Doves Take Wing at 9:30 Club
Washington Post
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; C03
In the wake of Radiohead -- and the lingering influence of the shoe-gazer generation before them -- latter-day Brit-pop has abandoned the cheeky jingle-jangles of yesteryear for more emotive and ethereal pastures. No band marks this shift more clearly than Doves, who visited the 9:30 club on Monday, tempering their new-school crescendos with a touch of old-school sass.
The Manchester outfit sent heads bobbing and toes tapping early with the buoyant swing of "Black and White Town," a track inspired by the Jam, from the latest Doves album, "Some Cities." The band never recaptured that early magic, but came close with handsome versions of "Last Broadcast" and "Caught by the River" (a song you crazy kids might remember hearing on "The O.C."). The capacity crowd devoured both of these tunes, and many others. "You rock harder than Coldplay!" one fan cried out between songs. "Not hard, is it?" head Dove Jimi Goodwin shrugged.
That fleeting moment of rock-swagger seemed downright humble after an hour of cloying histrionics from Mercury Rev frontman Jonathan Donahue. The opening act coasted through an almost laughable set of new-age-inspired schlock, Donahue gesticulating like a poor man's Freddie Mercury all the while.
Video projections of sunsets, dolphins and flowers in time-lapse bloom flickered on a backdrop during the Rev performance. Some images were accompanied by inspirational phrases such as, "Never give up -- Just give." How did these once-great students of minimalist composer Tony Conrad devolve into the rock-and-roll embodiment of a Hallmark card?
-- Chris Richards
