ShareDoves performing their Constellations For The Lonely Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Monday 10th March 2025.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Doves, a band formed in Wilmslow back in 1998 are currently touring in support of their sixth album, Constellations For The Lonely and they stopped off at Rock City to treat a sold out crowd to a set list that spanned their brilliant twenty-five year back catalogue and showed that their classics and musicianship had truly stood the test of time.
But at the moment things are not easy for the multi-instrumentalist trio. Doves were vocalist and bassist Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams who play guitar and drums respectively. But Goodwin has been struggling with his mental health and addiction issues, so he is not part of this tour, even though he appeared on the new album.
So with Goodwin absent, Jez did a solid job of handling the bulk of the vocal duties even though he said that he was struggling with his voice, while Andy occasionally leaves his drum stool and gamely steps up to the mic. Supplemented by Nathan Sudders on bass, Jake Evans on guitar and additional vocals and Christian Madden on keys, they delivered an awesome set.
Coming on stage to massive applause they opened with the delicate, doleful instrumental Firesuite from their debut album, Lost Souls, which set the tone as flashlights and fog swirled around. The crowd were treated to Words, an early highlight in the set after they had sang along to a rousing Carousels. The propulsive new song Cold Dreaming, sung by Jez and Evans, had a wonderful build up and its explosive chorus before the unmistakable Snowden had the crowd singing along in acknowledgement of another highlight.
The northern soul inspired Here It Comes was dedicated to the absent front man before the heartfelt surging Cycle Of Hurt and the guitar driven Winter Hill complete with its quirky organ flourishes was followed by the driving rhythms of Pounding which sent the crowd into a frenzy. Bringing the set to a close with the gorgeous contemplative Caught By The River and Black And White Town which closed the main set were both some of the major pulses in a night where the crowd showed their admiration for one of Manchester’s underrated bands.
For the encore they unleashed a heavier, grittier version of The Cedar Room before adding a country infused twist to Kingdom Of Rust. The penultimate song There Goes The Fear remained gloriously intact, proving that while Doves love to experiment, they also know when to leave perfection alone. They closed the night with Space Face from their early ‘90s Sub Sub days which was a fitting nod to their origins.
Whilst it would undoubtedly be lovely to see Goodwin reunite with his band mates at some time, the current line up of Doves continue to captivate the crowd and if they decide to call it a day, there will always be a demand for their return.