On This Day 27/05/1999 Kenny Rogers

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On this day, 27 May 1999, American country music legend Kenny Rogers, played Cardiff International Arena.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences, but also charted more than 120 hit singles across various genres, topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his lifetime, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His fame and career spanned multiple genres - jazz, folk, pop, rock, and country. He remade his career and was one of the most successful cross-over artists of all time.

Review - South Wales Echo

Review - Cynon Valley Leader

In 1999, Rogers scored with the single "The Greatest", a song about life from a child's point of view (looked at through a baseball game). The song reached the top 40 of Billboard's Country Singles chart and was a Country Music Television number-one video. It was on Rogers's album She Rides Wild Horses the following year (itself a top-10 success). Also in 1999, Rogers produced a song, "We've Got It All", specifically for the series finale of the ABC show Home Improvement.

On This Day 23/05/2010 John Mayer

On this day, 23 May 2010, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Mayer played Cardiff International Arena on his Battle Studies World Tour. Support was provided by Ellie Goulding.

Battle Studies is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mayer, released on November 17, 2009, by Columbia Records. Production took place from February to August 2009 at Battle Studies recording studio in Calabasas, California, Capitol Studios in Hollywood, and The Village in West Los Angeles, California, and was handled by Mayer and Steve Jordan.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over 286,000 copies in its first week of sales. It achieved successful sales in several other countries and produced two singles that attained chart success. Battle Studies received positive reviews from critics, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, having sold over 880,000 copies in the United States.

Setlist

Assassin

No Such Thing

Vultures

(John Mayer Trio song)

Waiting on the World to Change

Perfectly Lonely

Stop This Train

Neon

All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye

Belief

Who Says

Heartbreak Warfare

Half of My Heart

Encore:

Message in a Bottle

(The Police cover)

Why Georgia

On This Day 01/04/2005 Tears For Fears

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On this day, 1 May 2005, rock band Tears For Fears played Cardiff International Arena on their Everybody Loves A Happy Ending Tour.

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending is the sixth studio album by English pop rock band Tears for Fears, 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.

Setlist

Intro - Famous Last Words

Secret World

Call Me Mellow

Who You Are

Sowing the Seeds of Love

Who Killed Tangerine?

Pale Shelter

Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

The Devil

Mad World

Quiet Ones

Size of Sorrow

Snow Hill

(Curt Smith song)

Closest Thing to Heaven

Break It Down Again

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Head Over Heels

Woman in Chains

Shout

On This Day 08/04/1997 Eternal

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On this day, 8 April 1997, R’n’B girl band Eternal played Cardiff International Arena on their Before The Rain tour.

formed in 1992, with the line-up originally consisting of sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett, with Kéllé Bryan and the latter's friend and classmate Louise Nurding (later and better known as Louise Redknapp), who were also recruited into the group by the label.

The group became an international success, selling around 10 million records worldwide. Nurding left the group before the release of their second album to focus on her solo career with the same label.

Following Nurding's departure, the group decided not to replace her and carried on as a trio. Power of a Woman was the first album as a trio, and entered the UK chart at number six. It produced four hit singles, "Power of a Woman", "I Am Blessed" (which they performed for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1995), a remixed version of "Good Thing" and a remixed version of "Secrets". All continued Eternal's tally of Top 10 UK hits.

In 1997, Eternal achieved their first ever UK number one, a duet with BeBe Winans, "I Wanna Be the Only One", which became the second most played song on UK Radio in 1997, and stayed at the top spot for one week. It was taken from their third album Before the Rain, which also included "Don't You Love Me". The album peaked at number three in the UK.

Eternal's Greatest Hits package was released in the latter part of 1997, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart and becoming the highest-selling hits package of the year. In 2013, Eternal's Greatest Hits was confirmed as being the biggest selling best-of album by a girl group in the UK. It featured their last top-10 single "Angel of Mine", which reached number four. "Angel of Mine" became an EP that featured four different mixes, including a remix by veteran party producer Frankie Cutlass and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's track "Dreams" featuring Grand Puba and Sadat X.

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

On This Day 26/03/2007 Faithless

On this day, 26 March 2007, dance music band Faithless played Cardiff International Arena on their To All New Arrivals tour.

To All New Arrivals was the bands 5th studio album and was created after the positive response to the Faithless Greatest Hits tour, originally described as their "final tour".

The album was released on 27 November 2006, a week after the single "Bombs". The title for the album was inspired by the recent birth of two babies to band members Rollo and Sister Bliss. The album cover features the 1880 oil painting, Nightfall on the Thames, by John Atkinson Grimshaw.

The album was supported by a tour of all of the United Kingdom's major arenas, which began in Nottinghamon 17 March 2007. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 30 for the week ending 3 December 2006. Given that their previous studio album, No Roots, entered the charts at number 1, this position was seen as a disappointment.

Lead singer Maxi Jazz loved the title, partly due to his Buddhist faith and partly due to his parents being new arrivals to the UK in the 1950s.

The track "Spiders, Crocodiles & Kryptonite" features the vocals of Robert Smith of English rock band The Cure, as well as a sample and a section of arrangement from The Cure hit "Lullaby".

Unlike the original versions of Faithless' previous studio albums, initially this album was not released in the United States.

On This Day 22/03/2007 Lionel Richie

On this day, 22 March 2007, American singer/songwriter and Grammy/Oscar winner Lionel Richie played Cardiff International Arena on his Coming Home World Tour.

Coming Home is the eighth studio album by American singer Lionel Richie. It was released by The Island Def Jam Music Group on September 12, 2006 in the United States. A breakaway from his previous albums and their adult contemporary sounds, Richie and executive producer Antonio "L.A." Reid recruited a number of sought-after producers and songwriters from the contemporary R&B and hip-hop genres to work with him on the album, including Dallas Austin, Jerry Duplessis, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Garrett, Wyclef Jean, Rodney Jerkins, and Norwegian duo Stargate.

The album earned a generally mixed reception from music critics, who either complimented or dismissed Richie's decision to update his sound. In the United States, Coming Home debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, becoming his biggest hit album since 1986's Dancing on the Ceiling, while selling up to 449,000 copies.

On This Day 14/03/1997 Jimmy Nail

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On this day, 14 March 1997, singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer Jimmy Nail played Cardiff International Arena on his Crocodile Shoes tour. Support was provided by Christie Henessey.

Before becoming an actor, Nail had been a musician for many years on the local scene in Newcastle and was most notably the lead singer in the King Crabs, known locally as The Crabs. He was renowned for performing in his girlfriend's dress and a pair of Doc Marten boots.

Following his success in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, record companies became interested in Nail releasing a record. In 1985, he recorded the album, Take It Or Leave It, which included the single, "Love Don't Live Here Anymore", a cover of the Rose Royce hit. It was a hit for Nail, peaking at No. 3 in the charts and leading to his first appearance on Top of the Pops. After that success, his music career took a back seat.

After seven years away, Nail re-emerged in 1992 with the pop hit Ain't No Doubt, co-written by Nail, Danny Schogger, Guy Pratt and Charlie Dore. It peaked at No. 1 and spent three weeks at the top of the charts, leading to multiple appearances on Top of the Pops. The album, Growing Up In Public, was also a success and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Album Charts. The album featured guests such as Gary Moore, David Gilmour, Elliot Randall and George Harrison.

Nail's music career took off, and his third album, Crocodile Shoes, was released in conjunction with the television programme, Crocodile Shoes, which began airing on BBC1 in November 1994. Not only was the title track a hit, peaking at No. 4, further singles, "Cowboy Dreams" and "Calling Out Your Name" also hit the charts, with the album itself peaking at No. 2, selling over a million copies.

In 1997, Nail's back catalogue was deemed good enough to release a compilation, The Nail File: The Best of Jimmy Nail, which also had an accompanying VHS which included all the music videos for the tracks. While it included all the hits from his career, it included a new track, a cover of "Black and White", where he duetted with Ranking Roger. It was released as a single and peaked at No. 76.