Live Review: The Kooks, Van Hoorn

2 May 2013 | 10:23 am | Justine Keating

The promise of an encore wasn’t enough to keep fans around, with a number of walkouts occurring long before the house lights were switched back on; a clear sign that both performances had dragged on a little too long.

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Van Hoorn's set wasn't met with much enthusiasm – their rigid stage presence didn't exactly allow for vehemence. Save for the awkwardly flourished hand gestures of vocalist/international model Cheyenne Tozzi, there was very little happening onstage. Their set became a game of 'Guess That Riff', with nearly every song based around a slowed-down rendition of a recognisable guitar line set to repeated lyrics – “I've been a bad, bad girl”, which must've been sung about 50 times at the very least during their Kings Of Leon-esque opening song. Eventually, the quartet gave in to their lack of originality with a haphazard medley of System Of A Down's Chop Suey and My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music soundtrack melded into The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army. Van Hoorn's saving grace was the band's drummer, though even with his impeccable pace and impressive stamina, there was no making up for the mundane songwriting.

Unashamedly aware of the sea of admirers before him, The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard carried with him an air of pomposity, but somehow despite his clearly heightened sense of self-importance (each and every guitar solo performed by Hugh Harris would be overshadowed by Pritchard's playful prancing on the barrier), his showboating never lost its charm, nor did it sidle into banality. The band were persistent in delivering a performance that was as big as their sound would allow; even without all four members on stage during Pritchard's acoustic performance of Seaside, the combination of the curly-haired frontman's theatrics and the visual onslaught of blue lighting and smoke machines made for an enthralling performance both in sight and sound.

It wasn't until The Kooks had exhausted all their hits and began to play their latest material that interest began to dissipate. The promise of an encore wasn't enough to keep fans around, with a number of walkouts occurring long before the house lights were switched back on; a clear sign that both performances had dragged on a little too long.