Doves Homecoming: Two Decades Later, Still Soaring at the Apollo

Matt Oliver
12 minutes ago
3 min read

O2 Apollo Manchester – 20th December 2025

WORDS / IMAGES MATT OLIVER

Doves Homecoming: Two Decades Later, Still Soaring at the Apollo — Photo Credit Matt Oliver

It was the last Saturday before Christmas, the day most people had clocked off work for the holidays, and you could feel that particular lightness in the air – a collective exhale after another long year. Outside, the chill bit hard, but inside the O2 Apollo the place was packed to the rafters, bodies close, pints flowing, the warmth of shared anticipation (and a few pre-gig beers) chasing away the cold.

The O2 Apollo remains one of the great British gig rooms: For Doves, returning here after almost twenty years felt entirely natural. Jimi Goodwin’s continued absence from the stage – a break taken for his own wellbeing – has become part of the band’s story now, handled with dignity by all concerned. Jez Williams has settled comfortably into the frontman role, his voice steady and emotive, while Andy switches between drums and microphone with ease, nothing feels makeshift.

Hayden Thorpe’s opening set was just him and a keyboard, his voice soaring in that unmistakable falsetto over sparse, atmospheric loops. He built the set gradually, adding layers and percussion, slipping in a couple of Wild Beasts tracks that drew appreciative cheers from those who remembered, you could sense the crowd easing into the evening, relaxed but ready. It was elegant and understated, the perfect primer: no grandstanding, just enough beauty and space to leave the room in exactly the right frame of mind.

When Doves appeared shortly before nine, they opened with the luminous guitars of Words and Carousels, easing into the brooding pulse of Prisoners and the darker hues of Darker. The sound was rich, balanced, every layer audible – a reminder of how well these songs have aged. Jez paused early on and said “there’s magic in these walls” The roar that greeted the line told its own story. Later, Andy stepped forward with a a fond tribute to their mother, approaching ninety and apparently the family’s reigning rock’n’roll champion. The laughter that followed was warm, genuine.

The deepest silence came before House of Mirrors. Andy spoke briefly of Mani, the Stone Roses bassist gone only a month earlier: “A beautiful person. Nothing more was needed. The song that followed carried the weight for everyone in the room.

From there the set gathered force, building through the epic sweep of Kingdom of Rust, Pounding, and Caught by the River, before closing the main body with Black and White Town.

The encore delivered Snowden into There Goes the Fear, then a grinning “one more?” from Jez before Space Face – the old Sub Sub track thumping like a heartbeat from the city’s warehouse days. By then the entire balcony was on its feet, arms in the air, swept up in the relentless pulse. For anyone who’d ever lost themselves in the old rave nights, it was a direct line back – pure, unfiltered euphoria.

Doves have never chased fashion; they’ve simply written songs that endure. On this evidence, they still play them with conviction and quiet fire. A fine return to a venue that suits them perfectly.