Doves
Wow! What a great band Doves continue to be.
It’s a blooming chilly evening in the fine City tonight. A Tuesday night where two big football matches are also taking place locally with both clubs chasing potential play off positions, one just around the corner and the other over in Northwest Norfolk. Decisions, decisions?
But hey it’s not just any old gig that’s happening on King Street! It’s indie legends Doves and they are never to be missed based on my previous experiences of seeing them perform live, so the football can wait until the next time that Saturday comes around.
Lead singer Jimi Goodwin is absent from touring to promote the new album ‘Constellations for The Lonely’ while he recovers from some challenges with his mental health. Its their first full tour in fifteen years since the Kingdom of Rust album tour.
They start the show with the spine tingling Firesuite from their debut album Lost Souls and straight away it just feels a real honour and privilege to be back in the same room as them, it’s a breathtaking opener. They then take us through a nineteen song setlist comprising of some of their very finest material, from the blistering Carousels right through to closing number There Goes The Fear. It’s a magical musical journey from across five albums, one that takes us through some of the absolute best indie music of the past twenty-five years.
As always, they are spirited, confident, atmospheric, and uplifting, a genuinely great act. Just absolutely brilliant.
Guitarist Jez Williams (an amazing one at that) is in the chair on lead vocals for the majority of the show (with brother Andy, the man with the smallest, yet biggest sounding drum kit in the music business taking over on occasion) and they both do a sterling job even with illness in the camp. Jez is most certainly in full control of proceedings so fair play to him and the band for hitting the road with all that’s going on in house, other bands would have wilted or just stuck in the studio to make the record, but this lot you just know are a real unit, like a family, you can really feel the togetherness within the first couple of songs, they are looking extremely comfortable in their own space and tonight’s space is the waterfront, a venue that they haven’t visited for some twenty four years.
The banging tunes just keep on coming one after another, it’s an absolute delight. One that will have more than thrilled the fans in the sellout crowd, many of whom have travelled good distance this evening to be here to see their musical heroes in the flesh.
Of course, Goodwin was missed, but there was such an overwhelming abundance of love in the room, which we all hope will get reported back to Doves HQ to help speed his recovery along at his own pace.
Wow! What a great band Doves continue to be. Get well soon Mr Goodwin, your boys did you proud (hope to see you next time).
It’s been a quite blistering show, one of epic proportion. Class personified (as ever). Enough said.
