Photo Credit: James Mirfield
Words: Kayla Kerridge
The K’s ‘Pretty on the Internet‘ tour stop at Leeds Beckett felt less like a standard gig and more like an unfiltered celebration of how far a band can come when they keep their spirit intact. From the second the four-piece stepped onto the stage, there was a crackling electricity that didn’t fade once. It was one of those shows you go into expecting good songs, loud guitars, and some rowdy sing-alongs, but you leave talking about the atmosphere, the crowd, the energy, and how everything just clicked.
After waiting almost two extra months for a rescheduled date after the Merseyside band broke down in Amsterdam, the room was packed with a crowd that didn’t wait to be convinced: fans arriving ready to shout back every lyric, arms flung around each other, pints in the air before the lights had even dimmed. When the band launched in, the reaction was immediate: movement everywhere. The K’s have that particular knack for writing songs that feel instantly communal, anthemic without being pretentious, emotional without being overly sentimental. Live, it becomes their biggest strength. There’s little room for standing still, and hardly anyone tried.
Frontman Jamie Boyle carried the night with the kind of presence that makes a frontman compelling-not polished or theatrical, but entirely present and real. He moved with the songs rather than overperforming them, speaking casually between tracks as if chatting with mates in a pub. And that’s one of the core reasons The K’s resonate the way they do. Nothing is forced. Nothing is put on for effect. Their songs, performance, and attitude all come from the same place: direct, loud, spirited sincerity.
The guitar work throughout the set had a sharpness, clean through the mix without losing any of its warmth, and the rhythm section held everything together with a momentum that never once dipped. Even in the slow or reflective moments, there was an underlying pulse that kept the audience held in place. The band’s music is deeply rooted in indie rock tradition: tight drums, melodic guitar lines, big choruses. But live, that takes on an urgency that catapults it to the next level. It’s the difference between listening to a band in headphones and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers screaming lyrics into the ceiling.
‘Pretty on the Internet‘, as a concept, already nods toward the way the band plays with the tension between online polish and real-world messiness. This was even clearer live. The band on stage is not glossy, filtered, curated or packaged. They’re loud, chaotic in the best sense, and deeply connected to the people in front of them. There’s no sense they’re trying to be perfect. Instead, they’re aiming for something far more difficult: honesty that translates into sound. And it absolutely did.
But the standout part of the night wasn’t some particular song; it was the crowd’s reaction to those songs. Chanting, dancing, heads thrown back in joy or release; for moments, it seemed as though everyone in the room knew each other, even though most didn’t. That’s something no amount of online promotion or streaming statistics can create. It only happens in a room, in real time, when a band taps into something bigger than themselves.
If anything, the show cemented the fact that The K’s are a band fit for live performance-their songs live their fullest life when the sweat is falling from the ceiling and voices go hoarse. What Leeds Beckett hosted wasn’t a concert; it was a confirmation that this is a band on the rise, still climbing, powered by connection, energy, and sheer refusal to be anything other than exactly what they are.
It was loud. It was messy. It was completely alive, and that’s exactly why it was brilliant.
Taped Magazine 