I recently attended a concert while visiting NYC where the Doves played along with Mercury Rev. The show was on Wednesday May 18, 2005 at Webster Hall. The venue was an old style 1940's theatre that consisted of three floors. The lowest was Sub-terranian, and housed el Banio and other empty miscellaneous checkered floor Ballrooms. The main floor served as both the hall for the crowd and a gigantic bar. The third level Balcony was a wraparound with stripper poles plotted along the edge, and was exclusive to the VIP. Fortunately, I was privy to the area – Biggup to Johnny D. from the Pub. I had never heard the opening act Mercury Rev before their performance that night. Overall, the band has a progressive yet psychedelic sound, and the members are very talented, rocking out with an enormous sound. The band's backbone is their rhythm section (drums, bass and keyboard), which was excellent. The lead guitarist displayed his masterful arsenal of riffs and solos with the strength of a juggernaut, and I was impressed by the frequent switch offs the musicians made between keyboards and guitar throughout the show. The highlight of the performance was when the band played a cover of Dylan's "You're gonna have to serve somebody". The only draw back I found with the band came from the lead singer who tried to shine too often on his own with an overexagerated stage presence that was down right cheesy. He does have good range, but his oversensitive dramatic lyrics and singing hurt the band's otherwise solid sound. After a short intermission and a couple of Crown and Cokes, the doves took the stage. The band actually consists of three members, but a fourth accompanied them for the live performance. The seasoned British veterans were even more impressive live than I had imagined. They played a even variety of tunes from the three albums, rocking out for about an hour and a half before the grooving audience of no less than 600. Their performance was high energy, the vocals and harmonies were absolutely masterful, and overall I found the band played incredibly tight. I was most impressed by the playing of the lead guitarist who leveled the place with the equivalency of ground zero at Hiroshima. One of my favorite bands in recent years, the Doves are every bit as talented as contemporary giants such as U2, but not as concerned with an image or the motives of major recording excutives. If you ever have a chance to see these guys live don't hesitate. They put on one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.