Doves return home to a rapturous crowd to deliver a stellar, career spanning performance of songs delivered with love and passion.

All live photography by Dominic Walsh.

ARKAYLA

The evening opened with Arkayla, a Manchester-born band that writes tracks serving as a great ode to a full ’90s indie sound. There’s a healthy dose of swagger and Northern lethargy dripping from the four-piece. Their sound is tight, driven with punch and vigour, settling the crowd in for a night of good, solid songwriting. Doctor and Waste of Time sound fresh despite being built on a sound born before this young band were. 

HAYDEN THORPE

Hayden Thorpe follows with an altogether different sound. The Cumbrian-born singer/songwriter brought more introspective and soul-searching melodies that didn’t feel lost in a venue that he himself acknowledged was a pantheon for those who went before him. The former Wild Beasts man confesses that Doves are one of his favourite bands and it is an honour to open for them. There is a warmth in his songs and serves as the perfect foil for Doves. It brings down the tempo before the big build towards Doves.

As the hour of Doves arrival approaches, music over the PA thumps with Orbital‘s emphatically reworked Tonight In Belfast featuring another Mancunian legend, Mike Garry, pontificating. Scene set.

DOVES’ POUNDING HUMILITY

Doves have a rich and diverse back catalogue with tracks that still feel fresh and, most importantly, poignant and relevant. Twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams have led the band through their earlier 2025 Constellations For The Lonely tour and now, at the backend of the year, with the ‘Best of…’ offering.

I was fortunate enough to catch the band in March at Aviva Studios, where I heard the group together without the distinctive Northern drawl of Goodwin. That night, the gap was felt despite Jez’s relentless efforts to carry a vocal performance that still served the tracks as the crowd hoped. Nine months on, the gap is drastically diminished, and Jez emerges as the frontman Doves need. Jimi’s absence can’t be ignored but it will always be respected. Jez and Andy demonstrate a growing ability to fill the void with their own passion and humility.

RESOLUTE MANCUNIANS

Humility is a recurring theme throughout their performance. They are resolutely Mancunian in their passionate exchanges with the crowd—saving their more adoring exchanges for the Apollo itself, a venue steeped in Northern music folklore. The staging for the gig is perfect for a back catalogue collective, with short videos depicting life up North, including a soulful vignette into the Wigan Pier Northern Soul scene during the rousing Pounding. The drums slide forward, allowing Andy Williams to bounce around his kit and the stage with enduring enthusiasm. The Apollo is the perfect venue for a band to resurge their sound after almost 30 years; it’s also a venue that can consume the artist with its looming stalls. Tonight, without arrogance or pomp, Doves draw the venue in closer, hold it tight, and then let it fly as they rip through the latter stages of the set.

THE UNIVERSAL WANT

Opening with Words, the band broke through the initial soundscape with no signs of allowing the storied venue to get the better of them. Starting here is a full endorsement of musicians who have, throughout their career, produced albums of real quality that lean on their ability to create a rich wall of sound as their foundation. Doves’ fifth album, The Universal Want, feels like it doesn’t get the airtime it deserves. Carousels rips through the venue with the joy with which it was written. Jez Williams claims the song as his own on this night.

The latest single, Spirit of Your Friend, is up next and already has the feel of a strong Doves live track, as good chunks of the crowd were eager to sing it back to the stage front. Rise and Cold Dreaming also make the set, with the latter being a standout track from their latest studio album. Hearing tracks like Cold Dreaming played live truly showcases the skillset of these masters of their craft. Prisoners and Darker, with the intensity of sound and subject matter—as noted by Jez—maintain crowd engagement as the band prepare to shift into the crescendo sections of their twenty-song set.

SPIRIT OF THEIR FRIEND

It’s unavoidable to discuss the gig without acknowledging the absence of Jimi Goodwin, but it’s fair to point out that Jez and Andy Williams’ vocal offering does nothing to detract from a stellar set. As the band reached another low-key classic in 10:03, it was wonderful to see the crowd respond so positively to the heart-wrenching vocal performance that echoes around the venue.

Jez steps aside for twin-brother Andy to take lead vocals for Here It Comes, House of Mirrors, and Kingdom Of Rust. Prior to House of Mirrors, there was a wonderful moment of Mancunian togetherness as we paused to remember a much-loved son, Mani. Kingdom of Rust remains a Doves classic, and it was a resounding performance, with Andy dancing between his vocals from start to end, culminating in a thrilling drum outro.

Watching Andy Williams perform is always a joy, and he embodies the spirit with which he plays. The blending of Firesuite into another seminal Doves track, Catch The Sun, helps build the set to a magnificent mountaintop at which we would all gather. And so it was with Pounding, dedicated to the much-loved bandmate, that we reached the pinnacle. It’s a simply brilliant anthem, filling this magnificent venue in the way a band that knows their sound truly can.

SEMINAL SOUNDSCAPES

Prior to Doves taking the stage, Dominic and I discuss the tracks we felt were standout in the Doves back catalogue. We both agree that The Cedar Room is truly anthemic and a masterpiece in songwriting. With expert musicianship creating that thick, warm duvet sound, the outcome is breath taking.

Caught By The River and Black and White Town – two more top-rate tracks – help close out the main set. The set had built steadily, and they knew how to bring a crowd to their feet. The encore of the stunning Snowden soundscape alongside the seminal There Goes The Fear rounded out a perfect Doves set. But as anyone who has given their heart to Doves will know, their story began as house dance act Sub Sub. So it goes, the circle is complete as the night closes with Space Face. Doves clearly want this party to continue, and so it will… so it should.

As the crowds poured out into the cold December air of Stockport Road, no doubt Jez and Andy stepped backstage to embrace as brothers should. And it’s been a year for Mancunian brothers! Tonight, two took to the stage to carry their own banner, and they can be more than pleased with their work. In 2026, Doves go on tour with Mancunian mates, James, and if tonight is anything to go by, they’ll be ready to continue the renewed spirit of bringing people together for the good of music and each other.

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