Doves

Support tonight is from Preston duo Joey Cobb and Katie Drew known as White Flowers who appear as a three piece tonight. Their sound is somewhat ethereal and they are very good but sadly they don’t hold the majority of the crowd’s attention. Their set maybe spoilt by the chatter of the crowd but not by their own; the lead singer does speak at the start but then after a short 25-minute set they just finish and walk off without a word. So not chatty themselves and maybe miffed at the inattention of the audience. 

To be fair, Doves aren’t very talkative either but then they do open with an instrumental ‘Firesuite’ and will later close with one.

It is largely just great to have Doves back after a very troubled few years. The tour for their last but one album ‘The Universal Want’ back in 2021 was side-lined due to Covid and then cancelled because frontman Jimi Goodwin was struggling with various health issues. 

Now four years on they are back with ‘Constellations for the Lonely’ which not understandably they describe as ‘dark’ but they are still without Goodwin, so the Williams brothers drummer Andy and guitarist Jez take centre stage. They are bolstered by the addition of four other musicians. 

So, they have not one but two new albums to promote although they still somehow end up playing a set mostly of their classics. A gorgeous 'Snowdon', the wonderful 'Winter Hill' and a brilliant ‘Pounding’ among many others. 

Jez steps up to take on most of the vocal duties. He has the added issue, he tells us, he's struggling with his voice - not that you can tell. 

Andy vacates the drums on occasion to do vocals as he does on 'Last Year’s Man' from the new album and on 'Kingdom of Rust' in the encore where he starts up front on vocals before returning to his drumkit halfway through. 

‘Here It Comes’, a classic from their debut album ‘Lost Souls’ in 2000, is dedicated to the absent Goodwin who they assure us is here in spirit. 

After set closer ‘Black and White Town’ they return for a four-song encore that ends with the instrumental 'Space Face' from their Sub Sub days.