CityLife

Doves

Jimi Goodwin leads the Manc love-in

THE last mournful notes of Ambition have just finished when Doves bassist and singer Jimi Goodwin raises his hands, and with them a beaming smile. ‘I can’t believe it’s been four years since we played our hometown. It’s great to be back’.

His proclamation is heartfelt. For much of those four years, it seemed as if they never would return, as death, heartbreak and musical stagnation appeared to have consigned Doves to history.  

Not only that, but their absence allowed close friends Elbow to become everyone’s favourite purveyors of scruffy northern melancholy.  

But anyone who has followed Doves knows they are made of stern stuff, their three albums of wistful, expansive, quintessentially Mancunian rock underpinned with a sense of hope in the face of adversity.  

Upper echelons  

It is easy to forget after so long away, but it must also be remembered that Doves consistently bothered the upper echelons of the charts, with two number one albums to their name.  

Their fourth album, the excellent Kingdom of Rust, doesn’t reinvent Doves into something unrecognisable, but it certainly broadens their musical horizons and as ever, live, every moment is sonically enhanced into something epic and communal.             

This is no more evident than on opener Jetstream. It’s always been palpable, but never before have Doves so eagerly recalled their early Hacienda influences and the result is a wonderful amalgamation of throbbing bass, subtle Krautrock ticks and shimmering guitars that soar majestically.            

Highlights keep coming. Winter Hill may have a guitar lick reminiscent of U2 (there, I said it) but it is a trademark Doves favourite in waiting.  

Celebratory anthem  

Even better is 10.03, its beautiful tear-inducing lament giving way to an attack of noise, showing their understated experimentalism knows no bounds.            

Yet for every moment of introspection, there is celebratory anthem able to make that intangible connection with people en masse.   Though Kingdom of Rust is the latest addition to the cannon, special admiration is reserved for the older material.  

Words and the Northern Soul-tinged Black and White Town sound huge, but nothing compared to Pounding’s relentless thud and triumphant chorus.  

Giddy hedonism  

A genuine Manchester anthem, it is bellowed back by the crowd with gusto.            

Before a euphoric There Goes the Fear and a blast of giddy hedonism with Sub Sub’s Spaceface is a declaration that ‘this city shaped our band’.  

One only has to listen to the stirring rendition of debut single Here it Comes to realise how true this is; a song that sums up everything that is admirable about Doves, it is resolutely and unashamedly northern (a video of Wigan Casino plays on the screen) and wracked with self-doubt, yet underneath it all there remains a defiant optimism that better days are on their way.  

For Doves, those days have arrived. 

They play Delamere Forest on June 13.

YOU can read a review of support act, Malakai, to the right.