Dubai Sound City

Dubai Sound City

Photo courtesy of dubaisoundcity.com

And we’re back! Refreshed after a wee break away. Expect regular updates as per usual. Not too much to report since the last update. A special DJ set later this month has been announced for the Manchester Ritz. See news item above for full details.

The band did perform at the Dubai Sound City Festival late last week. It seems as if doves were one of the few bands who bothered to turn up, judging by the reviews. Time out said..

highlights were Doves, who battled a bass-heavy speaker system to deliver their best tunes.

Clash Music says:

The Irish Village is pretty packed by the time Doves take to the stage and there’s a new vibe about the place. The buzz has finally arrived, the beer is flowing and it’s still gloriously warm.

‘Cease The Day’ gets a huge reaction, and one that’s deserved, as does ‘Kingdom of Rust’, played in front of a big screen showing images of London just to make everyone feel a little homesick. But it’s ‘Black and White Town’ and ‘There Goes The Fear’ that are the real highlights.

Doves will return to the live stage next month for a short UK tour, which should be announced soon. If you emailed me whilst I was away, I will reply. Just give me a couple of days to catch up with everything.

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.

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.

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.

Dubai Sound City

Virtual Festivals are reporting doves are part of the line up for Dubai Sound City! Festival will run November 5-7. More as I have it.