Doves, May 15 at House of Blues Anaheim

Doves are one of my favorite bands and I've seen them when they come to town, especially after missing the show from the tour for their first album and after seeing an amazing show from the tour of their second album. They were going to play the Wiltern in L.A. on a Saturday but I thought I might have my daughter that weekend so I opted for the Friday show in Anaheim, which would have been easier to schedule. The House of Blues is about a quarter the size of the Wiltern, the parking is plentiful and free, and there's stuff to do in the area before the show (being Downtown Disney). The downside would be that I wouldn't get anyone to make the drive to go to the show with me but it could happen that they wouldn't go to the L.A. show either. As it turned out, the show put me in Orange County the night before the KROQ show the next day, which was perfect. I took off early from work (in Santa Monica) and made the drive, getting there in plenty of time. Downtown Disney doesn't have much for me personally so I got to take in the opening acts. Some awful thing called Pop Noir were the first openers, doing a cover of New Order's "Temptation", the thought of which would have been bad enough but the execution was even worse. Next was Wild Light, another American band trying to sound British, this time ripping off Razorlight, making little sense, though if they got even a dozen fans in the U.S., it would be more than Razorlight have. Finally Doves came on and they turned in a solid show, not quite transcendent but more than should be expected from a stoic British band, buoyed only by excellent songs. Their Some Cities album had left me a bit cold but after seeing them play those songs and being more worn and comfortable with them brought me around to them a lot more (even though I'd seen them play those songs on that tour). The new Kingdom of Rust stuff was a cut above, though still not to the level of their first two albums, but they shouldn't be marked off for that. Still a fine show, though a shame that they didn't get more recognition or get around to more of the American summer festivals (or even an appearance at Coachella that they could make).

Doves' set-list:
"Jetstream"
"Snowden"
"Winter Hill"
"Rise"
"Pounding"
"Almost Lost Myself"
"10:03"
"Words"
"The Greatest Denier"
"Kingdom of Rust"
"Ambition"
"Black And White Town"
"The Outsiders"
"Caught By The River"

"Northenden"
"Here It Comes"
"The Last Broadcast"
"There Goes The Fear"