Doves open up the night. This tour is the first time we’ve seen them since their front man Jimi Goodwin took the decision to step back from touring to focus on his mental health yet still contribute to their recorded work. It’s a move that would sink most bands on the spot - imagine our headliners without theirs, but Doves channel their Mancunian spirit and soldier on. Brothers Jez and Andy Williams gathered a new band around them, split lead vocals with Jez taking the lion’s share and have continued to successfully tour around the release of last year’s Constellations For The Lonely and So Here We Are.
Over a forty-five minute set, at least, it works because of the brilliance of the songs they have at their disposal and the fact that neither of them try and be Jimi because his voice is unmistakeable and some of the crowd around us probably don’t know the story (or care) just the songs themselves. Words, Snowden, Pounding, The Cedar Room, Black And White Town and There Goes The Fear are classics from that turn of the century less talked about renaissance that also included Elbow and I Am Kloot and have pockets around the standing area bouncing along. We always liked but never loved Doves and the concept of replacing the front man with other members of the band felt like a risky one but it works. Hopefully Jimi will return at some point but it makes perfect sense why those who do love them have, in the main, taken this iteration of the band to their hearts.
There’s a real air of expectancy in the Leeds air as Tim returns home. As the pre-show screen message cuts, Mark appears centre stage and the unmistakeable opening to Come Home fills the cavernous space of the First Direct Arena. That celebratory intro runs into the opening trio that also includes I Know What I’m Here For, complete with dancers from around the world on the big screens, and Ring The Bells.
Hallelujah Anyhow starts slowly with Saul on acoustic guitar which allows the song’s build to its breakdown to feel even more dramatic with Tim kneeling in front of Debbie’s drum kit before Saul counts in the final euphoric chorus. Greenpeace takes us off course on a rambling rumbling journey of menace and cacophony that’s a million miles away from what’s gone before it and after, testament to James’ ability to transcend the ridiculous notion that they’re a singles band from the 90s.
PS is so majestic you think they’re almost showing off. Slide guitar, simply jawdroppingly beautiful violin and a vocal interplay between Tim and Chloe combine and by the end even Tim’s face on the big screen shows how mesmerised he is by his bandmates. Shadow Of A Giant brings us rright up to the present day, a huge ambitious sonic swirl at the start that explodes into glorious life as Tim and Chloe duet on the walkway in front of the barrier.
Moving On is dedicated to those who’ve lost people, Tim singing the opening verse to Jim as Andy’s trumpet combined with the lyrics makes it feel like a celebration of life rather than the sadness of loss. Runaground is introduced as a “new old one, but it was a single.” Once touted by Saul at the time as their biggest song since Sit Down, its return to the set has been long overdue as the release of Nothing But Love has given the band the impetus to revisit singles outside the more obvious big hits. Waltzing Along is one of those, a moment of joy and abandon that doesn’t have the grandiose ambition of many of the songs around it but which connects with the audience by looking them straight in the eye, holding their hand and touching the senses that create joy.
“This is a new song, usually at this point men head to the bar, but you might want to stay for this one” is how Tim introduces Nantucket which again threatens to steal the show from its more celebrated older siblings. Over seven and a half minutes it captivates as it takes a winding journey overflowing with more ideas than many bands have in a lifetime, rousing itself and diverting off course just when the audience think it’s going to stop. It feels like everything in the band’s ethos distilled into a song in a way even they, by their own high standards, haven’t achieved before.
There’s a touching moment next as Tim departs the stage and Jim delivers a really heartfelt thank you to the crowd for the response they’re getting and for sticking with them for so long. His awkwardness in addressing eight thousand people though is hugely endearing and sincere. They then kick into Born Of Frustration and Tim appears in the seated area high above standing, making his way to greet fans up there, pretending to throw a phone that’s shoved in his face, greeting his brother and sister before engaging in a dance with his wife Kate. He stays up there for Say Something, moving further afield, close to the access platform before disappearing to find his way home.
Conscious of the problems getting back to stage the night before in Birmingham the band kick into an extended Five-O that works both at keeping the energy in the room up and allowing Tim the time to get back. Once again Saul’s violin in the outro steals the show but it’s in moments like this that the nine of them make this feel so effortless and intuitive rather than scripted and rehearsed.
Attention and Heads follow when the easy path would have been an onslaught of hits to the end. The former’s build and breakdown holds such atmospheric weight that it holds the audience rapt. Heads has such raw metallic power with Chloe adding a third drumset to the mix to ramp up the marching beat of the song that intersects perfectly with the video imagery and the anger in Tim’s voice.
Way Over Your Head takes its rightful place at the tail end of the set, the song from Yummy that feels like it has connected most and become a modern day James classic. The butterfly imagery swirling around the screen and the soaring celebratory outro refrain, tinged with that sense of turning despair into something positive and uplifting, is at the very core of what this band has done, and still does, for forty-odd years. It’s followed by the pounding drum intro to Sit Down and the standing area loses its collective shit together as Tim comes down to the barrier to deepen the connection with the crowd who sing back every word in unison.
The main set concludes with Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) and Tim crowdsurfing on a sea of hands. The song has become the band’s unofficial anthem and it’s not hard to understand why watching the euphoric reaction to it.
The encore hits hard with Sometimes and Laid sending the crowd into ecstasy. Adrian’s guitar solo has half the band stood admiring as the band’s oft-overlooked guitar hero lets loose. Laid is fast, frenetic, Tim imploring the crowd to sing the first verse before he does and then losing himself in the chaos in his own dance.
They take their bows on a night where it felt everything came together, energy at the right moments, introspection mixed with unadultered celebration, a perfect mix of the big hits and deeper cuts. The energy, inspiration and joy transmitted to the crowd who amplified it back to the band.
James played Come Home, I Know What I’m Here For, Ring The Bells, Hallelujah Anyhow, Greenpeace, PS, Shadow Of A Giant, Moving On, Runaground, Waltzing Along, Nantucket, Born Of Frustration, Say Something, Five-O, Attention, Heads, Way Over Your Head, Sit Down, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), Sometimes, Laid
James' official website can be found here and they are on Facebook and Twitter.
The Love Is The Answer tour with Doves calls at Aberdeen P&J Arena (7), Glasgow Hydro (8), Newcastle Utilita Arena (10), Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (11), Cardiff Utilita Arena (13), Nottingham Motorpoint Arena (14), London O2 Arena (17) and Manchester Coop Live (18) before a series of summer shows.
Some of the band Tim, Andy and Dave - are also on Twitter.
We also run the One Of The Three James archive, the most detailed resource for information about the band, and the site also has a Facebook and Twitter page.
TimBoothLyricADay, whose posts often lead to Tim explaining his thought processes behind the lyrics, can be found on Twitter and Facebook
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