Doves are a bit of a coo

DAVE FREAK meets two of the acts heading to next weekend's Moseley Folk and Arts Festival

- DAVE FREAK

HAVING been away from the stage for sometime, Doves co-founder Andy Williams says he and brother Jez approached their spring tour dates with a combination of apprehension and excitement.

“But we were desperate to play live again and we both see it as a big part of what we do, so we were determined to make it work,” Andy says of the gigs, which included their first Manchester show in 15 years and a stop-off at Brum’s Institute.

“When we played Birmingham and we were sound checking, I realised that we had played the same venue 34 years ago at some all-nighter rave back with our previous band Sub Sub. That was a spooky feeling.”

The last few years have been some of the most turbulent in Doves’ quarter-century history. One of the biggest indie bands of the ‘00s, the trio - Andy, Jez and Jimi Goodwin - topped the UK charts with their second and third opuses, The Last Broadcast and Some Cities. Though they stepped away from Doves in 2010, 2020's comeback, The Universal Want, earned the Mancunians their third number one album.