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Do You Wanna’ (from 2008 ‘Konk’ album)
‘You Don’t Love Me’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
(encore)
‘Ooh La’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
‘Naive’ (from 2006 ‘Inside In Inside Out’ album)
