Angel Snow, The Dove & The Dragon – The Kings Arms, Salford – Tuesday 7th October 2025

RAMBLING THOUGHTS…

By-passing whatever might be on at the AO enormodome at the Victoria tram stop, we head down to Salford and upstairs in the Kings Arms for the antidote to the big arena, mega buck ticket, beer of many pounds, many peopled offering. Something more grass roots without which…well, you know the script by now.

Oh, the joys of back to the roots gigging. Seriously. A decent boozer, sensible prices, no groups having a loud debate at the back or bottle bins being emptied that always seem to accompany a delicate moment. The support for the under the radar musicians – thanks to the likes of tonight’s promotion, Red Balloon Music – all provided in the atmospheric vaulted performance space in the Kings Arms.

AN ANGEL IN SALFORD (NOT MANCHESTER)

First possible barrier crossed – yes, we are just about in the former. It’s even on the url (www.kingsarmssalford.com). Duly acknowledged, Angel eases into Coals And Water, stroking notes form her vintage (1948) well travelled Gibson. “It’s a nice fit,” she adds. To her right sits the sonic architect that is Joe Wilkins – took a moment to make the link with his Blues rock and soul-ing in the Elles Bailey band but got there. He’s responsible for all manner of subtle decoration, mainly with his Jazzmaster but nipping across to another acoustic at times. To her left is Matt Stockham Brown who adds various cymbal washes and a subtle use of beaters and brushed around his kit.

“I always wanted to be better, I always wanted to shine,” croons Angel as she tells us how she tries to do something different each time she visits before swinging into the shuffling Country blues of Let You Down. One where the “I’d take a bullet if you asked me to” line adds a sobering thought. The brooding masterpiece that is Midnight Sun is the trigger point for a passage of songs that reach a breath holding high point. In the centrepiece of the set, Window Seat sees Angel deferring to Joe for guitar duties while she focusses totally on the delivery.

THE HIGHLIGHT…

Think Dylan ’95 when his inopportune back problem surfaced and all he had to do was sing in a way he hadn;t for years. Paired with I Need You, it forms an impressive sequence. The latter is cut from similar cloth with Joe again mastering the art of a backdrop of sonic decorations. It earns our ‘worth the ticket price alone’ award for the pairing of songs, but if there could be only one to take to a desert island, I Need You is written into the memory stick

Follow that. While Arrows matches the mood that’s been set, Low heads into more swampy REM territory with overdriven guitar and Angel’s “I’ll try to do it justice” comment as she introduces Tom Waits’ Hold On. She manages exactly that, acting as the conduit as she adds a polish to the the challenge that Waits’ music holds for many. No such challenge for Angel Snow though; immediately accessible, thoughtful and often mesmerising. The haunting waves of I Need You now on repeat.

DOVES & DRAGONS, EITHER OR NEITHER?

The Dove & The Dragaon (aka Kitty Davies) professes the latter in her much appreciated support slot. Bravely playing out on a school night and with OFSTED looming, it must feel a release – especially as she sings “what’s the point of learning when you break all the rules?” at the start of her set of gently fingerpicked arrangements. It’s a set as expected for anyone who’s read the ‘light and dark, vulnerability and power, the magical and the mundane’ description of her Folk infused Americana.

Armistice has her talk of the challenges that face young people in making sense of the world and how music can provide support whilst also making pertinent mention to recent events the the Crumpsall synagogue tragedy. Such sobering thoughts come tempered with her ‘song with no name’ and warnings of falling out with a songwriter “and be immortalised forever!”

Pictured recently at Wigan Diggers Festival in a vintage Springsteen shirt (circa ’85, Pink Cadillac possibly…) she’s already has earned her stripes in our book.

Huge thanks to Shay Rowan – #shayrowanphotography – for the use of his images from the night.

Angel Snow online: Website  / Twitter / Instagram / Youtube

The Dove & The Dragon online: Facebook / Soundcloud

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