The Kooks performed at Castlefield Bowl along with special guests Sea Girls and The Sherlock’s Friday 12th July. The gig was part of the event The Sounds of the City which included performances by the Wombats, Elbow and Kylie Minogue.
The two support acts clearly had a large following of band-merch wearing fans present and judging by the big reception when they entered the stage they were very popular amongst The Kooks fans.
Both bands are fairly young, with The Sherlock’s starting in 2010 and Sea Girls forming in 2015. Despite their young age, their fan base was clearly established and both bands were at ease on stage.
There was a mini-Parklife iatmosphere to this outdoor venue which was was full of bars, hotdog and chip vans. All of which were pricey but added to the festival feeling and didn’t stop people from indulging in copious amounts of alcohol. Bottles and cups were not only in the hands of the attendees but often thrown over the crowd, covering people in what I hope was beer!
One of the best aspects of the gig was the stunning venue. Castlefield Bowl, opened in 1993 with a capacity of 8,450 people, may be on the smaller side of venues played by The Kooks, considering they played Wembley which hosts 90,000. However, the bands lead singer Luke Pritchard expressed how much he’d wanted to play there since watching Arcade Fire perform there in 2017. The rustic and urban space was buzzing with not just the sounds of the music but the sounds of the city itself. Castlefield Bowl is located in central Manchester, surrounded by bars, restaurants and near to the famous Deansgate locks.
Nevertheless, the most impressive geographical feature is its close proximity to the train line, which hovered above the venue. This meant passing trains had a clear view of the huge crowd and many passengers were pressed against the window taking photos. Luckily the weather held up, as the open air theatre may have been problematic if there had have been rain, as the standing crowd was completely exposed.
The Kooks performance was amazing and the atmosphere was phenomenal as thousands of fans danced and sang along to the hits. Notably, the new song ‘So Good Looking’ was missing from the set list. A nice moment during the show though, was when the audience was encourage to grab a partner for “a cuddle, a slow dance or a snog” during the song ‘No Pressure’ and it was lovely to see the huge crowd swaying softly in a fluid movement to the ballad. In contrast, the crowd could be rowdy at times, for example at one point the band stopped their set to tell audience members to stop fighting and stated “this isn’t a place for fighting, its a place for love. Don’t hurt each other” and well done to The Kooks for diffusing the situation, clearly they have a huge amount of respect and adoration for their audience. The band came back for an encore and played 'Naive', a huge crowd pleaser and an opportunity for a mosh pit the begin and a variety of coloured flares to be set off.
The whole performance was being filmed and broadcasted to poorly children and teenagers in hospital. This is part of The Melodic Caring Project, who aims to bridge the gap between live music and patients, through technology. The charity is aimed towards young people battling serious illness/injury, especially children with immunodeficiency resulting in quarantine. The band made a touching shoutout to the children watching, from Nottingham to Washington DC, as well as all the workers involved in the charity.
In summary, the performance was spectacular, yet it was the venue and the atmosphere of mutual love and appreciation for the music that made the gig so enjoyable.
Reviewer - Amelia McLaughlin
on - 12/7/19
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