The Celebration of Inside In/Inside Out Tour - The Kooks at Terminal 5
With the 15th anniversary of their album Inside In/Inside Out, The Kooks decided to hit the road and celebrate their first album with a tour around the US. On March 11th, the band stopped in New York City at Terminal 5 to play the album front to back, including some other hits to a packed crowd of all types of fans. Given that The Kooks’ first album debuted back in 2006, it was fascinating to see the diversity of age within the audience. The venue was filled with fans spanning from the band’s beginnings along with newcomers. But one thing was certain: everyone was there to celebrate the undeniable impact of Inside In/Inside Out.
Before The Kooks took the stage, Daisy the Great performed the first opening set followed by a set from The Vaccines. Daisy the Great, in particular, had the audience mesmerized by the two leading vocalists’ gorgeous harmonies throughout their songs. We also had the pleasure of hearing a couple of unreleased songs which both enhanced and hyped up their set. The Vaccines, a band very reminiscent of The Bleachers in both the themes of their songs and the shouty vocals, put on a fun show where we started to see the audience begin to move. Some of the concert-goers had also notably been in attendance solely for The Vaccines, with many in the front row singing back every lyric while wearing the band’s merch.
After the openers finished their sets, it was time for The Kooks to take center stage. Luke Pritchard, the lead singer of The Kooks, slowly approached the microphone by himself to perform “Seaside”, which served as a calm before the party of the set we were about to see. Once the rest of the band joined Luke, they played through many fan favorites like “See The World,” “Sofa Song,” and “Matchbox,” with the two encore songs being “Around Town” and “Naïve.”
One of the highlights of the show was their performance of “She Moves in Her Own Way.” This was the moment in the set where the audience felt most united, singing every word, looking at each other with smiles, and swaying throughout the song. You could tell this song had a special meaning for every person in the venue. The live performance of this song instantly took everyone back to those fond memories they’ve kept close when hearing the song for the first time. To make it even better, The Kooks played the ending chorus once more to hear the packed venue sing every word back to them.
This tour was a particularly special one given the anniversary of the acclaimed album that put The Kooks on the map for most fans. It was a night full of dancing, jumping, and unfortunately… hoarse voices but in the best way possible. When The Kooks come to town, there’s no way you can miss it.
