Photo Credit: Nel Cummings
Two days following the release of their sixth album, DOVES made their return to Sheffield to perform songs from ‘Constellations for the Lonely’ for the first time, as well as the timeless classics that initially won over their devoted fan base. The iconic steel city venue The Leadmill was at full capacity, awaiting the resurgence of the Manchester band.
As soon as the band made their way on to the stage, the crowd erupted in deafening cheers that bounced around the room. Surprisingly, they opened up with a track from their debut album, ‘Firesuite’ kicking off their first appearance in the city since 2019. This tour served as a very different look to the band in the absence of Jimi Goodwin. It was down to brothers Jez and Andy Williams to take centre stage and wow the crowds each night. The bands’ second single from their brand new record ‘Cold Dreaming’ made an early appearance in to the set, as the eerie sound was mesmerising to witness unfold on the live stage before the first single ‘Renegade’ came around to get the crowd joining in for another calming track.
‘Snowden’ followed suit, a much more well known track amongst the crowd. The mixture of sounds that the recorded version displays, was matched perfectly in the live setting and set up perfectly for the other ‘Some Cities’ song that came later in the set. It wasn’t long until fan favourite ‘Pounding’ came around, with the chest pumping drum beat becoming a real foot tapper throughout, this was the loudest the Sheffield crowd were so far. ‘Last Year’s Man’ served as the final song from the record to be played on the night, so it was a home run of crowd pleasers to follow. Both Andy and Jez took it in turns to front songs, both delivering an emphatic display that proves it is possible to step out of their usual regime and give the crowd something to remember for this very unique tour.
The forceful ‘Caught By The River‘ truly touched the audience’s emotions before they watched in awe of the extended outro, and jumping straight into ‘Black and White Town‘ to give the Sheffield crowd one more opportunity to join in and prove just how much they missed DOVES. The band took a little break before returning to the stage for the encore and to thank the crowd for their patience and commitment over the last five years. The band then performed three more songs to close out the evening with ‘There Goes the Fear‘ serving as the grand finale.
DOVES‘ return to the steel city was, to put it mildly, legendary.
Taped Magazine 