Living in Los Angeles, we've all heard many buzzed-about British bands in our ears over the years but perhaps the most underrated of all has to be Doves. The rock trio recently descended upon The Wiltern, marking their first foray back to the City of Angels in a little over five years.

"It's good to be back," drummer Andy Williams told us. "We love Los Angeles. We always tend to stay on the [Sunset] Strip because it's the madness of the Strip that we love really."

Andy, along with guitarist (and twin brother) Jez, along with long-time friend Jimi Goodwin on bass make up the trio. Having played together for nearly two decades, spanning from their dancefloor-driven Sub Sub days to their current incarnation, the band has hit the road again in support of their exceptional new album, "Kingdom of Rust."

The show kicked off with our favorite new tune, "Jetstream," which has the feel of those early Sub Sub sounds. "That song was a bit of a breakthrough for us," Andy said. "Once we got that in the bag, we were like, ‘this feels new, it feels like we're progressing as a band'."

The song is such a standout that Sasha, of legendary DJ duo Sasha & Digweed, specifically asked the band if he could remix it. "It's really good, it will rock the dancefloor," Andy excitedly shared with us.

The live version, accompanied by massive video images of jets taking off behind the band, strapped us in for the ride to come.

"We feel like we're playing our best right now," Andy explained. The band's live experience features arrangements of classic songs, like the closer, "Caught By The River," which is a real treat for the true fans. "That's half the fun of it," Andy continued. "You don't wanna hear exactly how it is on record, you wanna hear a live version of it."

Certainly some his larger contemporaries (ahem, Oasis) could take notice of this sure sign of band unity. As the band continued to power through an epic eighteen-song set that had all the hits ("Black & White Town") and personal favorites ("Rise") you could ask for, we savored every second.

In between songs, Jimi, who is also the primary singer, (although they all took to the mic at one point or another) didn't tell us any Springsteen-esque stories but did give some of the best stage banter we've heard in some time.

"I think there's a couple making out in the balcony," he told the crowd. Sure enough, there was and it wasn't to be the last time they were to be called out by Jimi either. "Apparently people meet at our shows and on our message boards. Good for them. We're all trainwrecks in our relationships."

As the band came back for a choice four-song encore, the energy in the room continued to swell, culminating in the aforementioned closer, "There Goes the Fear," which even included some co-operative drumming by Jimi and Andy.


Even now, the songs continue to hold memories inside them, of one of the best concerts of our lives, and of the tremendous luxury we have of living in a town like this. Madness? Sometimes. But nights like this one make the fear and loathing fade away in a jetstream of sound.

THE DETAILS: Doves

Check out their new album, Kingdom of Rust on

Story by Ryan Simoneau and Alex Storch.