Doves played the fifth of seven Blackpool Live headline shows at the Winter Gardens this season. Mic Shanagher – whose own musical upbringing was forged in the famous venue before fronting his own local band, Darwin and the Finches – was there to see how the band fared with half its frontman missing.
If you live in Blackpool and grew up going to the Winter Gardens to watch your favourite touring bands as they passed through town, you know that the place holds a Northern guttural romance that you’ll feel even as you start getting ready to go out for the gig.
If you’re like me, you feel that excitement seeping out from the walls when you pass over the threshold of the Gardens’ Victorian entrance – the mystique of a thousand bands that have somehow still left their energy vibrating in the ether that fills the room, for others to pick up and kick-start their own fire that will leave its indelible mark on the adoring fan.
This is the fifth of Blackpool Live’s seven Winter Gardens shows this summer and autumn, a series built on exactly that kind of nostalgia. Founder Mark Lippmann has talked about the day that set the whole thing in motion – over from Hazel Grove in 2006, Pleasure Beach in the afternoon, chips on the prom, then Arctic Monkeys that night. Twenty years on, he’s trying to give today’s gig-goers a shot at that same feeling, and on the evidence of the queues at the bar, Blackpool’s turning out for it
It’s in the Olympia that IST IST have done a great job of opening up to a somewhat loose crowd — loose in the sense that it’s really early and most punters haven’t even turned up yet. Swirling guitars, driving rhythms and a solid set that is clearly well run and has been road-tested more than once. Echoes of all the bands you know and love – Joy Division, Interpol and those post-punk sounds that feel synonymous with Blackpool.
As we wait for The Slow Readers Club to take to the stage, the drum kit at the side has its usual black shroud of secrecy thrown over it for what will eventually be the Doves stage set-up. You can feel the atmosphere build in the room, the bodies are multiplying and the bar is getting busier by the minute.
It seems that TSRC have brought their own chunky-sized fanbase to this one. The last time they played in the town was Bootleg Social about seven years ago to a room of 300. This time it’s considerably more than that, but you only need to turn your head once to see the impact this band has had on a clearly quite devoted fanbase. T-shirts aplenty and lots of mistimed lip-syncing going on from a crowd that has clearly ordered extra from the bar so as not to have to queue up again for a while.
They were class. An amazingly well-executed band, thoughtful in each aspect – the performance, the writing, the preparation, the delivery. If you haven’t seen TSRC then you are missing out, they are everything you would want from a band that set out to create their own aesthetic in both musical and visual terms.
Doves, well, where to start. The vast room was pretty full, to be fair. Blackpool had seen the challenge and accepted. The crowd mirrored the age of the band on stage, and it was refreshing to see only a handful of phones in the air, with most opting to take it all in with their own eyes and join in the present moment.
I need to get this out first though. Doves – I was expecting a left-handed bass player at the front with a Fender being played upside down. What we got was a right-handed guitar player, waltzing across the stage with what appeared to be a Gibson 355 in cherry red.
For a minute I thought I was at the wrong gig. The backdrop got me though: “Fail we may, sail we must”, the simple line projected onto the back of the Olympia in huge letters. A bold statement and a nod to Andrew Weatherall – the musician and DJ who immortalised the Doves track Compulsion. That statement must mean more to the band now than ever before, with bassist and vocalist Jimi Goodwin’s step back from live touring.
Tight, groovy, well-paced, comfortable, in control and well-rehearsed.
If the main face of the band no longer tours or wants to do anything in the public eye, then how do you carry on as that band? It would seem that Jimi has taken time off from live shows to focus on his mental health and recovery from addiction, something he has been quite open about online. I sincerely hope he gets well and wish him nothing but love as he moves towards being more healthy and clear-minded.
What do you do then? You’re in a really successful band and the singer isn’t there any more? This is a really tough one, and there are arguments for and against all sorts of angles in carrying on as the same band or starting anew and fresh. It’s quite clear though that the rest of the band, with Jimi’s knowledge and blessing, have carried on, with two of the original members, Jez and Andy Williams, taking over singing duties. I don’t know the band intimately enough to say how this lands with a die-hard fan, but as an indie music aficionado, I’ll admit two things: I’d somehow missed this piece of information, and live, it just felt off.
Was the band good? Yes, they were bang on. Tight, groovy, well-paced, comfortable, in control and well-rehearsed. Were the songs good? Yes, of course they were, and well delivered. Everything about the band was great, but without Jimi Goodwin at the front, they were different – not worse or better, just different.
Jez Williams brings a whole alternative energy to the room as he struts about with his ES355 – and Blackpool seemed to love it. The crowd were behind the band all the way, arms in the air, singing along to the lyrics they knew so well. If Doves are supporting their friend and musical brother by carrying the torch while he gets the help he needs, then Blackpool is the town to make sure that torch shines bright. These gigs at the Olympia in the Winter Gardens are good for the town and good for its energy – it’s important to remember that.
With a confident Northern swagger, Doves charged through the night, wrapping themselves in the cloak of all that came before them from that great city an hour down the road. Manchester has always been Blackpool’s bigger brother, who always knew our town could be relied upon to send out the troops when most needed. Keep going, Doves – we love you, we need you, and remember: “Fail we may, sail we must!”
Blackpool Live continues with the Happy Mondays who bring the Madchester faithful to town – support from Inspiral Carpets and Common Goldfish. Tickets for both via Scruff of the Neck.
Mic Shanagher is a Blackpool-based musician who fronts local band Darwin and the Finches. Listen to their new track, Pearls, below
