Doves in Cardiff
Doves - Cardiff Uni Great Hall - 5th March
Some cities will surely be warmer than this cold, grey Cardiff night, and Doves will soon be visiting them as their 35 date tour will take them to Los Angeles, CA via Austin, TX, but then again there's always Berlin.
With new album 'Some Cities' a No1 smash and the single 'Black and White Town'
all over the radio, Doves are on a roll and the opening avalanche of 'Pounding' engulfs the Great Hall.
I've never seen Doves before and I'm amazed by the ferocity of their sound. Excellent though 'Some Cities' is, live they are a much heavier proposition. Andy, Jez and Jimi with keyboardist Martin
Rebelski produce a thundering wall of sound that reminds me of My Bloody Valentine or the guitar genius of the House of Love's Terry Bickers. 'Words' is epic and by the time the booming Northern Soul drum backbeat of 'Black and White Town' erupts this is already beginning to feel like a greatest
hits show and although only a few try to cut some rug, everybody's grinning. 'The Last Broadcast' is majestic, all liquid guitars and 'Ba Ba Ba's', much more electric and vital than the rather anaemic recorded version and the far eastern keyboard riff to 'Snowden' makes it sound like the theme to the greatest Vietnam film never made.
For the encore Jimi takes the drum stool as Andy belts out 'Here It Comes', a grainy old film of some rubber limbed Northern Soul dancers from a bygone era flickers on the screen behind, putting us all to shame. Of course it's all over too soon, but the last song is 'There Goes the Fear' and every
show should climax with dueling timpani and cowbells....obviously.