The next gig you're going to

[Chicken Run Supreme]

Last night was James at P&J Live Arena in Aberdeen.

There was a decent crowd in early doors to catch Doves in support. It’s a tough gig for a support act when you know that the vast majority of the crowd aren’t there to see you. For an upcoming band it’s an opportunity to make a name for yourself but Doves are far from upcoming and put on a solid set with Pounding, Kingdom of Rust and There Goes The Fear the stand outs.

And so on to James, who’ve been together since 1982, apart from a few years when Tim Booth left in 2001 and effectively split the band. But they’ve been back together for a good few years now and show no signs of slowing down. They are a tight unit who obviously know each other very well and it’s performing live where they excel and in Tim Booth, they have a great frontman. They began their set with Come Home and their encore was Tomorrow and Laid. In between it was filled with all their crowd pleasers including Sit Down which came surprisingly early in the set I thought. They also included a brand new song whose title I cannot remember, but it was so new that Tim Booth needed a lyric sheet to sing it and it was a very good addition to their repertoire. I was a little disappointed they omitted Born of Frustration but at least they included my all time favourite track, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
The standing area was well populated but there were several empty seats around the arena but it didn’t dampen the band’s enthusiasm and they always look like they are having a great time on stage. Tim Booth loves to get in amongst the crowd and during She’s a Star he went on an impromptu walk around the arena and came right over to our block of seats. He was one row in front of us so I took the opportunity to lean over and offer him a handshake, which he duly obliged. He’s a star alright and long may James continue. I’ll definitely go see them again.

[cliff99claret]

Rolla at the Old Blue Last on Friday.

[Monkeybubbles]

Last night was James at P&J Live Arena in Aberdeen.

There was a decent crowd in early doors to catch Doves in support. It’s a tough gig for a support act when you know that the vast majority of the crowd aren’t there to see you. For an upcoming band it’s an opportunity to make a name for yourself but Doves are far from upcoming and put on a solid set with Pounding, Kingdom of Rust and There Goes The Fear the stand outs.

And so on to James, who’ve been together since 1982, apart from a few years when Tim Booth left in 2001 and effectively split the band. But they’ve been back together for a good few years now and show no signs of slowing down. They are a tight unit who obviously know each other very well and it’s performing live where they excel and in Tim Booth, they have a great frontman. They began their set with Come Home and their encore was Tomorrow and Laid. In between it was filled with all their crowd pleasers including Sit Down which came surprisingly early in the set I thought. They also included a brand new song whose title I cannot remember, but it was so new that Tim Booth needed a lyric sheet to sing it and it was a very good addition to their repertoire. I was a little disappointed they omitted Born of Frustration but at least they included my all time favourite track, Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
The standing area was well populated but there were several empty seats around the arena but it didn’t dampen the band’s enthusiasm and they always look like they are having a great time on stage. Tim Booth loves to get in amongst the crowd and during She’s a Star he went on an impromptu walk around the arena and came right over to our block of seats. He was one row in front of us so I took the opportunity to lean over and offer him a handshake, which he duly obliged. He’s a star alright and long may James continue. I’ll definitely go see them again.

I'm surprised that Doves supported James. I thought it might be the other way round. Having said that, I don't really know much about either band, so ignore me.

[Korea Hammer]

I'm surprised that Doves supported James. I thought it might be the other way round. Having said that, I don't really know much about either band, so ignore me.

The Spotify test says Doves have 550,000 listeners and James have 2.5m

I've never knowingly heard Doves and couldn't tell you a single thing about them.

I like some earlier James. Really Hard is a great song.

[Chicken Run Supreme]

There Goes The Fear was an absolute classic and at that time I thought Doves would go on to be a lot bigger than they have so far. I wouldn’t say I was a fan of Doves but I have liked some of their stuff, especially the aforementioned single.

James are a band I quite liked around the time of their LPs Seven and Laid but when they split up they kind of dropped off my radar to some degree. Since they got back together I’ve revived my interest in them and they really are a great live band.

[neathiron]

Tomorrow night, 7pm. Castle Hotel, Neath.

An evening with Tony Cottee.

Looking forward to meeting the great man

[fjthegrey]

Doves first 3 albums were absolute peak. They were monsters live also.

From Kingdom of Rust onwards I'd say they declined significantly. I don't think they've had a noteworthy song since 2005. They had an 8 year break between 2010 and 2018 and obviously lost some momentum commercially due to that. Lead singer Jim Goodwin also dipped out of the band for their most recent couple of tours due to mental health issues so they are on a downward turn generally. Not so shocking to see them as a support really.

The Cedar Room
Caught by the River
There Goes The Fear
Snowden
Pounding

All timers for me track wise.

[southbrishammer]

After seeing The Orb for the first time in about 30 years last November, I'm seeing them again tomorrow night, on board one of my favourite venues, the Thekla, a repurposed cargo boat in Bristol harbour. Support is from System 7, the spaced-out 90s trance band formed by Steve Hillage from Gong.

Following tonight's result, this promises to be a good weekend.

[Tenbury]

After seeing The Orb for the first time in about 30 years last November, I'm seeing them again tomorrow night, on board one of my favourite venues, the Thekla, a repurposed cargo boat in Bristol harbour. Support is from System 7, the spaced-out 90s trance band formed by Steve Hillage from Gong.

Following tonight's result, this promises to be a good weekend.

System 7, I saw @ a festival nr, Brighton circa '96 along with The (brilliant) Chemical Bros. I've been to a lot of gigs, and this was far from my genre, but it was up there with the best couple of days I've ever had ...they were excellent.........what were those little pills ,BTW??

.....and if that's same boat they used to have bands on back in the 80s ,I've seen a few there,(Dumpy, Wishbone Ash,). it's really good.

[Junco Partner]

Doves are magnificent.

So much so I considered getting a James ticket for the 02 just to see them, was looking forward to basking in their euphoric melancholy and banging anthems for an hour then retiring to the back bar, tap along to a few James numbers, who're harmless enough, then duck out before the end and beat the tube queue

Only it's not the full Doves lineup and only the two brothers as Jimi struggles with addiction and mental health issues put me off, and the price. I'll wait for the full lineup once Jimi gets back to it. Their widescreen sonics and knack of matching banging beats, soaring synth and emotional lyrics is a winner, and when they take it down a notch with Caught By The River or Sea Song the melancholic yet hopeful ballads hit home.

Honestly, Constellations For The Lonely was the best album of 2025 and their 6 album cannon is as a complete and consistently brilliant body of work as anyone I can think of. Saw them at Somerset House a few years back and it was a helluva gig.

So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves is out now and a very fine introduction to the magnificent Doves for those that are curious.

[southbrishammer]

After seeing The Orb for the first time in about 30 years last November, I'm seeing them again tomorrow night, on board one of my favourite venues, the Thekla, a repurposed cargo boat in Bristol harbour. Support is from System 7, the spaced-out 90s trance band formed by Steve Hillage from Gong.

Following tonight's result, this promises to be a good weekend.

Around about 9.15pm tonight was probably as close as I'll get to recreating the feeling of being in a sweaty basement club in Brixton circa 1993, except that most of the punters were over 50, the stimulant of choice was Thatchers Gold and it was only 9.15pm. However it was a magnificent evening, and a reminder that you're never too old to go ****ing mental.

[pablo jaye]

Going to see Doves at Victorious Festival in August. Playing on the Saturday alongside Primal Scream, Balck Keys, Chic and Happy Mondays amongst others. A cracking line up for me and good value for the price of the ticket.

The first time I saw James was supporting The Smiths in 1985 … Hymn From A Village and Scarecrow are still top tunes.

[A False Five]

There Goes The Fear was an absolute classic and at that time I thought Doves would go on to be a lot bigger than they have so far.

Always reminds me of the 2002 WC in Korea/Japan. I'm sure it was released around that time.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Rolla at the Old Blue Last on Friday.

Great band and great venue

Hoping to see The Rosellas tomorrow night for their London gig

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Doves are one of my favourite ever bands (I liked Sub Sub as well). Seem them quite a few times and was at their comeback gig at Albert Hall a few years ago.
Pounding is one of the truly great anthemic choons and one that everyone loves regardless of music taste. It is almost impossible not to dance to it.
Is Jimi Goodwin playing live with them again or is he still studio only?

I also like James very much indeed

[pablo jaye]

Saw Doves at Royal Festival Hall about 12 years ago. An all seater hall, but that didn’t stop folk getting up and dancing … Black and White Town, There Goes The Fear, Pounding and Catch The Sun - bangers!

[smuts]

Going to see The Strokes in October.

[Chicken Run Supreme]

Is Jimi Goodwin playing live with them again or is he still studio only?

Not on this tour, at least he wasn’t at Aberdeen

[Toulouse_Iron]

another off topic post about the last gig I went to but hey ho.
Last week I got a free ticket to go and see Les Negresses Vertes in Toulouse. Last time I saw the must have been in 90 or91 in London when the original singer was still alive.
Pretty good, even if it felt a bit like a tribute band. Lots of grey hair and pot bellies both in the crowd and on stage but fun was had by all. What more can you ask?

[WHU Independent]

Seriously thinking of going to see Swhoddywaddy in Lincoln.

Oh if my 21 YO self could see me now.