The venue is tiny, the band are fast becoming huge. So how exactly do the Norwich Waterfront and the Kooks get on so well?

Luckily, judging by the throbbing energy from the crowd, small is the new big. Some of the best gigs are the intimate ones, and if you go by the salty tang of thick sweat clinging to the walls, it becomes clear that there are very few other ways of being so happy with such close contact with strangers. It helps that they’re all devoted to the Kooks.

While bands tend to need a cult following to achieve such wide-eyed allegiance (Muse, Placebo), the Kooks have achieved proper mainstream success, despite their eclectic sound. Their influences are painted thicker live than on record, and it means their performance is a constant delight, full of surprises (and, GASP, not a single note influenced by Joy Division. Surely this should be a cause for scandal in the current British music scene?)

Confident without being arrogant, the Kooks, despite their Bambi ages, are wise enough to pace their hits. The punky ‘Eddie’s Gun’ and ‘Sofa Song’ produce the biggest surges through the crowd, with topless blokes showing off their sweaty wrestling skills, while ‘Naïve’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ get the biggest sing-alongs. That, then, is where their appeal takes root: who can resist a band who are just as effortless at writing sure-fire chart hits as unleashing furious pogo-stompers? No surprise that their next visit to Norwich later this year sees them play a much bigger venue.

(4/5)

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