As a self confessed Kovak fan, I was very eager to travel to this particular gig. I had been told by the band’s manager Andy that the band would be throwing in lots of surprises in the set, and to my delight, he certainly wasn’t joking.
The set was filled with pretty much every song in the band’s catalogue, including a few unrecorded songs and a couple of new covers. Another surprise that night was the line-up itself. Keyboard player Martin was unavailable for the night so drummer Dazza used his laptop for the pre-recorded keyboard/synth elements. There was also a bassist on hand to add a stronger sound to an already brilliant live act.
‘Death In The Disco’ opened the bands set, this is a song that I’ve only heard once in concert, but it always goes down well with the fans. Next in the set were ‘Time’s Running Out’ and ‘I’ll Be Good To You’, both songs from the bands first album Heroes And High Heels. ‘Killer Boots’ was next in the set. This brilliant track has seen a music video and iTunes release to many adoring fans. The Sweet Dreams-esque ‘Modern Lovers’ came next. This one got a lot of people in the pub bobbing their heads. Next was the first big surprise of the night, a cover of Van Halen’s classic ‘Jump!’ It was definitely different but very fun and enjoyable. ‘Catchy Monkey’ followed then oldie ‘Numb’, a favourite of the band which hadn’t been played for a long time. The band’s anthem ‘I Love The Dancefloor’ ended the first set, as always, everyone was up dancing at this stage.
The 2nd set opened with first album classic ‘Sex Electric’, perhaps the bands most well known song in the US. My personal favourite ‘Living The Dream’ was next and I was dancing to it as always. The surprises started to flow very quickly in the set. ‘Radiate’ had it’s live debut, a song already released online which has proved to be very popular with fans as well as music critics. Another new song which I hadn’t even heard before (I proudly hold the title of the band’s number one fan) was played next. This track, ‘Giving Up Love’, turned out to be my favourite of the whole night, and I certainly can’t wait to hear the recorded version, this song really has some potential! It was very reminiscent of the disco/funk era of the 70s/late 80s. To end a trio of surprises was a cover Westworld’s classic ‘Sonic Boom Boy’. ‘Never Find Love In A Nightclub’ was the next song in the set and it was a nice choice to play because I had never heard it before in a Kovak set. Next was ‘Electric City Lights’, another fan favourite. This is one of the bands better known songs and it went down really well with people dancing everywhere you looked. The next song in the set was ‘Swing Song’, a very new song which I had heard the last time I saw the band. In all honesty I didn’t know what to make of the track but this time around it sounded a lot better and it got me pumping! The band’s cover of Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ ended the 2nd set and it went down well as expected. At every Kovak concert I’ve been to, this one always gets the crowd singing along. As expected, the band played two more songs as the crowd cheered for more. Despite the venue being a small pub, there was a very friendly atmosphere and the crowd were fantastic. Singer Annelies split the crowd in two to sing along to ‘3-4-5’, a song which has a bit of an anthem feel to it. Guitarist Karl then said ‘I don’t want to leave yet, another song?” and they played ‘I Love The Dancefloor’ for the 2nd time on the night. This ended what seemed like an intimate gig between Kovak and their fans (as well as new ones) you can’t go wrong with a top live band and a pint! With the new songs sounding very promising, I think it’s fair to say that 2012 is going to be a very productive year for Kovak!
