On This Day 22/05/2007 Nas

On this day, 22 May 2007, American rapper and entrepreneur Nas played Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor University on his Hip Hop is Dead tour 2007.

Hip Hop Is Dead is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 19, 2006, on Def Jam Recordings.

His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def Jam. The album's title was inspired by Nas's view of the music industry and the state of hip hop music at the time.

The album features appearances from Nas's then-wife Kelis, Def Jam label-mates Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Chrisette Michele, as well as will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and The Game, among others.

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 355,880 copies in its first week. His fourth U.S. number-one album, it had sold 785,000 copies by March 2014, eventually over time it went gold by the RIAA. Upon its release, Hip Hop Is Dead received generally positive reviews from most music critics.

Hip Hop Is Dead was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Graduation at the 50th Grammy Awards.

On This Day 21/05/2006 The Zutons

On this day, 21 May 2006, Liverpool indie rock band The Zutons, played Cardiff University. The band had recently released their second album Tired Of Hanging Around.

Musically, the sound of Tired of Hanging Around has been described as Northern soul,rock and indie pop. Pete Cashmore of NME said the songs could be divided into two sets: "'feeling threatened' and 'being threatening'. The former camp houses the melodically gorgeous," such as "Tired of Hanging Around" and "Someone Watching Over Me". The second group, meanwhile, featured "Oh Stacey (Look What You've Done!)" and "You've Got a Friend in Me". The Guardian writer Mat Snow said the Zutons' "stylistic palette has moved on to 1972 (imagine early Roxy Music without [Bryan] Ferry or [Brian] Eno); the drums have punch, the instrumental textures a rounded warmth, and the band work hard to accentuate the songs with telling detail and ear-catching hooks".

The Zutons formed in Liverpool in 2001, taking their name from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo. McCabe had previously been in the band Tramp Attack. Both Pritchard and Payne were members of Edgar Jones' post Stairs band The Big Kids (with Sean's brother Howie Payne of The Stands). The band was originally a four-piece, before Payne's girlfriend Abi Harding began joining The Zutons on stage for a couple of songs mid-set, playing simple saxophone lines. The other band members liked the way her saxophone enhanced their sound and Harding became a full member, contributing vocals and sax.

Deltasonic head Alan Wills was initially dubious about the musical talents of McCabe: "I'd heard other bands Jay had played in and I thought they were all rubbish". The Coral's James Skelly was persistent in trying to convince Wills of his friend's potential and the breakthrough finally came when the bedroom demos of the newly formed Zutons persuaded the Deltasonic head into working with them.

On This Day 17/05/2006 The Kooks

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On this day, 17 May 2006, indie rock band Kooks played Cardiff University.

Following their first tour supporting the Thrills, the Kooks recorded their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, at Konk studios in London in 2005. Though media attention was dominated by the release of the Arctic Monkeys debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not on the same day, Inside In/Inside Out recorded first week sales of 19,098.

Later, speaking to NME, Pritchard thanked the Arctic Monkeys for "shielding" The Kooks from the press' scrutiny. "God bless the Arctic Monkeys because if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have been so shielded. We were so overshadowed by the success of Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not because it was so monster and we crept in behind everybody's back."

Entering the UK Albums Chart at number nine, it would eventually peak at number 2 for two weeks. Singles "Eddie's Gun", "Sofa Song", "You Don't Love Me", "Naïve", "She Moves in Her Own Way" and "Ooh La" achieved chart success in the UK and Europe, while "Naïve" and "She Moves in Her Own Way" put The Kooks in the top ten for the first time.

Kev Kharas, in his review for Drowned in Sound, viewed the Kooks as "a less irreverent and more melodic Art Brut, swapping that band's caustic wit for a far nicer type of honesty."[18] Kharas also noted traces of "emo" in the band's style. AllMusic's Tim Sendra noted that the band's direction was "heavily indebted to classic rock", in particular Thin Lizzy and the Dexys, ultimately though Sendra felt "the band sounds like the Kooks and no one else".

Calling the Kooks "an important reminder that there are just as many mediocre bands in the UK as there are in the United States" reviewer Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone claimed the album was "utterly forgettable, shoddily produced retro rock that at its worst sounds like a Brighton-accented version of the Spin Doctors". Brian Belardi of Prefix gave a positive review, describing Inside In/Inside Out as "An almost-perfect blend of '60s-style Britpop, '90s-style Britpop, and the post-punk of the new millennium".

The album went on to be certified quadruple platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry within a year and certified platinum across Europe by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

The success of their debut album brought the band into mainstream media attention, winning the award for best UK and Ireland act at the MTV Awards in 2006 and picking up a Brit Awards nomination for "She Moves in Her Own Way", in 2007.

On This Day 27/04/2005 Martha Wainwright

On this day, 27 April 2005, Montreal singer /songwriter and musician Martha Wainwright played Cardiff’s Barfly. She had just released her self-titled debut album. Support was provided by Jonathan Rice.

Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger sister of singer–composer Rufus Wainwright.

The album earned Wainwright a nomination for New Artist of the Year at the 2006 Juno Awards. The album also reached number 43 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.

Her debut album featured contributions from her mother, Kate McGarrigle, her brother, Rufus Wainwright, her cousin, Lily Lanken, as well as organ and saxophone from Garth Hudson of The Band. Pitchfork wrote that the album "proves Martha Wainwright has a strong, distinct, fully formed musical identity, which would be just as impressive by any other name."

On This Day 22/04/2005 The D4

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On this day, 22 April 2005, New Zealand rock band The D-4 played Cardiff’s Barfly. Support was provided by The Caves and the Little Unknown.

The group was assembled by vocalist/guitarists Dion Palmer and Jimmy Christmas, who put together a collection of songs and built a four-piece combo, featuring founding members English Jake and Rich Mixture, during late 1998 and started playing at the Frisbee Leisure Lounge parties along Symonds Street, followed shortly thereafter by inner city pub gigs. They have also played at the Big Day Out and at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

The group's debut EP was released by Flying Nun Records in 1999 featuring the tracks "Girl" and "Come On!". The band was later enhanced by members Vaughan Williams (Vaughn) (bass) and Daniel Pooley (Beaver) (drums). The D4 went on a UK tour supporting The Hives.

As of May 2006, Breakfast announced that after eight years, the D4, would be taking an indefinite break from the music industry. After the split, Rich Mixture went on to replace Paul Robertson as the drummer of The Rock n Roll Machine, bassist Vaughn joined Shocking Pinks, an Auckland-based indie pop act and Jimmy Christmas formed the rock group Luger Boa who have supported Shihad on tour. Most recently, Dion has moved to NYC, formed a new band called The True Lovers and also plays bass in A Place to Bury Strangers.

On This Day 20/04/2000 Coldplay

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On this day, 20 April 2000, rock band Coldplay played Cardiff University on their Parachutes tour co-headlining with Welsh band Terris. The band were about to release their debut album Parachutes.

The album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson, except for one track, "High Speed", which was produced by Chris Allison. Parachutes spawned the singles "Shiver", "Yellow", and "Trouble", with a limited European release of "Don't Panic". The album was also supported by the Parachutes Tour, which saw the band performing 131 shows in their first world tour.

The album was a commercial success and was met with positive reviews from critics. Upon release, it quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom and has since been certified 9× Platinum. In the United States, the album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 and eventually was certified double platinum.

It won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2002, the British Album of the Year award at the 2001 Brit Awards, and many other accolades. Parachutes is also the 22nd-best-selling album of the 21st century in the United Kingdom. As of 2020, it has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Melody Maker hailed Parachutes as a "masterpiece" and "a defining musical statement of 2000", while James Oldham of Uncut felt that the album "more than justifies the plaudits heaped upon [the band] by the weekly music press". The Guardian described the album as "one of the year's most uplifting albums", adding that it features "elegant songs, classic guitars and gorgeous singing".

While noting that Parachutes "brings nothing new to the table" and that its "musical reference points are immediately recognizable and difficult to overlook", Billboard stated that the band "seems talented enough to transcend this early identity crisis." Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone opined that the album "ultimately rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence".

On This Day 18/04/2007 Drowning Pool

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On this day, 18 April 2007, American rock band Drowning Pool played Cardiff’s Cardiff University on their Full Circle tour.

Drowning Pool rose to fame with their debut album and played at the Ozzfest in 2001. Their 2001 debut album Sinner was certified platinum within six weeks. A number of songs from the album were featured at various WWE events that year, and three tracks would be included on the soundtrack for the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge in early 2002.

On August 14 that year, Dave Williams was found dead inside his tour bus. He died from an undiagnosed heart condition, now known to be hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When asked if the band had any unreleased songs, according to a 2002 Blabbermouth article, drummer Mike Luce replied that "only 3-4 songs were done, including one called "Heroes," which is a tribute to dead rock musicians such as Layne Staley. I don't know if we will ever release them."

In 2003, Jason 'Gong' Jones replaced Williams as Drowning Pool's vocalist and the band released the album Desensitized in 2004. Despite the success of the album's lead single, "Step Up", the album was not nearly as successful as Sinner, and it was publicly announced on June 14, 2005, that Jones had departed from the band, due to "irreconcilable differences".

The band announced that their replacement singer would be formally announced at Ozzfest in Dallas, where the band did a one-off performance on the main stage. On July 20, 2005, the website SMNNews revealed that Ryan McCombs, then former singer of SOiL, was the new vocalist. The band initially wanted McCombs to join Drowning Pool as the replacement of Dave Williams, nearly two years prior.

The band's third album, Full Circle, was released on August 7, 2007. Two songs on the album were produced by Funny Farm Records, owned by Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba. The remaining songs were produced by Ben Schigel at the Ohio-based Spider Studios.

On This Day 05/04/2009 The Prodigy

On this day, 5 April 2009, electronic/dance band The Prodigy played Cardiff International Arena on their Invaders Must Die tour. Support was provided by Dizzee Rascal.

On 5 November 2008, it was announced that the band's fifth studio album would be called Invaders Must Die and would be released on the band's new label, Take Me to the Hospital. It was released in the U.S. on 3 March 2009, and was the first Prodigy album since 1997's The Fat of the Land to feature all three members of the band.

The album featured Dave Grohl on drums for "Run with the Wolves". The top five hit "Omen" and "Invaders Must Die" were co-produced with Does It Offend You, Yeah? frontman James Rushent. The band said that the album would go back to their "old-school but cutting edge" roots.[citation needed] The album was released as a CD, CD-DVD set, double vinyl, digital download, and a luxury 7-inch vinyl box set including five 7-inches, CD-DVD, bonus CD, poster, stickers, and stencils.

Invaders Must Die was released on 21 February 2009 in Australia and in Europe on 23 February 2009, charting at number one in the U.K. with week one sales of over 97,000—a higher figure than for either Always Outnumbered or their singles collection. The album also reached the top five in Germany and Australia and top 10 in Norway and several other European countries.

To coincide with the release of the album, the band embarked on a nine-date UK arena tour, with support from Dizzee Rascal, Noisia, Herve, and DJ Kissy Sell Out. The tour included the first edition of the band's own annual dance gig, the Warriors Dance Festival. The single "Omen" debuted at number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart the week of 25 February 2009 and won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.

The initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was somewhat mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews.[66] However, the album was well received by the fans, who welcomed it in a positive light compared to Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.

Setlist

Invaders Must Die

(Intro)

World's on Fire

Their Law

Breathe

Breathe

(Dubstep Mix)

Omen

No Good (Start the Dance)

Poison

Warrior's Dance

Firestarter

Action Radar

(Link)

Run With the Wolves

Voodoo People

Death of the Prodigy Dancers

Comanche

Encore:

Omen (Reprise)

Invaders Must Die

Diesel Power

(Beats)

Smack My Bitch Up

Take Me to the Hospital

Out of Space