The Kooks will play a special spotlight show for the The Great Escape‘s 20th anniversary, proudly presented by NME.
The British indie icons became one of The Great Escape’s first breakthrough acts, playing the very first edition of the Brighton festival in 2006. That was the same year they released their seminal debut album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’, which would produce some of The Kooks’ greatest hits, including ‘Naïve’, ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’ and ‘Seaside’.
Now, two decades on from their Great Escape debut, The Kooks will play a special ‘Spotlight’ show for the festival, presented by NME. Supported by Irish/Cornish band Girl In The Year Above, the show is set to take place on TGE Beach on May 13, the first day of the festival. Standalone tickets will soon be available to purchase: Presale begins on March 10, followed by general sale on March 13 – get yours here.
“Brighton always feels like coming home in a way no other city does. The Great Escape is special because it’s fundamentally about music happening in rooms where you can feel people breathing,” The Kooks’ Luke Pritchard said of the upcoming show.
“There’s something really powerful about when the distance between the band and the crowd just disappears. It always takes us back to the beginning and why we started this in the first place. I hope people leave feeling like they caught something rare, we can’t wait to see you there!”
NME Managing Editor (Music) Karen Gwee also said: “We’re thrilled to partner with The Great Escape to celebrate two decades of music discovery – and to bring The Kooks back to the festival for a special show in a full-circle moment. Here’s to 20 years of new music and many more ahead.”
So far, the festival has also announced Irish indie-folk band Kingfishr and electroclash pioneer Peaches to play Spotlight shows, on May 14 and 15 respectively.
Adult DVD, Lauren Auder, Dead Dad’s Club, Sunflower Bean‘s Julia Cumming, Legss, Maddie Ashman, Oversize, The Orielles, Bella Barbe, Wesley Joseph and Bug Teeth are some of the many acts also revealed today (March 5) to play The Great Escape, the UK’s leading festival for new music discovery.
They join Blue Bendy, Chinese American Bear, Elle Coves, Frozemode, Girl Group, Haute & Freddy, Heartworms, KEO, Lord Apex, Ratbag, Silverwingkiller, Sword II, Truthpaste, Villanelle, Westside Cowboy and plenty more previously announced to appear at The Great Escape this year. See the latest line-up below:
Last week, The Great Escape announced that speakers at its conference would include former Spice Girl Mel C and Ian Murrap MP, a minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
