Doves at The Forum, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

The Forum is a brand-spanking new purpose built venue, just off the A1 at Hatfield that has some serious potential. If it's managed well and promoted well, I'm hoping it'll soon be very much a part of the UK curcuit of mid-sized venues. It's similar in size to The Junction in Cambridge - I'm guessing around 800-1000 capacity.
It's so easy to get to, it only took half an hour from our house in Bedfordshire. There's a brand new, well lit multi-story car park right next door, that's free in the evening.
The staff were all friendly and polite. The toilets are spotlessly clean and there's about 20 of them in the ladies (no queue!). There was even loo roll....

It's a cracking venue. They've really thought it through and included all the essentials. I guess that's the advantage of a building that's designed for purpose, rather than converted, as most venues are. There's 3 large bars, one on a raised level behind the sound desk, with some seating and one either side of the main floor. There's also another bar on the upstairs balcony area. There's a purpose-built covered smoking area, right outside the main auditorium, so smokers can go for a quick fag without having to go very far or get wet.

This place was only completed in late August and it turned out that the Doves gig was the very first show to be put on here. Kudos to them for getting such a great band for the first night. The sound was spot on, well mixed and at just the right volume. Loud enough to take you away with it, but not so loud that it's oppressive or harmful. Nice lighting too - and a HUGE mirror ball in the centre of the room. I'm guessing that it's probably all LED lights, which don't give out the unbearable heat of the old-style ones. Proper ventilation too. The list just goes on and on.... So - onto THE MUSIC.

Doves came on at 9pm (after we'd endured a truly awful and totally forgettable support band). It took them a couple of songs to get into their groove. The drummer seemed to be having some problems for the first couple of songs. Maybe he couldn't hear properly or something, but he seemed to be struggling to stay in time and seemed to get lost a little here and there. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. The first two songs just seemed slightly disjointed and 'not quite right'. Anyhoo, by the third track all was well and Doves set about doing what they do best.

It was a great set. They played a whole bunch of awesome tunes. An extra long version of The Cedar Room was a highlight. I had a really good boogie to some great tracks: Pounding, Winter Hill, Snowden, There Goes The Fear, Words, Here It Comes, Kingdom of Rust, Ambition, Almost Forgot Myself, Black & White Town, The Greatest Denier, The Last Broadcast and Caught By The River.
One of my favourite tunes of the night though was Jetstream. I was listening to that track as we took off from Los Angeles, fighting back tears, so it now has a strong emotional connection for me.

By the end of the encore I was hoarse from singing and whooping and ached from dancing. It was a great crowd, a really good atmosphere and everyone was totally into it. I'd found myself dancing with the strangers around me with a big grin on my face. I was buzzzzzzing!

I really hope this venue takes off and continues to get lots of great bands playing there. It could easily become my favourite venue.

Crappy phone pics...