On This Day 28/2/1993 St Etienne & Pulp

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On this day, 28 Feb 1993, indie rockers Pulp played Cardiff’s Students Union in support of indie pop band St Etienne promoting their Razzmatazz single.

Throughout the 1980s Pulp had struggled to find success, but gained prominence in the UK in the mid-1990s with the release of the albums His 'n' Hers in 1994 and particularly Different Class in 1995, which reached the number one spot in the UK Albums Chart.

During the early 1990s St Etienne enjoyed extensive coverage in UK music weekly papers NME and Melody Maker and gained a reputation as purveyors of "pure pop" in the period immediately prior to the Brit-Pop explosion. So Tough reached No. 7 in the UK Albums Chart.

Their most popular singles of this period were "You're in a Bad Way" and "Join Our Club" (which reached No. 12 and No. 21 in the UK Singles Chart).

On This Day 27/2/2002 Alexander O'Neal

On this day, 27 Feb 2002, American R&B soul legend Alexander O’Neal played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

In a music career spanning more than 40 years, O'Neal is an accomplished R&B and soul singer. O'Neal came to prominence in the middle of the 1980s as a solo artist following the release of his self-titled debut album under the production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

In 2002, he released an album on Eagle Records, Saga of a Married Man, his seventh album with the album produced by former Prince drummer, Bobby Z.

O'Neal was honoured with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.

Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh.

Setlist

Innocent
Love Makes No Sense
What's Missing
A Broken Heart Can Mend
Sunshine
All True Man
If You Were Here Tonight
What Is This Thing Called Love
Criticize
Fake

On This Day 26/2/2002 Biffy Clyro

On this day, 26 Feb 2002, Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro played Cardiff’s Barfly on their Blackened Sky tour.
On 11 March, the band's debut album, Blackened Sky, was released to generally positive reviews. It was around this time that the band began touring extensively, including supporting Weezer.

Setlist

Hope for an Angel
Kill the Old, Torture Their Young
27
Justboy
Convex, Concave
Scary Mary
Hero Management
Unsubtle
57
Stress on the Sky
The Go-Slow

On This Day 25/2/1975 Ralph McTell

On this day, 25 Feb 1975, folk singer/songwriter Ralph McTell played Cardiff University with support provided by Gaye and Terry Woods.
An influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s, McTell had just released his most successful album, entering the UK album chart on 15 February 1975 and remaining there for twelve weeks.

It opens with McTell's hit single, "Streets of London".

The song was McTell's greatest commercial success, reaching No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, at one point selling 90,000 copies a day and winning him the 1974 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically and a Silver disc for record sales.

This was kept out of the high position, by a combination of "Lonely This Christmas" of Mud, and "Down Down" of Status Quo, for two weeks.

n March 2020, Ralph McTell agreed to write another verse to the song, inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic gripping the world at the time. The new verse is as follows:

In shop doorways, under bridges, in all our towns and cities

You can glimpse the makeshift bedding from the corner of your eye

Remember what you're seeing barely hides a human being

We're all in this together, brother, sister, you and I.

Ralph also has a Sense of Humour and showed what a great sport he was with the clip on the Button below

On This Day 24/2/1967 The Yardbirds

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On this day, 24 Feb 1967, Rock legends The Yardbirds played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

Formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist/bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith.

The band is known for starting the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists.

The band only played a handful of shows in the UK in 1967 before heading to Vancouver to begin their fourth tour of North America with Jimmy Page.

Their final album, Little Games, was released in July 1967, again only in the US. It was a commercial and critical non-entity. A cover of Harry Nilsson's "Ten Little Indians" charted briefly in the United States.

The Yardbirds spent much of the rest of that year touring in the US with new manager Peter Grant, their live shows becoming heavier and more experimental.

The band rarely played their 1967 Mickie Most-produced singles on stage, preferring to mix the Beck-era hits with blues standards and experimental psychedelia such as "Glimpses", a Page-written piece from Little Games featuring bowed guitars, pre-recorded noise loops and a hypnotic wah-wah guitar groove.

On This Day 23/2/1986 OMD

On this day, 23 Feb 1986, Liverpool electronic popsters Orchestral Manoeuvres in Dark, played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall as part of their Crush tour with support provided by The Flaming Mussolini’s.

The tour was was originally scheduled for November 1985 but delayed due to touring commitments in the USA.

Crush was the sixth studio album released on 17 June 1985 by Virgin Records.

It was the first of two OMD albums produced by American record producer Stephen Hague.

Aimed primarily at the US market, where the album sold well, Crush is notable for moving the band's sound in a far more commercial direction, although elements of earlier experimentation are still present.

Band
​Andy McCluskey
Paul Humphreys
Malcolm Holmes
Martin Cooper
Graham Weir
Neil Weir

Set list

Crush
The Native Daughters of the Golden West
Messages
Tesla Girls
Secret
Julia's Song
Motion and Heart
White Trash
Talking Loud and Clear
Maid of Orleans
La Femme Accident
Souvenir
So In Love
Telegraph
Locomotion
Enola Gay
Women III
Electricity
She's Leaving

On This Day 23/2/1963 Cliff Richard and The Shadows

On this day, 23 Feb 1963, Cliff Richard and the Shadows played Sophia Gardens Pavilion on the first night of their UK tour in a package that including Patsy Ann Noble, The Vernons Girls,Alan Randall,The Trebletones with Frank Berry the compère.

Both Richard and the Shadows were playing on the back of the success of their film Summer Holiday which had been released the previous month.

The film had its world premiere at the Warner Theatre in London's West End on 10 January 1963. A crowd of 3,000 people turned up to Leicester Square and Cliff Richard was unable to exit his car due to the crowds, so did not attend the opening.

The film was the second most popular movie at the British box office in 1963, after the James Bond feature From Russia with Love. The comedy film Tom Jones came third.

It helped Cliff Richard to be voted by exhibitors as the most popular star at the British box-office in the same year.

On This Day 22/2/1977 AC/DC

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On this day, 22 Feb 1977, Australian rockers AC/DC played Cardiff’s Top Rank on their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Tour. Support was provided by the Jenny Darren Band.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was the band’s third studio album but their second to be released in Europe in 1976.
Fan Mike Toozer, Cardiff, Wales,UK: wrote this about the gig on a AC/DC fan site.

“It was a long time ago and I was only 21 so I don't remember a lot about it. I'd also had a few drinks no doubt... For anyone who has never been there the old Top Rank ballroom had quite low ceilings which bounced the sound around and concentrated the loudness.

This was, without doubt, the loudest gig I ever went to! I have hearing loss now, requiring a hearing aid, and I've always blamed this gig for it! My ears were ringing for a couple of days after.

Mind you, I did go to a lot of gigs back then. I don't recall the set sorry but I do vividly recall a wild guitarist dressed as a school boy, complete with shorts and a school cap being carried on another band member's shoulders while playing in full flow.

Happy days and I am glad I was there to hear them. Still have a couple of tracks (Back in black and Highway to Hell) on my Spotify all-time favourites playlist!”

Line Up
Angus Young - Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young - Rhythm Guitar
Bon Scott - Lead Vocals
Mark Evans - Bass
Phil Rudd - Drums