Gig review: Doves at Rock City, with White Flowers

It can be a difficult sell – the Monday night gig. Following a weekend of glorious sunshine where the Brits' default tendency is to overindulge whenever the shorts and T-shirts come out from the back of the drawers, rallying yourself for a night at Rock City requires added impetus.

Sadly, it appears Doves are fighting their own battles too. With frontman Jimi Goodwin currently absent from the touring line-up due to health issues, it is down to guitarist Jez Williams to step up to the plate and take on the lion’s (Doves’?) share of the vocal duties. He, as he quickly confirms, is losing his voice and manfully strains throughout to hit the notes. It doesn’t help that such is the distinctiveness of Goodwin’s Mancunian baritone, there was already apprehension amongst the band’s ardent masses about how things would pan out.

Sensibly, the remaining duo (Williams’ twin Andy is on drums) have bolstered the live line-up with four other musicians to both beef up the sound and split vocal duties to degrees of success.

What is undeniable is the quality of both their back catalogue and the prime cuts from their latest long-player, the typically grandiose yet soul soothing, Constellations For The Lonely. Nathan Sudders takes over Goodwin’s bass parts admirably while Christian Madden provides the keyboard licks which have bolstered their sound so distinctly for 25 years.

Ironically, by the time they play out with Space Face from their aforementioned Sub Sub days, it is like a switch is flicked and suddenly the fuller sound expected throughout floods deliciously through the venue.

Alas, it feels a bit ‘too little, too late’.

White Flowers