#12 The Kooks

Somebody proposed us to shoot a Take away show with the English band The Kooks. We accepted after our contact told us many times that they were young (19 y.o/) and crazy. They were. Vincent Moon went to film them, I couldn’t. But I can tell you that it was a huge moment. At first it doesn’t look that crazy. Just wait for the end. I still shiver when I watch it.

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At the beginning, there’s an empty street. Then they arrive— girls, tons of girls. The Kooks sing us their song “Ooh la” as if they were telling us the story of their success, ending on a high point.

Everything started with an invitation and a certain skepticism. The Kooks, the popular English “it”-band, agreed to do a Take-Away Show a little before their performance at La Maroquinerie. Why not? But the Kooks are still a guitar-based band, a pop band, and we were afraid they couldn’t deliver much. Our contact insisted, “They’re 19 years old, they’re crazy; this could be good.” We let ourselves be convinced, but I couldn’t be there—Vincent Moon went by himself, and today I’m writing the first summary of a Take Away Show that I couldn’t attend.

Night comes, and I’m waiting for Vincent Moon’s news. Nothing. Weird. The same silence the next morning, until around noon, when an email arrives: “The Kooks, I don’t know. They’re crazy.” An email that’s at once enthusiastic and overwhelmed, written by someone who seems not to have processed what he’s seen. I look at the video, intrigued… and I’m disappointed. Nothing about it seems that original. But it starts to intensify, and finally, something happens that no one told me about: a finale with a firecracker that still gives me chills to this day, even after watching the video dozens of times. I would have never imagined that this could happen. And neither did the singer, apparently.

Well, sure, after that, the band’s other videos seemed a little dull. We offer you a second one, all the same. It’s cover of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, just for fun.

Have a good break. I’m going to rest for a little while.

Translated by Caitlin Caven