On This Day 07/05/2009 Radio Moscow

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On this day, 7 May 2009, American psychedelic rock band Radio Moscow played The Globe in Cardiff. The band had just released their second album Brain Cycles.

Radio Moscow are often compared stylistically to blues rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly fellow power trios like Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, or rock bands with heavy rhythm sections like Pretty Things, The Who and Blue Cheer.

Reviewing the band's self-titled album for music website AllMusic, Greg Prato described the group's sound as "a throwback to the classic rock of the '70s", comparing certain songs to artists such as Ram Jam, The Allman Brothers Band and The Jeff Beck Group. Following the release of Brain Cycles, Radio Moscow have also been cited as an example of the stoner rock genre.

Formed in 2003, the band currently features singer-guitarist Parker Griggs, bassist Anthony Meier and drummer Paul Marrone. Signed to Alive Naturalsound Records, the trio has released five full-length albums as of June 2017.

Prior to the formation of the band, Parker Griggs recorded under the solo alias Garbage Composal.[2] After completing an album's worth of material, Griggs enlisted bassist Serana Rose to form Radio Moscow, and the duo relocated to Colorado.

Following a show, Griggs got a demo into the hands of The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, who then helped in getting Radio Moscow signed to Alive Naturalsound Records. During this time, Parker recorded the contents of 3 & 3 Quarters which was eventually released in 2012 under Radio Moscow. The album is predominantly Garage Rock, with all instruments handled by Griggs.

On This Day 03/05/2011 Skindred

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On this day, 3 May 2011, Welsh band Skindred played Cardiff University on their Union Black tour. Skindred fuse heavy metal, reggae, punk, hip hop and electronica influences to create a unique style and sound. The band has previously referred to this style as "Ragga metal". Benji Webbe has also jokingly referred to the band's musical style as "nu-reggae", in reference to the term nu metal

Formed in Newport in 1998, they are well known for their energetic and involving live performances and have won several awards including "Best Live Band" at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the "Devotion Award" at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards.

The band's fourth studio album, Union Black, was released 25 April 2011 exclusively to the UK and Europe. On 1 July, it was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The band promoted this with a UK tour, supported by American post-hardcore group Chiodos and Blackpool band Me Vs Hero.

The London show was filmed for Scuzz TV in the UK. Skindred also played at several major European festivals including Download Festival on the Acoustic Stage (Friday) and Main Stage (Saturday), Boardmasters Festival, Wacken Open Air, Przystanek Woodstock and Sonisphere Festival in Spain and Switzerland,[14] the Swiss leg of Sonisphere being notable for the first live performance of Warning with Jacoby Shaddix, whose band Papa Roach was also performing at Sonisphere in Switzerland.

Setlist

Bruises

Roots Rock Riot

Set It Off

Rude Boy for Life

Doom Riff

State of Emergency

Trouble

Calling All Stations

Living a Lie

Selector

Cut Dem

Rat Race

The Fear

Guntalk

Destroy the Dancefloor

Nobody

Encore:

Stand for Something

Pressure

Warning

On This Day 01/05/2009 NOFX

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On this day, 1 May 2009, American punk rock band NOFX played Cardiff University.

The band had just released their eleventh studio album Coaster on April 28 2009. To promote the album's release, the band went on a tour of Europe with the Flatliners; Snuff appeared on three of the shows.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every release by the band, although Sandin departed briefly in 1985, only to rejoin the following year. El Hefe joined the band in 1991 to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the best-known iteration of the lineup.

NOFX's mainstream success coincided with increased interest in punk rock during the 1990s; unlike many of their contemporaries, however, they have never been signed to a major label. NOFX has released fifteen studio albums, sixteen extended plays and a number of 7" singles.

The band rose to popularity with their fifth studio album Punk in Drublic (1994), which is their only release to receive gold certification by the RIAA. Their final studio album, Double Album, was released on December 2, 2022. The group has sold over eight million records worldwide, making them one of the most successful independent bands ever. In 2008, NOFX broadcast their own show on Fuse TV entitled NOFX: Backstage Passport.

On This Day 30/04/2006 Ordinary Boys

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On this day, 30 April 2006, indie rock band Ordinary Boys played Cardiff University.

Originally a hardcore outfit named Next in Line, they are influenced by punk rock and Britpop music, as well as the bands the Clash, the Specials, the Jam, the Kinks and the Smiths. Their name derives from a Morrissey song, "The Ordinary Boys".

In 2004, the Ordinary Boys released their debut album Over the Counter Culture preceded by the single "Maybe Someday". The title track "Over the Counter Culture" was featured on the soundtrack for the video game Burnout 3: Takedown. In support of the album, they embarked on tours supported by the Kaiser Chiefs, the Cribs and Hard-Fi.

In 2005, they released their second album Brassbound along with the single "Boys Will Be Boys". The single become a hit the following year, when the band's popularity grew while Preston participated in Celebrity Big Brother UK. During this time, "Boys Will Be Boys" was re-released and reached no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and no. 1 on the UK Download Chart. That year, Simon Gold-ring replaced original drummer Charlie Stanley.

Following this, they released singles "Nine2Five" and "Lonely at the Top" to further top 10 success. In October 2006, they released their third album, How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Ten Easy Steps, which marked a change of sound, with more of a commercial pop feel, featuring synthesisers and samples. "I Luv U" was released as the final single from the album and became their fourth consecutive top 10 hit.

Yahoo! UK reported that "The Ordinary Boys" was the fourth most searched for keyword of 2006 in their annual top ten search results.

The song "Boys Will Be Boys" featured in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The band was also referenced in the episode "Smoke and Mirrors" from the second series of The IT Crowd.

On This Day 28/04/2004 Duran Duran

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On this day, 28 April 2004, 80’s pop band Duran Duran played Cardiff International Arena on their Reunion tour.

Duran Duran celebrated their homecoming to the UK on their Reunion tour with fourteen stadium dates in April 2004, including five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena. The British press, traditionally hostile to the band, accorded the shows some very warm reviews. Duran Duran brought along band Goldfrapp and the Scissor Sisters as alternating opening acts for this tour. The last two shows were filmed, resulting in the concert DVD Duran Duran: Live from London which was released in November.

Formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.

According to Billboard, Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records. They achieved 30 top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart (14 of them top 10) and 21 top 40 singles in the US Billboard Hot 100. The band have won numerous awards throughout their career: two Brit Awards including the 2004 award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, two Grammy Awards, an MTV Video Music Award for Lifetime Achievement and a Video Visionary Award from the MTV Europe Music Awards. They were also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Setlist

(Reach Up for the) Sunrise

Hungry Like the Wolf

Is There Something I Should Know?

Union of the Snake

Come Undone

A View to a Kill

What Happens Tomorrow

The Chauffeur

Planet Earth

I Don't Want Your Love

Tiger Tiger

Night Boat

Beautiful Colours

Ordinary World

Save a Prayer

Notorious

The Reflex

Careless Memories

The Wild Boys

Encore:

White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

(Grandmaster Melle Mel cover)

Girls on Film

Rio

On This Day 23/04/2004 Magenta

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On this day, 23 April 2004, Welsh progressive rock band Magenta played The Point, Cardiff.

Formed in 1999 by ex-Cyan member Rob Reed. Reed takes his influences from artists such as Renaissance, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Yes, Eurythmics and Björk.

Although heavily influenced by progressive rock, Reed is a professional songwriter and has done many other projects for both film and television. The most successful of these projects was called Trippa, featuring Christina Booth on vocals and Rob Reed on guitars and keyboards. Reed asked Christina to be lead vocalist for a progressive rock project he had in mind, and the initial ideas for Magenta were born. Booth previously was guest on a number of Cyan albums providing backing vocals.

In late 1999, Reed started writing for what would become Magenta's debut release, Revolutions. Reed wanted to do something new, bigger and more conceptual. "Current prog bands are always scared and shy about admitting the influences of the great bands of the 70's, and I wanted to come clean and admit and celebrate those influences, and hopefully create something as worthwhile as those classic bands" said Reed. "To do this, all I had to do was to give priority to melody rather than technical showmanship, something I have always tried to do with all my work." Revolutions was named "Best New Album" in 2001 by Musical Discoveries, an online resource for female vocalists in the music industry.

Magenta's second album, Seven was released in March 2004 and sold out of its first pressing within four weeks. The band's first single, "Broken" was released in June 2004 – from the EP Broken. While shorter than any of the epic tracks on Seven, Broken retains the classic prog rock sound of Magenta, with a slightly more modern edge.

In 2004, Magenta received the Classic Rock Society Award for "Best Female Vocalist" and "Best Live Band". The Classic Rock Society (CRS) honours groups or artists who are popular with the public, but whose music remains unpublicised by national media and radio station programmers. Other past contributors and recipients have included Pallas, IQ, Spock's Beard, Flower Kings, Mostly Autumn, Karnataka, Pendragon and many others from the progressive rock genre.

On The Day 20/04/2004 Tim Booth

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On this day, 20 April 2004, former James frontman Tim Booth played Cardiff’s Engine Rooms.

He is the lead singer and co-founder of the indie rock band James, and co-wrote several of their hit singles including "Sit Down", "Come Home", and "Laid". As an actor, Booth is also known for portraying Victor Zsasz in the 2005 film Batman Begins.

After a struggle for success and recognition throughout the 1980s, James finally achieved commercial success in the early 1990s with the rise of the Madchester music scene, and their single "Sit Down" reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart

During 1995, Booth took a break from James and recorded an album with film composer Angelo Badalamenti, entitled Booth and the Bad Angel. He then returned to James to complete the recording of the album Whiplash, and stayed with the band until 2001 when he announced his departure to concentrate on other projects.

After leaving James, Booth spent time concentrating on teaching the dance practice known as the 5Rhythms, a movement meditation practice. In 2004, together with record producer Lee Muddy Baker and songwriter KK (Kevin Kerrigan), he released his first solo album, Bone, to general critical acclaim, though he referred to it as a collaborative effort and preferred to credit the album to 'Tim Booth & the Individuals' as opposed to taking sole credit.

On This Day 18/04/2002 Here And Now Tour ABC

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On this day, 18 April 2002, 80’s popsters ABC played Cardiff International Arena as part of an eighties package including Adam Ant, Belinda Carlisle, China Crisis, Howard Jones, Toyah and ex Spandau Ballet bandmates, Tony Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble.

ABC has its roots in Vice Versa, a Sheffield band formed in 1977 by synthesizer players Stephen Singleton and Mark White. Their debut gig was as the support to Wire at the Outlook club in Sheffield. They founded their own label, Neutron Records, releasing the EP Music 4. Martin Fry, who wrote the fanzine Modern Drugs, interviewed Vice Versa and shortly afterwards they asked him to join as synthesizer player. Fry accepted and by late 1980 the band had evolved into ABC, with Fry becoming lead singer.

The band's last day as Vice Versa was at the Futurama 2 Festival in Leeds in September 1980; from then on it performed as ABC, with Singleton playing saxophone and White on guitar and keyboards. In the new year, Singleton and White were joined by Mark Lickley on bass and David Robinson on drums.

The band's first single, "Tears Are Not Enough", made the UK top 20 in 1981. Soon afterwards, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer; Lickley departed shortly thereafter and was not replaced. In 1982, the band released their debut studio album The Lexicon of Love, which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Produced by Trevor Horn, it often featured in UK critics' lists of favourite albums: it ranked 42nd in The Observer Music Monthly's "Top 100 British Albums" (June 2004) and 40th in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums" (June 2000).

The band had three top 10 hits during 1982: the singles "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" (both of which were recorded whilst Mark Lickley was still a member of the band), and "All of My Heart".[5] Several high-concept music videos were made, including the long-form spy pastiche "Mantrap" by Julien Temple.