On this day, 24 July 1999, soul/pop band Simply Red played a sell-out gig at Cardiff Castle.
Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thirteen studio albums, from Picture Book (1985) through Time (2023), all of which have peaked within the top ten on the UK Albums Chart; with the albums A New Flame (1989), Stars (1991), Life (1995) and Blue (1998), along with their Greatest Hits (1996) album, reaching number one. Their 1991 album Stars is one of the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom.
1998 saw the release of the cover-heavy Blue, which produced four UK top 40 singles, including the top 10 hits "Say You Love Me" and "The Air That I Breathe". The follow-up album, 1999's Love and the Russian Winter, was a relative disappointment, spawning two minor hits that failed to break the top 10.
Simply Red were dropped from their label, East West Records in April 2000. Mick Hucknall subsequently set up the website Simplyred.com to handle releases of new recordings; the new label/website venture proved to be quite successful, many of the band's Simplyred.com releases selling and charting almost as well as their earlier recordings.
Setlist
Mellow My Mind
(Neil Young cover)
Never Never Love
Man Made the Gun
It's Only Love Doing Its Thing
(Barry White cover)
A New Flame
Thrill Me
For Your Babies
If You Don't Know Me by Now
(Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes cover)
So Beautiful
Thank You
Look Into Your Eyes
Night Nurse
(Gregory Isaacs cover)
Stars
Come to My Aid
I Won't Feel Bad
Infidelity
The Right Thing
Money's Too Tight (To Mention)
(The Valentine Brothers cover)
Holding Back the Years
(The Frantic Elevators cover)
Something Got Me Started
Fairground
