Two decades on from playing in the first Great Escape lineup, the British indie icons return to Brighton in May for a special show presented by NME – find all ticket information below
The post The Kooks to play The Great Escape 20th anniversary show presented by NME appeared first on NME.
Two decades on from playing in the first Great Escape lineup, the British indie icons return to Brighton in May for a special show presented by NME – find all ticket information below
The post The Kooks to play The Great Escape 20th anniversary show presented by NME appeared first on NME.
NewsMusic News The Kooks to play The Great Escape 20th anniversary show presented by NME Two decades on from playing in the first Great Escape lineup, the British indie icons return to Brighton in May for a special show presented by NME – find all ticket information below By Alex Rigotti 5th March 2026 On May 13, 2026, The Kooks play a special spotlight show marking The Great Escape festival's 20th anniversary, proudly presented by NME. The Kooks will play a special spotlight show for the The Great Escape‘s 20th anniversary, proudly presented by NME. READ MORE: The Kooks on “positive” and “romantic” 2025 album ‘Never/Know’: “It’s such a guitar record, but it’s also got a modernity to it” 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’. Advertisement 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. The Kooks, 2025. Credit: Press “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.” Recommended 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: Advertisement 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. Related TopicsLive Music NewsThe Kooks You May Also Like Advertisement TRENDING ‘The Bride!’ review: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s punk rock ‘Frankenstein’ remix The Sophs’ impulsive alt-rock is messy by design: “A pretty distinctive theme throughout is lack of identity” Harry Styles – ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’ review: pop superstar lets the light in The biggest video game concerts you can’t miss in 2026 Chalk’s uncompromising dance-punk is fuelled by personal vulnerability and political questioning Advertisement More Stories Music News Harry Styles explains why he’s playing residencies instead of a world tour Music News Harry Styles says watching Radiohead perform in Berlin inspired him to tour again Music News Bombay Bicycle Club to return to the London grassroots venues that shaped them for special charity shows playing early material Music News Hard-Fi announce new album ‘Sweating Someone Else’s Fever’ and take aim at music industry on single ‘They Ain’t Your Friends’ Music News Courtney Love teases Hole reunion tour with Melissa Auf Der Maur Music News Ticketmaster’s “technology is held together by duct tape” trial hears, as Live Nation’s antitrust hearing begins: “The concert ticket industry is broken”