Gig review: Doves

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 20:39

DOVES *** ORAN MOR, GLASGOW

IF DOVES are known for anything, it is for their heart-tugging epic soundscapes, a trait they share with their fellow modest Mancunians Elbow.

So how would they fare in a stripped-back setting for the inaugural outing of the Miller Filtered Music mini-season of intimate gigs, which purport to "filter out the unnecessary" from live performance (the sponsor's way of describing an acoustic show, one presumes)?

Doves are hardly the most dynamic performers anyway, so a sedentary unplugged gig did not prove too much of a handicap. If anything, the set-up threw their aching melodies into relief.

While they were in mellow mood, they wisped through a cover of Willow's Song from the Wicker Man soundtrack, with Jimi Goodwin hoping nobody would notice that he was a middle-aged meat-and-potatoes indiebloke singing the part of a sylph-like soprano.

In the end, they chose not to continue in such a sedate and potentially soporific vein. Tranquillity was banished with a (relatively) pounding version of their Motown-influenced Black And White Town, dedicated – unless my ears deceived me – to director Lynn Ramsay, which lifted the set and galvanised the crowd for the ritual air-punching singalong.

From here, normal Doves service was resumed with renditions of There Goes The Fear and Kingdom Of Rust, which captured more of the fullness of their sound and suggested – nice experiment though this was – that they probably ought to keep firing on all cylinders from now on.