Snowbombing Festival

The NME reports that doves will play a Snowbombing festival in Austria next April. Click here to read the NME article. Lots more doves news to follow next week, on my return from holiday.

Welwyn Hatfield Times Review Scan

click to enlarge

Many thanks to Baldilocks from doves board for providing this scan of a review of the Hatfield Forum gig, as printed in the Welwyn Hatfield Times. The article includes a wee interview with Jimi before the gig. Just click the image to view full size, a good read.

This post and Paul's Roundhouse review goes to show without the input of you all, this blog would be nothing. Thanks guys! I'm off on my hols today, so the blog will be taking a wee break til I return in about 10 days. Unless there is any major news to report, which I will post.

Nearly forgot, if you are attending the gig in Dubai and want to post a review/setlist/photos etc feel free to email them to me. I will post reaction to the show on my return.

Roundhouse Review

Once again Paul Bingley has written a cracking review for the blog, this time of the Roundhouse Electric Proms show.

The time had come. At seven o’clock the doors opened and hundreds of eager souls piled into the Roundhouse. A few of us streamed upstairs to Torquil's Bar. Several people were already clustered around its doorway queuing for a drink. As we inched through, my eyes lit up. Inside and to the right were Jarvis Cocker and Steve Lamacq having a chinwag. Florence (minus the Machine) scampered past and lovingly hugged a bystander. In the background, one of The Magic Numbers smiled broadly at no-one in particular. Was this a dream or were we witnessing some kind of surreal Q magazine cover shoot?

It was neither. Just like us, they were all here to rock with Doves. It wouldn’t just be Doves, either. No, this time around the band would be joined onstage by the London Bulgarian Choir. An odd combination, yes, but this was the BBC Electric Proms. So here we were, 3,000 people convened together on day three, just 24 hours after a resounding performance by Dizzee Rascal and the day before Dame Shirley Bassey was due to clear her pipes. Thankfully it had been ages since Robbie Williams rolled off the stage.

My wife and I (together with the board’s very own Baldilocks) left the bar where Jarvis Cocker was now spinning 6Music’s wheels of steel, and made our way to the main space. We found ourselves a spot very close to the centre of the stage and just behind a really tall bloke. That’s the power of Doves – only they can pull you away from a sight like Jarvis Cocker DJing in a half-empty bar towards the back of someone’s head.

First onto the stage was a group of wrinkly pensioners led by a short bald man in a pink shirt. They immediately launched into something I recognised – ‘Shot by Both Sides’. This was Magazine, purveyors of “genuine old world charm” as singer Howard Devoto eloquently put it.

After they left the stage having played a stonking set, the really tall bloke (clearly a Magazine fan) briefly moved away from the barrier. I made a beeline, dragging my wife with me. Graciously he allowed us to remain there on the proviso that we look after his jacket which he’d draped over the barrier. If the truth be known, I would have taken the man out to dinner had he asked. That was how good our position was – just left of Jimi’s mic stand and slap bang in the front row.

It was all shaping up to be so much more than your average gig. The Roundhouse is mightily impressive – big, round and musically historic. There were hulking cameras positioned in a variety of locations, bright searching spotlights bathing the stage and a certain Edith Bowman high on a balcony facing a dazzling white light and chewing on a microphone. It was obvious that the BBC was in town and it was all becoming rather exciting.

In the darkness at the rear of the stage, the choir (resplendent in their Bulgarian costumes) quietly climbed onto a semi-circular raised platform and waited. Then the band arrived. ‘Roundhouse man,” Jez remarked, “top.” Enough said. Opening with ‘Snowden’ (a break from the usual ‘Jetstream’), they moved onto a flawless ‘Winter Hill’ before Jimi introduced the choir and then announced ‘Firesuite’. Goosebumps at the ready...

For those of us overly familiar with this song’s arrangement, to hear it played with such a radically different vocal accompaniment (and in such a setting) was breathtaking and utterly beguiling. The thing that really captivated me, though, were the smiles of the choir. This was how music really should be – simply making people happy.

Those watching seemed slightly more restrained. I could only surmise that it was because of the cameras (and the threat that anything they did shout would be taken down and recorded for posterity). It didn’t stop one woman, though. “Hello mum!” she screamed during one particularly quiet moment. “Spaceface Jimi!” I shouted in retaliation. Needless to say my request fell on deaf ears. Judging by the crowd, tonight wasn’t going to be the night for that one.

The old favourites were there, though. ‘10:03’, ‘Pounding’ and ‘Black and White Town’ to name but three. Even the spurned ‘Catch the Sun’ made a spectacular return. But it was the reappearance of ‘The Storm’ which surprised me most. It lent itself perfectly to a choir and I thought it was performed beautifully, especially by Jez, whose voice was pitch-perfect throughout.

None of the band, it must be said, put a foot (or note) wrong. Jimi, as ever, performed brilliantly. Andy continues to provide the perfect beat whatever the song, and Martin Rebelski quietly brings out the atmospherics. But it was the addition of the choir that offered something completely different.

The backing vocals on ‘Kingdom of Rust’ were haunting and really complimented the sweeping beauty of the song. ‘The Last Broadcast’ sounded even more gorgeous when accompanied by so many voices. In effect, the choir sprinkled the music with some ethereal moments – none more so than during ‘Birds Flew Backwards’.

In all honesty I’ve never been a big fan of the song. It’s nice, but that’s about it. But when you mix in a folk choir and some Indian instruments, then it becomes something else altogether – something beautiful. I don’t mind admitting that I was moved to tears.

Dignity was briefly restored with ‘The Cedar Room’. Thanks again to the choir, though, it was the first time I’d ever found myself clapping along to its beat. There’s only one word for the performance of this song at that moment – phenomenal.

It was left to crowd favourite ‘There Goes the Fear’ to bring down the curtain on an unforgettable evening. But what should have been your regular run-of-the-mill set closer will now go down in history as the moment that I was caught on national TV bopping like an epileptic cat. That’ll teach me for standing so close to Doves.

Thanks Paul! Fanatasic stuff again.

Jimi In NME

Jimi has a full page spread in this week's NME..

You will need to buy the mag to be able to read the article.

Time Out Dubai Interview

Time Out Dubai recently spoke to Andy, about the upcoming appearance at Dubai's Sound City festival. Its not the best article in truth, no prizes for guessing the glaring errors. But here's some snippets about stalkers (!!), upcoming plans & playing with Camera Obscura.

The critics tend to agree, describing this year’s record, Kingdom of Rust, as ‘unmistakably better than its predecessors’. But while the musos like Doves, the celebrity rags don’t really know who they are. ‘People aren’t into us personally, which is fine,’ says Andy. ‘It’s sort of like we live by ourselves, we die by ourselves. If we wanted that kind of attention, we could go about getting it.’

But sometimes that attention comes anyway. Doves admit they aim to create music that expresses the emotions people find hard to put into words. And that causes some fans to get a little too attached to the band. ‘We did have a stalker a few years back,’ Andy reveals. ‘I can laugh about it now, but this guy started sending letters to my home address and – well, I won’t go into it.’

‘We’re talking of doing a “best of” album next year and a couple of new songs for that,’ he replies, swiftly switching back to the professional side of things. ‘Then we’ve got the UK tour in December and we’re talking about asking this band called Camera Obscura or a new guy called Bibio to support.’

To read the full article, click here.

Camera Obscura!! If that happens, what a line-up! One of the best bands out of Scotland in recent years. Their latest album My Maudlin Career is well worth checking out, even just for the song The Sweetest Thing.

No Uncut Award

As I reported a while back, Kingdom Of Rust was shortlisted for the inaugural Uncut award. Sadly it has not made the final eight, which does not include any British artists!

I updated the lyrics section. Daniel Olvera has transcribed 45. I had a go myself a while back without much success to be honest! So good job Daniel. I also put up some more Sub Sub tracks. If anyone wants to make corrections etc let me know.

The blog shall be taking a short break from later this week. I will be heading off on holiday to the UK for a good 10 days. I will post any major news items that pop up, otherwise normal service will be resumed in a couple weeks.

Full Electric Proms Setlist

Thanks to James Lyndsay of the London Bulgarian Choir for this complete setlist from the show:

Snowden
Winter Hill
Firesuite*
10:03*
Pounding
Jetstream
The Storm*
Black and White Town
Sea Song
Greatest Denier
Kingdom of Rust*
Last Broadcast*
Catch The Sun*
Mmorf Elenku**
Zalibih Si Edno Libe (with Baluji Shrivastav)**
Birds Flew Backwards (with Baluji Shrivastav)*
Cedar Room*
The Fear*
Kaval Sviri**

*Doves with LBC. **LBC

James also posted a couple anecdotes in response to the Metro review I posted yesterday here.

Electric Proms: Meat and Potatoes Review

The reviews keep coming, I think Music OMH enjoyed it..







****

Doves' gig at the Roundhouse, part of the BBC's short-lived, but increasingly influential Electric Proms series, was backed by the 20-strong London Bulgarian Choir. Their dramatic and sometimes otherworldly Gregorian chants lifted much of the Mancunians' sometimes plodding output, although even their presence couldn't save a few of the newer tracks from dragging.

Perhaps it says something about the band that their older songs - in particular the epic Cedar Room or the rarely-performed Catch The Sun (played only, according to Jimi Godwin, because the choir "forced us to") are the ones that lend themselves best to off-kilter operatics. While newer tracks like Winter Hill, The Storm and Jetstream were fine enough, Doves didn't try their hand at changing the songs to suit the choir, meaning that half the stage was too often taken up with a group of slightly awkward looking Bulgarians - a sad state of affairs for all concerned.

Goodwin's men have developed - fairly or not - a reputation for delivering plodding meat and potatoes rock. While not in the Stereophonics mould yet, there are a couple of lulls (particularly The Greatest Denier and 10.03) that with a little more imagination both with their setlist and with the choir could have sent the concert stratospheric. The exclusion of The Last Broadcast's gospel-tinged Satellites is a real misstep, and once the Bulgarian choir have demonstrated their awe-inspiringly powerful vocal range in a couple of solo folk songs ("This one is about falling for someone from another village" explains the choir leader, charmingly) the concert felt a little short on the soar.

To read the full article, click here.

.. and I think that's enough for today. Plenty more reaction I'm sure over the weekend.

Meet Doves Roadies Video

The BBC's Music Week chatted to some of the roadies yesterday before the show. Very Cool...

Dubai Sound City

Doves performance at Dubai Sound City's Irish Village has been moved a day earlier to November 5th. Sharing the stage with the likes of The Farm, Futureheads & The Human League among others. Tickets still available at the festival website.

Metro: Doves are a delight at BBC Electric Proms

Whist the Evening Standard wasn't so impressed, the Metro seemed to love it..

****

Metro: Doves are a delight at BBC Electric Proms

Last night saw Doves become the latest to give their back catalogue a new lick of sonic paint - with the vocal assistance of the fantastic London Bulgarian Choir.

Not that Doves need much help to make a venue-filling noise; they've quietly become past masters at building anthemic walls of sound.

This gig was certainly not lacking in moments of arms-in-the-air rapture - in fact, as it reached its climax, it could have been mistaken for either an Evangelist rally or an underarm deodorant commercial, as the Roundhouse (London's finest venue by a country mile) turned into a sea of hands reaching for the heavens.

If anything, the London Bulgarian Choir were, perhaps, a little underused - not featuring on many songs, and providing little more than (albeit awesome) backing vocals on some others.

But when they were given a starring role and fully integrated into the songs, the effect was spectacular - never more so than on profoundly epic version of The Cedar Room, the band's second ever single, sounding no less majestic almost a decade on.

To read full review, click here.

Whilst I wasn't there, I have watched the BBC footage. I reckon the Metro review is spot on. As always with these one off shows, there will be moments that work, and some that don't. Never been a big fan of Catch the Sun, but it sounded great last night.

Highlights for me was the stunning Birds Flew Backwards, Greatest Denier & Kingdom Of Rust. The Cedar Room probably has never sounded so good. Jez's guitar never sounded good to my ears. The choir singing those high backing vocals was majestic.

Despite the duff ending, I also thought The Storm sounded great. A great night all round by all accounts. Again I wasn't there, so I can't really say. But watching the footage, it certainly looks like one of the best shows they've ever played. Would look great on DVD..

Electric Proms Reviews

Some mixed media reviews:

***

Doves miss an opportunity

All things considered, last night was a good for one multiculturalism and dear old Doves did their bit by inviting the 30-strong London Bulgarian Choir to join them for a BBC Electric Prom that came frustratingly close to being one of 2009’s great concert events.

The two camps were a delightful contrast: one being badly dressed post‑punks with instruments to hand and two No 1 albums under their belts; the other neatly turned out traditionalists with only their voices to share and a CD available only on their web site or at concerts.

That, though, was as bold and brilliant as it got, for (excluding their Doves-free slots that book-ended the encore) as choir were immediately relegated to the role of multi-layered backing vocalists. Even here though, on Kingdom Of Rust where they added Ennio Morricone-esque gravitas or Catch the Sun where they were as uplifting as Polyphonic Spree, the Bulgarians made already fine songs even better, transforming the good to great, the earthbound to celestial.

More frustrating still, for too much of the set, the choir had no part to play and were marooned at the back of the stage in darkness, not underused but simply unused.

To read the full review, click here.

A cross fertilisation of northern soul with east European heart brought the third installment of the BBC Electric Proms 2009 to a shimmering euphoric climax tonight with Doves and the London Bulgarian Choir.

Resplendent in traditional Bulgarian costume the choir brought elements of vocal percussion to some of Doves most loved tracks expanding the scope of the songs and adding another dimension to the Manchester band's rich layered sound.

Composer Avshalom Caspi, who was responsible for arranging the tracks for the 40 strong choir told 6 Music before the show that Doves and the Bulgarian choir are uniquely suited to a collaboration:

Doves were also joined onstage by north Indian c

lassical musician Baluji Shrivastav for the track Birds Flew Backwards which added another more delicate element to the mix. The unique phrasing techniques used by the choir perfectly enhanced Doves soaring post Dance melodies, creating real moments of transcendental beauty on tracks like Kingdom of Rust and The Last Broadcast, and on final track There Goes the Fear pushed the band's famous supersonic Samba wig out to a new zone.

To read the full review, click here.

An excited Jez Williams declared from the stage: "Roundhouse, man! Top!", before the band kicked off their show with 2005 single 'Snowden', with the choir chipping in behind the band.

The choir took centre stage when frontman Jimi Goodwin introduced the ensemble for a choral version of 'Firesuite', their instrumental opener on 2000 debut album 'Lost Souls'.

"Eh, they're giving me tingles again and again," joked Goodwin, as the band pushed on to perform recent single 'Winter Hill'.

Doves went on to play a host of other hit singles, including 'Pounding', 'Black And White Town' and a powerful rendition of 'Kingdom Of Rust'.

To read the full review, click here.

Electric Proms Video & Audio

doves at Electric Proms. Picture by the BBC.

You can now watch video of doves Electric Proms performance at the BBC. The video is UK only, click here to watch.

Audio is also available to stream at the 6 music website here. This is good for anyone, anywhere in the world!

For even more top notch pictures, visut the BBC doves gallery here.

Lots more reaction to come.

Electric Proms Setlist

Picture sent in by NLF

Doves played the Roundhouse tonight as part of the Electric Proms Festival.

Setlist:

Snowden
Winter Hill
Firesuite
10:03
Pounding
Jetstream
The Storm
Black & White Town
Sea Song
Greatest Denier
Kingdom of Rust
Last Broadcast
Catch The Sun
Birds Flew Backwards (with Baluji Shrivastav)
Cedar Room
The Fear

More to follow

Tonight

Doves take to the stage tonight at the London Roundhouse as part of the BBC Electric Proms festival.

If you are attending, have a great time! For those asking, band are due off stage at 10:15pm. Plenty time for an after show drink or two, or make that last train home. If you wont be there, full live coverage of the show from 4pm on BBC 6 Music.

Expect full coverage of the show on the blog tomorrow night after the gig and over the weekend no doubt. If you are attending and want to send in a review/photos etc then just send it over using the email address on the right.

Have a great night!