The house lights dim as the stage lights come on and a recording of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” begins to play. Voices in the audience hush in anticipation and then begin to join in on the chorus of “Sweet Caroline.” As the recording fades out, the band enters the stage to cheers and applause. Vocalist Luke Pritchard’s sequined black jacket glimmers in the bright white lights on stage as he taps his feet and twirls to “Sofa Song,” The Kooks‘ first song of the evening at their show at the Roseland Theater.

On June 20, 2025, British alt-rockers The Kooks finally returned to Portland after seven years, with their last performance here being 2018’s “The Best Of…So Far” tour. Hot on the heels of the release of their new album, Never/Know, The Kooks just finished touring North America, with their second to last stop being Portland, Oregon. Though the tour celebrated the release of Never/Know, it truly felt like a “best of” tour. The band played three songs from the new album live — “If They Could Only Know,” “Sunny Baby,” and “Never Know” — and reserved the rest of their 20-song setlist for songs from their earlier albums. As a longtime fan who hadn’t seen The Kooks live since 2011, I felt the setlist couldn’t have been more perfect. The evening felt nostalgic and reminded me of my high school days, and The Kooks were just as fun and energetic as I had remembered them from that show nearly 14 years ago.

The singing and dancing in the audience told me I was not alone in the nostalgia, either. Inside In/Inside Out remains my favorite Kooks album to this day and we got to hear eight tracks from the album this night, including an acoustic rendition of “Seaside” and of course, ending with the ever-popular “Naïve,” a song quite frankly, defines the early 2000s for me.

After the show ended, I turned to the lady next to me and commented on how long it had been since The Kooks played Portland. I mentioned the last time I saw them was in 2011 at the Crystal Ballroom and she exclaimed, “I was at that show, too!”. Thus, those are the types of fans The Kooks have — ones that continue to return to their shows years later. Though they might not make it across the pond to us fans in North America often, it’s a special feeling when they do — though I’m hoping it won’t be another seven years before they return to Portland again.

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