On This Day 01/05/2005 Tears For Fears

On this day, 1 May 2005, rock band Tears For Fears played Cardiff International Arena in support of their latest album “Everybody Loves A Happy Ending”. Special guests were Gledhill.

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was the bands sixth studio album, released on 14 September 2004 in the United States and on 7 March 2005 in the United Kingdom and Europe.

The album marked Tears for Fears' comeback following a hiatus in the late 1990s, as well as the return of founding member Curt Smith. However, it performed modestly on the UK and US music charts compared to the band's previous records. The band focused primarily on touring in the years following Everybody Loves a Happy Ending's release, with a follow-up album not being completed until nearly eighteen years later.

On This Day 22/04/2002 Simple Minds

On this day, 22 April 2002, Scottish rock band Simple Minds played Cardiff International Arena on their "The Floating World Tour" support was provided by The Real People.

The band had recently released their 13th studio album Cry, which peaked at #80 in the UK album charts.

The Floating World Tour (named after the last track of the Cry album) saw the return of Mel Gaynor and Our Secrets Are The Same session player Eddie Duffy (who’d also appeared on stage with the Minds at the Scotland Rocks For Kosovo benefit concert). The keyboard position was filled by Andy Gillespie, who quickly won fans over with his knowledge of the Minds’ back catalogue and preference for Mick MacNeil's samples and playing style.

Main Set: New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) / I Travel / One Step Closer / Up On The Catwalk / Big Sleep / Speed Your Love To Me / The American / Love Song / See The Lights / Glittering Prize / Ghostdancing / Spaceface / This Is Your Land / Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) / Belfast Child - Waterfront

Encore: She's A River / Cry / Don't You (Forget About Me)

Encore: Let There Be Love / Dead Vandals / Sanctify Yourself / Alive And Kicking

Line-up: Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mel Gaynor, Eddie Duffy, and Andy Gillespie.

On This Day 13/03/2001 The Divine Comedy

On this day, 13 March 2001, pop band The Divine Comedy played Cardiff University. Formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon, the band were promoting their seventh studio album Regeneration.

Produced by Nigel Godrich, known for his work with Radiohead, this album is distinctly different from frontman Neil Hannon's other work and was darker in tone than what the Divine Comedy's listeners had come to expect. It eschewed the orchestral-driven chamber pop the band was known for in favor of a more stripped down, guitar-focused style, slightly reminiscent of the band's debut album Fanfare for the Comic Muse. It is a more group-concentrated effort, hence the more organic sound.

South Wales Argus

Setlist

Timestretched

Bad Ambassador

Tonight We Fly

Dumb It Down

Lost Property

Your Daddy's Car

Life on Earth

Love What You Do

Note to Self

Sweden

Eye of the Needle

Mastermind

Lucy

Perfect Lovesong

Regeneration

Encore:

National Express

Becoming More Like Alfie

Generation Sex

The Beauty Regime

On This Day 28/09/2004 The Music

On this day, 28 September 2004, alternative rock band The Music played Cardiff University on their Welcome To The North tour.

Formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the release of their self-titled debut album in 2002. The band released two further studio albums, Welcome to the North (2004) and Strength in Numbers (2008), before parting ways in 2011.

Welcome to the North received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom commented on the production and song quality, while others highlighted the array of musical styles. The album reached number eight in the UK Albums Chart; it reached the top 30 in both Japan and Australia, as well as the lower reaches of the Irish and French charts. "Freedom Fighters" peaked within the top 20 of the UK, in addition to charting in the Netherlands and the US. "Breakin'" reached a similar position in the UK, alongside charting in Australia and the US. Welcome to the North was certified silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry a few days after release, and later went gold in early 2005.

On This Day 25/09/2007 Incubus

On this day, 25 September 2007, American rock band Incubus played Cardiff International Arena on their 2007 World Tour.

Las Vegas Weekly said that Incubus was a "funky, jazzy, experimental rock band, incorporating elements of hip-hop into its music before it was fashionable to do so." According to AllMusic, the band became "one of the most popular alt-metal bands of the new millennium" by combining heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, techno, post-grunge, rap metal and alternative rock into a "versatile blend". The Age wrote that Incubus "emerged bearing influences of pop, alternative metal and hip-hop, unusual for mainstream rock bands". Indianapolis Monthly said that the band was "part metal, part funk, part jazz and part hip-hop".The McClatchy-Tribune News called Incubus a "spacey, experimental alternative-rock band". Rolling Stone said that the band were latecomers to "the great funk metal scare of the '90s". The Los Angeles Times similarly wrote in 2004 that "Incubus always stood out from the rest of the mid-'90s alt-metal crowd, its positive lyrical approach and musical versatility far richer than the overworked wallowing in misery of such acts as Korn and later arrival Staind."

Prior to finding mainstream success in the early 2000s, Incubus was often grouped in with nu metal, alongside other Californian bands such as Korn and Deftones. NME described Incubus as a "fusion-generated funk/nu-metal band". Maui Time Weekly wrote, "Incubus was one of the few nu metal bands to survive the purge of the millennium, and they did it through consistent hard work–the band is constantly either in the studio or on tour–and musical development.

Setlist

Quicksand

A Kiss to Send Us Off

Wish You Were Here

Anna Molly

Pistola

Blood on the Ground

Southern Girl

Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)

Megalomaniac

Drive

Sick Sad Little World

Oil and Water

Nice to Know You

Encore:

Favorite Things

Clean

Aqueous Transmission

(Mike Einziger on Pipa)

On This Day 24/09/2005 The Dead 60s

On this day, 24 September 2005, Liverpool Ska punk band The Dead 60s played Cardiff International Arena in support of the Stereophonics.

The band's sound is a mixture of punk rock, ska, dub and reggae. They have taken influences from artists such as King Tubby, Jackie Mittoo, Gang of Four and A Certain Ratio.

The Dead 60s released their debut album in the US on 31 May 2005 and in the UK on 26 September 2005. It was recorded at the Ranch Studios and Parr St Studios. The album was produced by Central Nervous System and remixed by Mike Hedges.

The band toured throughout Europe, Japan and the US in support of the record. In the US, they toured as part of the Vans Warped Tour as well as in support of artists such as Garbage, The Bravery and Social Distortion. They also played on the bill of both the Lollapalooza Festival and the KROQ Weenie Roast. The band experienced success in the US, where their song "Riot Radio" became the third most added song at Alternative Radio behind White Stripes and Coldplay.

The band were scheduled to open The Other Stage at Glastonbury on 24 June 2005, but before their set could begin the stage was hit by lightning and their performance was cancelled. The band continued to tour throughout 2005 and 2006, playing various festivals in the US, UK, Europe and Japan.

On This Day 22/09/2002 Hell Is For Heroes

On this day, 22 September 2002, London post-hardcore band Hell Is For Heroes played Cardiff’s Barfly.

Will McGonagle and Joe Birch were previously in the British band Symposium. Their final release was in 1999 and, by the end of 2000, due to personal and musical differences, and problems with their record label, they had split up. Before long they joined up with their former school friends, James Findlay and Tom O'Donoghue, to form what would become with Hell is for Heroes, but they still lacked a lead singer. Justin Schlosberg was recruited through mutual friends.

In January 2001, they had performed their first gig at The Half Moon in Putney, London. In March that year they toured as support for Sunna, along with Biffy Clyro, and at the end of that tour they had recruited a loyal fan base which meant the band caught the attention of major record labels. In July 2001, they signed with EMI. It took all that year before Hell Is for Heroes released their debut single on Superior Quality Recordings. It was a double A-side, featuring two songs that would later appear on their debut album, "Sick/Happy" and "Cut Down".

The band next released "You Drove Me To It" with the B-sides "Things Fall Apart" and "Kill the Silence" in January 2002. That year saw the release of two more singles, "I Can Climb Mountains" and "Nightvision". The latter track included "Folded Paper Figures" on the B-side, which became popular with their fanbase, and was later re-recorded and used on their second album.

Hell Is for Heroes released their debut album in February 2003 on EMI. The Neon Handshake was produced and recorded in Los Angeles at Sound City Studios and mixed in Umeå, Sweden at Tonteknik by Pelle Henricsson and Eskil Lövström. The band's A&R was managed by Duncan Illing. The band and their A&R left EMI in 2004. The band released its second album Transmit Disrupt independently, before signing a deal with Burning Heart Records, who subsequently re-released it in 2006. Their final self-titled album was released through Golf Records in 2007.

Their debut album was voted the 58th best British rock album ever, by the readers of Kerrang! magazine in the 19 February 2005 issue.

On This Day 06/09/2007 Future Of The Left

On this day, 6 September 2007, alternative rock band Future of the Left played Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach. The band were about to release their debut album Curses !

Future of the Left formed in mid-2005 after the bands Mclusky and Jarcrew both split up within two months of each other at the beginning of the year. The new group was formed by singer/guitarist Andy "Falco" Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone, both previously of Mclusky, alongside singer/bassist Kelson Mathias and bassist Hywel Evans, both formerly of Jarcrew. Evans quickly moved on to start a math rock band, Truckers of Husk.

Future of the Left's first performances were secret gigs using aliases such as "Guerilla Press" and "Dead Redneck" to avoid the concert being attended by large numbers of expectant Mclusky and Jarcrew fans. Their very first show was at Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff on 2 July 2006, under the alias "the Mooks of Passim". The first official headline show (and the first show the band played under the name Future of the Left) was played in Camden Barfly to a capacity crowd on 1 September 2006.

In late 2006 the trio were signed to Too Pure, who had also signed Mclusky and when Too Pure disbanded the band transferred to 4AD.

Their debut album, Curses, was released on 24 September 2007 in the UK and 1 October in Japan. A surprise to some fans of Jarcrew and Mclusky was the band's occasional move towards songs with a synthesizer (a Roland Juno-60) in favour of Falco's guitar. On the whole, fans and critics responded to the change positively.