The Kooks have been forced to delay a pair of upcoming live dates after singer Luke Pritchard suffered a back injury that has temporarily taken him off the road.
The indie band confirmed the news in a statement shared on social media on Thursday (23.04.26), explaining that doctors have instructed the frontman to rest while he recovers.
As a result, their planned appearance at Warm Up Festival in Spain on May 1 and their May 13 show at The Great Escape in Brighton will no longer go ahead as scheduled.
Their message read: “It is with regret that we have to postpone our upcoming live performances on May 1st at Warm Up festival in Spain and May 13th at The Great Escape in Brighton, UK.
“Luke has sustained a back injury and has been ordered to rest and recover by doctors.
“He is in good spirits and will make a full recovery, but is unable to perform for a time.”
The group stressed that Luke’s recovery is progressing well and that the rest of their schedule remains unaffected.
The band added that they are already looking ahead to returning to the stage later in the month, adding: “We apologise to our fans and are looking forward to playing for everyone, starting later in May. Refunds will be available from your ticket vendor.”
The Great Escape set was a special 20th Anniversary Spotlight Show at TGE Beach, in partnership with NME.
Formed in Brighton in the mid-2000s, The Kooks were one of the breakthrough acts at the very first Great Escape in 2006 — the same year they released their now multi-platinum debut Inside In/Inside Out, which also marks its 20th anniversary this year.
Featuring era-defining hits including Naïve, She Moves in Her Own Way and Seaside, the album helped cement the band as leaders of the UK’s indie resurgence. Their most recent record, Never/Know, landed a UK Top 5 in 2025, followed by a major arena tour that included a career-defining night at The O2.
Returning to the city where their story began, the anniversary Spotlight Show was to celebrate two decades of both The Great Escape and the band’s landmark debut.
Luke had said: “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. 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!”
