On This Day 1/5/2010 Kids In Glass Houses

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On this day, 1 May 2010, Welsh rock band Kids In Glass Houses played Cardiff International Arena.
The band's name was inspired by the lyrics "not throwing stones at you anymore" from the Glassjaw song "Tip Your Bartender".

The band released their second album Dirt in early 2010, releasing four singles, most notably "Matters at All".

During their time as an unsigned band, the band garnered a rare and unprecedented amount of press and support from rock media, including Kerrang! and NME as well as BBC Radio 1 and XFM.

On This Day 30/4/2008 Matchbox Twenty

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On this day, 30 April 2008, American rock band Matchbox Twenty, played the Cardiff International Arena on the group’s Exile in Europe tour.

It was the first time in five years that the band had played the UK.

The band had not long released a compilation album Exile In Mainstream.

The album was released in two parts: the first was an EP, featuring seven new songs that emerged from a 12-song recording session, produced by Steve Lillywhite. The other part consists of remastered versions of eleven of the band's biggest hits.

On This Day 29/4/1997 Feeder

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On this day, 29 April 1997, Welsh indie rock band Feeder played Cardiff University.
Formed in Newport in 1994, Feeder's debut album, Polythene, was released in May 1997.

Polythene was acclaimed by critics, including Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, who placed the album at first and sixth in their respective end-of-year lists. Some critics labeled the band "The UK's answer to the Smashing Pumpkins", and also drew comparisons to The Pixies and Talk Talk.

On This Day 28/04/2004 Scissor Sisters

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On this day, 28 April 2004, American pop rock band Scissor Sisters played Cardiff International Arena as support to Duran Duran on their Reunion tour.

The band’s debut album Scissor Sisters (2004) was a success, particularly in the UK where it reached number one, was the best-selling album of 2004, was later certified platinum by the BPI, and earned them three BRIT Awards in 2005.

All five of its singles reached positions within the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart while "Filthy/Gorgeous" scored the band their first number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs, despite the album's meager success in their native US.

On This Day 27/04/1987 Mental As Anything

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On this day, 27 April 1987, Australian new wave band Mental as Anything played The Ritzy, Cardiff.

The group formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976 when Martin Murphy (Martin Plaza) met fellow student, New Zealand-born, Chris O'Doherty (Reg Mombassa) at Alexander Mackie College at East Sydney Technical College, now known as the National Art School, the city's leading art school.

The duo was soon jamming in guitarist and vocalist O'Doherty's Darlinghurst flat, Murphy, on guitar and vocals, brought in his college friend Steve Coburn (son of artist, John Coburn) on bass guitar, while another student, David Twohill (Wayne de Lisle), was recruited on drums.

They were first billed as Mental as Anything on 14 May 1976, after some early party appearances without a name.

Their Australian hit "Live It Up" (May 1985) also reached No. 3 in the UK in 1987, and was a hit in Europe, after being included in the soundtrack of the hugely successful Australian 1986 film Crocodile Dundee.

On This Day 26/4/1958 Johnnie Ray

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On this day, 26 April 1958, American singer Johnnie Ray played Cardiff’s Capitol theatre.

Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music, and his animated stage personality.

Legendary singer Tony Bennett called Ray the "father of rock and roll," and music historians have noted him as a pioneering figure in the development of the genre.

At age thirteen, Ray became deaf in his left ear following a mishap that occurred during a Boy Scout ritual called a "blanket toss."

In later years, Ray performed wearing a hearing aid. Surgery performed in 1958 left him almost completely deaf in both ears, although hearing aids helped his condition.

Ray credited his deafness as pivotal to his career and performance style, saying, "My need for sincerity traces back to when I was a child and lost my hearing. I became withdrawn. I had an emotional need to develop a relationship to other people."

On This Day 25/4/1964 Dave Clark Five

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On this day, 25 April 1964, London pop band Dave Clark Five, played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre headlining a stunner bill that included The Kinks, Mark Wynter, The Mojos, The Hollies, The Treble Tones and Frank Berry.

Formed in Tottenham in 1958. In January 1964 they had their first UK top ten single, "Glad All Over", which knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at No. 6 in the United States in April 1964.

Although this was their only UK No. 1, they topped the US chart in December 1965, with their cover of Bobby Day's "Over and Over".

The DC5 was promoted as the vanguard of a "Tottenham Sound", a response to Liverpool's Mersey Beat sound.[8] Dave Clark struck business deals that allowed him to produce the band's recordings and gave him control of the master recordings.

They were the second group of the British Invasion to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States (for two weeks in March 1964 following the Beatles' three weeks the previous month). They would ultimately have 18 appearances on the show.

The group disbanded in early 1970. On 10 March 2008, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On This Day 24/4/1960 The Everly Brothers

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On this day, 24 April 1960, American singing duo The Everly Brothers played Cardiff’s Gaumont Theatre.
Also on the bill were The Crickets (backing the Everly Brothers) Dallas Boys, Cherry Wainer & Don Storer, Lance Fortune, Danny Hunter,Flee-Rekkers, Freddy Lloyd Five with
Tony Marsh (compere).

It was the Everly Brothers first ever tour of the UK.
Unfortunately, part way through the tour, on April 17th, Don and Phil’s good friend, Eddie Cochran was in a car accident following the conclusion of his own UK tour and passed away.

Eddie’s fiancee, Sharon Sheeley, was also in the accident and said Phil and Cricket’s drummer, Jerry Allison (The Crickets had been touring with the Everlys after Buddy Holly’s death in 1959), were the first faces she saw when she woke up in the hospital.

The Everlys finished the tour a week later.