On This Day 02/05/1975 Yes

On this day, 2 May 1975, prog rock giants Yes played the first of two nights at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on the band’s Relayer tour. Support was provided by Gryphon.

Relayer is the seventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in the UK on 29 November 1974 and in the US on 5 December 1974 by Atlantic Records. After keyboardist Rick Wakeman left the group in May 1974 over disagreements with the band's direction following their double concept album Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Yes entered rehearsals as a four-piece in Buckinghamshire. They auditioned several musicians, including Greek keyboardist and composer Vangelis, before settling with Swiss musician Patrick Moraz of Refugee who incorporated elements of funk and jazz fusion to the album. Relayer is formed of three tracks, with "The Gates of Delirium" on side one and "Sound Chaser" and "To Be Over" on side two. This was the only studio release to feature Moraz on keyboards.

Relayer received a mixed to positive reception from contemporary and retrospective critics. It reached No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 5 on the US Billboard 200.

Yes fan Gerard made these comments about the gig on a Yes band fan site -

My first Yes show, still the best gig I've ever been to and the best Friday night of my life! (even without Rick).

I was 16 and with a bunch of school friends. About 6 weeks previously we'ed queued all night for our tickets. The box office was due to open at 10 AM on a Sunday but they opened at 08.30 on the advice of the police as the queue was a few thousand strong and growing fast. When they opened the box office bedlam ensued!

We got our tickets, those who turned up later had no chance.

At the gig Gryphon opened and were good. Then, at the first strains of Firbird Suite everyone rose and roared their approval. As the guys came on the stage there was a great surge to the front and those of us a little further back stood on our seats.

And that is where everyone stayed for the whole show, the place was bouncing. The Capitol, now demolished, held over 2,500 and the balcony was literally shaking through the whole gig. The atmosphere was absolutley electric! I came away with an Alan White "Ludwig" drum stick (which I still have) and a smug expression on my face as those in my group of friends who had seen Genesis two days earlier in Bristol freely admitted that Yes were in a different class. Three of us had been wise and purchased a second Yes ticket for the Bristol show on the following Wednesday.

Lineup: Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Patrick Moraz, Alan White.

Setlist :

Firebird Suite
Sound Chaser
Close To The Edge
To Be Over
Gates Of Delirium
Your Move/Mood For A Day
Long Distance Runaround/Moraz Solo
Clap
And You And I
Ritual
Roundabout
Sweet Dreams

On This Day 21/04/1975 Slade

On this day, 21 April 1975, legendary glam rockers Slade played Cardiff’s Theatre. The band were touring following the release of their film, Slade in Flame.

The film charts the history of "Flame", a fictitious group in the late 1960s who are picked up by a marketing company and taken to the top, only to break up at their zenith. Described as the "Citizen Kane of rock musicals" by BBC film critic Mark Kermode, the film went on to achieve critical acclaim years after the mixed feelings on its original release.

On This Day 15/04/1976 Rick Wakeman

On this day, 15/04/1976 keyboard giant Rick Wakeman played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. He had just released his fourth studio album, No Earthly Connection, with the English Rock Ensemble. Recorded at Château d'Hérouville in France, the album charted at No. 12 in the UK and No. 29 on the Billboard 200.

No Earthly Connection marked a change in Wakeman's musical direction. He retained the progressive rock style in his music, but made a conscious decision to make a more serious album without the comedic and tongue in cheek elements he had incorporated in his previous works. He wished to write something "that I believed in fervently". Wakeman said it is a part fictional and non-fictional musical autobiography based on things people know exist but unsure as to why or cannot explain, the question of life and its different forms, evolution, and flying saucers.

On This Day 22/03/1975 Cockney Rebel

On this day, 22 March 1975, rock band Cockney Rebel played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre with support provided by Sailor.

The band had recently released the No 1 UK single Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) taken from their third studio album The Best Years Of Our Lives, released earlier in the month that peaked at No 4 in the UK album charts.

To promote the album, the band embarked on a UK and European tour from March 1975 onwards. On the tour, the band hired guitarist Snowy White to play rhythm guitar. In a January 1975 issue of Record & Popswop Mirror, it was announced that the upcoming tour would feature "a specially built set and lighting to reflect songs and images featured on the forthcoming album". Later in the year they toured America, as a support act for The Kinks.

On This Day 14/03/1973 Black Sabbath

On this day, 14 March 1973, heavy rock band Black Sabbath played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre with support provided by Badger and Necramandus..

The band were promoting their fourth studio album Vol 4, released in September 1972. It was the first album by Black Sabbath not produced by Rodger Bain; guitarist Tony Iommi assumed production duties. Patrick Meehan, the band's then-manager, was listed as co-producer, though his actual involvement in the album's production was minimal.

In his autobiography I Am Ozzy, Osbourne speaks at length about the sessions: "In spite of all the arsing around, musically those few weeks in Bel Air were the strongest we'd ever been." But he admits, "Eventually we started to wonder where the fuck all the coke was coming from ... that coke was the whitest, purest, strongest stuff you could ever imagine. One sniff, and you were king of the universe." During a show in support of Vol. 4 at the Hollywood Bowl, the cocaine abuse caught up to Iommi. "Tony had been doing coke literally for days. We all had, but Tony had gone over the edge. He walked off the stage and collapsed," said Osbourne. During soundcheck earlier that same day, a crazed Christian man attempted to storm the stage and stab Iommi with a dagger, but he was tackled by members of the band's crew. According to Butler, "we wanted to take a break" at that point.

On This Day Bryan Ferry 12/02/1977

On this day, Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on his In Your Mind tour, with support provided by illusion.

Ferry had just released his fourth studio album In Your Mind, It was his first solo album of all original songs. released after Ferry's band Roxy Music went on a four-year hiatus. It peaked at No 5 in the UK album charts.

Band Lineup: Bryan Ferry (vocals), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Chris Spedding (guitar), Paul Thompson (drums), John Wetton (bass), Ann O'Dell (keyboards), plus a brass section and backing vocalists.

On This Day Split Enz 10/02/1978

On this day, 10 February 1978, New Zealand rock band Split Enz played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed in 1972 in Auckland they ar regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visual style and theatrical performances. The band later moved toward a pop/new wave sound that yielded hit singles such as "I See Red"

By the summer of 1978, Split Enz had no agent, no manager, and no UK or US record contract, having been dropped by Chrysalis. The New Zealand Arts Council gave the band a grant of $5,000. The grant money was used to book studio time in Luton, England, where the band recorded demos that later became known as the "Rootin' Tootin' Luton Tapes". One of the songs from those sessions was "I See Red". Released as a single later that year, "I See Red" marked a significant move away from the band's early progressive/art rock style, towards high-energy, guitar-based power pop. While "I See Red" did not chart in the UK, where it was released on Illegal Records, it did bring the band critical attention.

On This Day 27/10/1976 David Essex

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On this day, 27 October 1976, pop star actor David Essex played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. The tour was to promote his fourth studio album Out On The Street, which peaked at #31 in the UK album charts.

Essex made his first record, titled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down", for the Fontana label in 1965. He then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years, and released a further seven singles in the 1960s. He also recorded two songs, "A Rose" and "Leon and John and Billy and Me" which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates. His first notable acting role, aside from small appearances in the films Assault and All Coppers Are..., was the lead in the stage musical Godspell in 1971 at the age of 23.

Two years later, he starred in the film That'll Be the Day (1973) and recorded his international hit single, the self-penned "Rock On", in the same year. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1974. It was nominated for a Grammy and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK singles chart.

In the 1970s, Essex emerged as a performer of some note. Contrary to a claim made in his own biography, his first concert was at the Granada in East Ham on Saturday 2 November 1974, and not at the Odeon. His biggest hits during this decade included two UK number one singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975). He also appeared in Stardust, a 1974 sequel to That'll Be the Day. The title song was another Top 10 hit. In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song "Yesterday" for the musical documentary All This and World War II.

Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base, and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania. According to The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, he was voted the number one British male vocalist in 1974, and was a teen idol for more than a decade.