On Wednesday, February 25, British indie rock band The Kooks brought their 2025 EU/UK tour to Prague’s Forum Karlín, packing out the venue. Up-and-coming folk-pop band Girl In The Year Above (or GITYA, according to the tape on all their instruments) joined them as support.
Irish/Cornish band Girl In The Year Above took the stage first to a room already filling up. Lead singer Jennifer Ball brought a unique energy from the start, dancing across the stage in a flowy skirt as her powerful, emotional vocals floated through the room. Opening with “Mama My Heart Is Achin’,” they immediately entranced the crowd with their unique blend of Celtic influences and folk pop.
Ball addressed the crowd, expressing gratitude and amazement. “The Kooks didn’t have to do this, they could have chosen someone who actually had music out. We haven’t released any music,” she laughed. This down-to-earth and quirky energy would remain constant throughout Girl In The Year Above’s set, with one of the guitarists casually keeping a glass of red wine on the stage in front of him and Ball occasionally sipping from a can of Proud beer.
After “Territorial,” Ball revealed that the band didn’t even have a setlist — “we just have a picture of my dog,” she said as she revealed the piece of paper that had been taped onstage in front of her. To introduce the next song, she shared an anecdote about how “it turns out, I actually love love”, revealing she and one of the guitarists would be getting married. This was, of course, met with a roar of cheers from the audience. Fans quickly fell in love with such relatable energy and absolutely ate up the rest of their performance.
Ending with “Best Behaviour” and “Wet Paint,” Girl In The Year Above successfully hyped up the crowd with their expressive lyrical content and their quirky folk-pop energy.
Then, it was time for Britrock legends The Kooks. Dramatic stage lighting silhouetted the band as they took the stage, with vocalist Luke Pritchard coming last. He sauntered to center stage and opened his arms, welcoming the praise from the crowd with a smile. They launched into “Sofa Song”, with Pritchard exploring the stage and hyping up the audience at the front.
The first part of their set threw it back to their massively successful albums Inside In / Inside Out (2006) and Konk (2008). Even though this tour is in support of their newest album Never/Know (2025), they never neglect their beloved classics. “She Moves In Her Own Way,” in particular, got a massive reaction from the crowd, while The Kooks had fans shouting the gang vocals for “Bad Habit.”
The first song we heard from their new album was “Sunny Baby,” a feel-good track that kept the positive energy going. After a couple more upbeat tracks, the other band members exited the stage as Pritchard introduced “See Me Now,” thanking his late father for giving him the gift of music and saying it hits even harder now as he has two sons himself. With just a keyboard and a spotlight, Pritchard gave us an emotional performance of the ballad, the crowd pulling out their phone flashlights and swaying side to side.
For “Seaside,” Pritchard switched to an acoustic guitar, still performing solo and enjoying his moment in the spotlight before the rest of the band returned. As they started to pick up the pace, Pritchard shouted for the rock-and-rollers in the room to get on their feet as they launched into “Sway” and “Shine On.”
The rest of the set was nonstop energy as they played song after song, with brief pauses thrown in to thank the crowd for continuing to show up and support them. Guitarist Hugh Harris kept the energy going, even switching guitars in the middle of the same song at times, while drummer Alexis Nuñez held the beat down perfectly for every single song.
Pritchard revealed that this tour was also a 20th anniversary celebration of The Kooks being a band, sending gratitude to fans who have been with them from the start. Fans went particularly wild for “Down,” dancing right along with them as Pritchard made sure to include each corner of the stage and address every single part of the room. Pritchard announced their last song before heading right into “You Don’t Love Me” and then exiting the stage, but fans knew they weren’t done yet.
After a few minutes of relentless cheering, The Kooks walked back onstage and wasted no time getting into “Ooh La.”
When the first notes of the next and final song were played, the crowd immediately started screaming. The band also clearly knew the reaction they’d get, and Pritchard asked the audience to sing the first verse for him. The crowd happily sang the first part of “Naïve”, with the band joining in just before the first chorus. Pritchard’s voice beautifully collided with the chorus of voices from the audience for the rest of the song, with both band and fans giving it their all. And we must say, this was our favorite moment of the entire show.
Amidst wild cheers from the crowd after finishing this encore, The Kooks, each band member with huge smiles on their faces, joined together at center stage and took a final bow. Smiling and waving as they walked offstage, they left fans with a performance they’ll never forget.
The night was filled with wholesome, upbeat, positive energy. Girl In The Year Above was the perfect choice for an opener with their quirky, relatable energy and unique sound.
The Kooks then gave us an incredible show, mixing in a song or two from their new album while knowing fans really wanted to hear the classics. The seasoned musicians struck the perfect balance between danceable singles, emotional ballads, crowd participation, and, of course, a flawless musical performance. The members of the band have achieved true rock star status — we don’t even remember the last time we saw a band take a final bow at the end of a show.
This set from The Kooks was healing in a way we didn’t even know was possible, and we highly recommend that you catch a show if you haven’t already. The EU leg of the tour will stretch through March 6. Remaining tickets are available here.
Remaining tour dates:
Mar. 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz
Mar. 4 – Madrid, ES @ La Riviera (SOLD OUT)
Mar. 5 – A Coruna, ES @ Pelicano (SOLD OUT)
Mar. 6 – Lisbon, PT @ Sagres Campo Pequeno
Follow The Kooks: Instagram // Spotify // Website
Follow Girl In The Year Above: Instagram // Website
