A Sunny Day!

Last night whilst scanning the blog for broken links etc I noticed on the Live Traffic Feed that's on the bottom right hand corner, somebody in Iraq was visiting the blog! That's pretty damn cool! Whoever you are.. whether your a resident, member of the military whatever - nice seeing you!

Don't have a great deal to share right now, though the word is news from doves camp is imminent!

Currently enjoying the latest compilation from Caught By The River.. this time its Birdsongs which features an exclusive track from the British Sea Power. If you didn't get the compilation this time. Make you sure you sign up to the blog for the next one.

I'm also enjoying the music of A Sunny Day In Glasgow, well worth checking out. They play across the US & Eurupe over the next few months.

Charity Auction

If you fancy owning the handwritten lyrics of Kingdom Of Rust as pictured above, then head over to the Cancer Research ebay auction to put your bid in. So far its at £62 with five days left in the auction. Good luck!

Bid Now

Jetstream Acoustic Download

Its a year to the day tomorrow that doves posted up the free preview from Kingdom Of Rust, with the opening track Jetstream. A year on, another free track up for download and again its Jetstream, this time the acoustic version. Head over to the heavenly recordings website to get the free download. You need to sign up, the download is in the members area. It sounds great!

Not a whole lot going on..

As you probably guessed, not a great deal going on in doves world. I have been enjoying the Delphic record. Great news for those of us at the wrong side of the pond, Delphic have been anounced to play Coachella so here's hoping for a few more shows stateside.

Doves are mentioned in today's Guardian write up on Delphic and other new Manchester based bands. Hope to catch Delphic (doves would be nice too....) at this year's Lollapalooza festival here in Chicago.

Cherry Ghost have also put up some new tunes in unmixed form up on the myspace page. Black Fang sounded great live last year, could be a single I reckon?

I see Hooky is opening up a new club in Manchester. FAC251 opens up next month. I wonder what the chances of a doves gig there? Spaceface opener! Would make allot of sense with the history and all. But just pure speculation on my part!!

Brit Award Nomination!

Pigs may fly and all that... but yes doves have been nominated for the best British group award at the Brit Awards. Up against Friendly Fires, JLS, Kasabian & Muse. Cheers Teps for the heads up over at the board. I'm sure nobody will admit to liking the awards, I certainly don't but the recognition would be nice eh?

I believe this is doves first Brit nomination! Edit: Correcting myself here. They were nominated for the same award back in 2003.

Kingdom of Rust: A Celebrity's Thoughts

Not quite sure how to describe this, but apparently its some "celebrity" discussing Kingdom Of Rust with a blogger I think, kinda funny in places..

Blokes Singing About Bloke Hood
Cody: The fact that they are blokes and sing about their bloke hood is a major plus for me. On the other hand, to my mind their sound is suitable for stadiums or at least hockey rinks...It's BIG.
Fluxy: "Blokes that sing about their bloke hood" Ha! But their sound is definitely BIG. And great with images. Every time I turned on the TV, this album is being used on shows. I hear songs on football shows, teenage dramas, documentaries about Iraq. The latest was on a TV dance contest, after a bitterly disappointed 40 year-old woman was booted off the show. They played a track from first album 'Lost Souls'. Apt.
Cody: I get it, though. Even though the lyrics are very personal, the music builds to anthemic. It is very produced (not meant as negative).
Fluxy: I was told by a guitarist friend that Jez Williams, the lead guitarist, is considered by many to be the top dog in Britain at the moment. "Top dog" meaning best guitarist, as opposed to best shagger....
Cody: Yes, he does have a multiplicity of riffage.

To read the full thing, click here.

Suffolk Forest Gig For June

Doves are to play Thetford Forest in Suffolk as part of the forestry commission's gig series on June 12th. Tickets priced £28 go on sale this Friday at 9am.

From NME.com:

Doves have announced that they will play a gig in Thetford Forest in Suffolk on June 12.

The show will be part of the Forestry Commission's forthcoming gig series. James Morrison, Keane and Simply Red have already been announced as set to play gigs in UK forests later this year as part of the whole event.

Tickets for Doves' show go on sale at 9am (GMT) on Friday (January 15). To check the availability of Doves tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Kingdom Of Rust Poll

Those of you who have followed the blog since last April may recall I set up a poll to find out your favourite track from Kingdom Of Rust. The poll ended January 1st..

With 730 unique votes, the winner is the title track Kingdom Of Rust by four votes! Closely followed by 10.03 & The Greatest Denier which were seperated by one vote. You can see the results in full below.

Jetstream	87 (11%)
Kingdom Of Rust	140 (19%)
The Outsiders	41 (5%)
Winter Hill	115 (15%)
10.03	136 (18%)
The Greatest Denier	135 (18%)
Birds Flew Backwards	17 (2%)
Spellbound	59 (8%)
Compulsion	100 (13%)
House Of Mirrors	42 (5%)
Lifelines	43 (5%)

Votes 730

The new poll once again on the right menu asks what is your favourite doves album. The poll will once again run til the end of the year.

A reminder, if you have not voted in the Your Favourite Doves Songs poll, then please do so. The poll will stay open indefinitely, but I shall post results as they stand once the best of album is released. So far over 1000 of you have voted! Thanks so much.

Memories Of The Barras

The Glasgow Barrowland celebrates 75 years as being one of the finest venues anywhere. Having been to some of the best venues around the world, it still does not get better than the sticky floor at the barras for me. Jimi has his say in the Sun..

Doves bassist JIMI GOODWIN said: "When we first played it I was thrilled because I used to stand outside doing bootleg T-shirts when I was 17.

"I love the fact that it hasn't been cleaned since 1940."

As I have mentioned before, the best doves show I ever saw was at the Barras in May 2002. Listen to the show here. Check out the intro to Caught By The River to hear a rather merry Jimi tell the crowd he saw Public Enemy at the Barras and he was the guy you bought tickets from outside! Hilarious.

Happy Birthday Barrowland! Cheers for the memories.

First Doves Of the Decade

Rang in the new year in style in good old Lincoln Nebraska. Pictured is Wall-Eplaying the first doves song of the decade.. if you can't tell it was Northenden.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all when it comes! I'm heading down to Nebraska to see in the new year. The blog will return next year.. Sometime next week no doubt.

To all of you who have emailed me over xmas asking about the band's plans for 2010.. I really don't know besides they are recording some new tracks for the best of album which will be released probably April/May time. A single will most likely be released to promote the album. I've no clue on where they will play, what festivals etc. Got a couple dates confirmed in the live section. As soon as any further info is made public, I will post it up.

Alright well, happy partying and stay safe!

All the best.

Cherry Ghost News

Woke up to some good news today, via the latest Cherry Ghost MySpace blog posting. Simon Aldred says the album was finished (recording at doves barn) Christmas eve and predicts a May/June 2010 release.

View the Myspace post to see the not in order tracklisting.

Where We're Calling From Fanzine

A slide show of the Where We're Calling From Fanzine that was given out at the merch stall on the winter 2002 tour. If you wasn't able to pick up a copy, I've scanned it in for you take a look at. Some interesting reading!! :)

Click on the slideshow to view in full size. You can also look at the scans on the Picasa galley here.

Live From Abbey Road Video

Video uploaded to the blog youtube, featuring doves looking around Abbey Road and performing a stunning version of 10.03. Also broadcast were Winter Hill & The Greatest Denier.

Requests - anyone got video from Reading 2003 or Rock AM Ring 2002 they would be willing to share on youtube? Used to have these, would love to see them again. Next up will be some footage from Rock AM Ring 2005.

Merry Christmas

Its hard to believe the year is all but done! But what a year though. I started this wee blog off shortly after the free digital release of Jetstream back in Febuary. Never expected it to take off the way it has. The original plan was to just run til the end of the year, or whenever the wheels came off the Kingdom Of Rust promo wagon, then leave it up as an archive. As I have enjoyed it so much, I shall be keeping the blog going for as long as its wanted.

Thanks to you all who read the blog.

Couldn't have done it without the input of so many of you. A big thanks to those of you who sent in reviews, articles, texting setlists straight after the shows and so much more.

Special thanks to Justin! Your contribition to the blog early on was invaluable and still lives on! Cheers mate.

A massive thank you to Dave for your support & encouragement. Much appreciated! And finally a big cheesy thanks to doves for everything. Not just for this year, but for the last decade! Its been quite the ride.

Merry Christmas to you all. Stay safe and here's to a healthy new year.

Here is some Christmas cheer from Doves, thanks to Spidey Spence!

PS: Happy Birthday Mrs McMillan! :)