On This Day 17/5/1992 Del Amitri

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On this day, 17 May 1992, Scottish rock band Del Amitri played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The band were about to release their third album Change Everything which reached No 2 in the UK album charts, the band’s highest charting album.

It included the single "Always The Last To Know", which reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart and was nominated by Q Magazine as one of the top 50 albums of 1992.

Del Amitri's founding member and main songwriter, Justin Currie, explained in 2010 that the band's name "was invented to be meaningless – basically a corruption of the Greek name 'Dimitri'." In 2018, Currie clarified that 'Del Amitri' is a bastardisation of the name of a film producer who appeared in the closing credits of a film he saw in 1979 – "probably Dimitri-something, but we couldn't remember... so eventually through osmosis or maybe Chinese Whispers 'Dimitri' became 'Del Amitri'."

On This Day 16/5/2006 Counting Crows

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On this day, 16 May 2006, American rock band Counting Crows, played the Cardiff International Arena.

Formed in 1991, the band consists of Jim Bogios (drums), David Bryson (guitar), Adam Duritz (lead vocals), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), David Immerglück (guitar), Millard Powers (bass), and Dan Vickrey (guitar).

Counting Crows, and Duritz in particular, have become renowned for energetic, passionate live performances.The band's influences include Van Morrison, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan.

Several Counting Crows songs have been altered during the band's live performances, such as "Round Here", "Goodnight Elisabeth", "Rain King", and "A Murder of One".

This can be heard on the Across a Wire: Live in New York City album on the first disc (on which "Round Here" contains lyrics from "Have You Seen Me Lately?") and the second disc ("Anna Begins" has an extended midsection with new lyrics, and the introduction to "Mr. Jones" includes lyrics from "Miller's Angels" and from The Byrds' "So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star").

On This Day 15/5/2006 Morrissey

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On this day, 15 May 2006, former Smiths singer and songwriter Morrissey played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall as part of his Tour of the Tormentors.

He had just released his Release of the Tormentors album which reached No 1 in the UK album charts.

South Wales Echo Review by Gavin Allen 16/5/2006

Magnificent, miserable, mediocre Morrissey.

Mr Smith from Manchester arrived in Cardiff to the kind of clamour usually reserved for the Pope. With the greeting 'Hey hey. It's Tiger Bay' he opened with First Of the Gang which did nothing to quell the fervour and he threatened to spark a riot when he tossed Smiths classic Still Ill out as his second tune.

Girlfriend In Coma produced a further reminder as to his glorious group past, but it was also noticeable that he is getting on a bit and his paunch poked through an unflattering purple shirt.

It did nothing to prevent the usual calls of 'I love you' and 'marry me' from grown men.

What dipped proceedings was a sizeable middle section where he indulged in a B-side and ran through material from Ringleader Of The Tormentors that is anything but classic.

Yet there is no denying he is an iconic performer and he cracked his microphone cord like the Indiana Jones of indie, threw the odd rock star pose and opted for a gratuitously sweaty shirt change. Life Is A Pigsty proved he could still be as miserable as a laboratory monkey while How Soon Is Now returned the crowd to messianic mania after a long lull.

Another shirt change and the encore, Irish Blood, English Heart, and with a theatrical bow he went off into the night. He is a light that never goes out.

Gavin Allen

Setlist

First of the Gang to Die

Still Ill

(The Smiths song)

The Youngest Was the Most Loved

In the Future When All's Well

To Me You Are a Work of Art

Girlfriend in a Coma

(The Smiths song)

You Have Killed Me

I Will See You in Far-Off Places

At Last I Am Born

The Father Who Must Be Killed

Ganglord

Let Me Kiss You

Life Is a Pigsty

Trouble Loves Me

I Just Want to See the Boy Happy

How Soon Is Now?

(The Smiths song)

Encore:

Irish Blood, English Heart

On this Day 14/5/1957 Shirley Bassey

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On this day, 14 May 1957, Cardiff singing legend Shirley Bassey, played Cardiff’s New Theatre.
Bassey had earlier in the year achieved her first chart placing with her cover of the Banana Boat song reaching number 8 in the charts.

Born on Bute Street, in the Docks area of Cardiff. She grew up in the adjacent community of Splott where she attended Moorland Road school.

Teachers and students alike at Moorland Road School noticed Bassey's strong voice, but gave the pre-teen little encouragement: "...everyone told me to shut up. Even in the school choir the teacher kept telling me to back off till I was singing in the corridor!" A classmate recalled her singing the refrain "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from Show Boat with such feeling that she made their teacher uncomfortable.

She left Splott secondary modern school aged 14 to work at Curran Steels and, in the evenings and weekends, to sing in local pubs and clubs.

On This Day 13/5/1973 Wings

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On this day, 13 May 1973, Paul McCartney’s Wings played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on their 1973 UK Tour where the band was promoting the Red Rose Speedway album that had been released the previous month.

Support was provided by Brinsley Schwarz who McCartney had seen performing at the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe.

As per McCartney's practice with Wings at the time, the three non-McCartney band members did not earn a share of the receipts but rather received a flat rate of £70 a week, with a £1000 bonus paid at the tour's conclusion.

This reinforced the financial dissatisfaction that Seiwell was feeling with vaguely promised royalties from Wings' recordings not coming to him.

McCullough was also unhappy with the monetary situation and furthermore resented having to share the stage with Linda McCartney.

Although her keyboard playing had improved from before, she still qualified as a musical amateur.
Overall, the group began coming apart during the tour.

The situation with Seiwell and McCollough would soon reach a breaking point in the weeks immediately afterward, and both quit Wings shortly before the group left for Lagos, Nigeria to record Band on the Run.

Setlist

Soily"
"Big Barn Bed"
"When the Night"
"Wild Life"
"Seaside Woman"
"Little Woman Love"
"C Moon"
"Little Woman Love" (reprise)
"Live and Let Die"
"Maybe I'm Amazed"
"My Love"
"Go Now"
"Say You Don't Mind"
"The Mess"
"Hi Hi Hi"

Encore
"Long Tall Sally"

On This Day 12/5/1996 Super Furry Animals

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On this day, 12 May 1996, Welsh rock band, Super Furry Animals played Cardiff University.

The band’s debut album Fuzzy Logic was to be released the same month, recorded at the nearby Rockfield Studio having signed for the Creation record label.

It was positively received by the critics with the influential Q Magazine featuring it in their “Best British Albums Ever” list in 2004, whilst peaking at 23 in the UK album charts.

In a 2008 interview with Uncut Gruff Rhys described the process of making the album:

“We'd signed a deal and we were sort of blagging a bit ... We'd heard about Rockfield Studios and we wanted to record there because they had jacuzzis and you got three meals a day, all the wrong reasons for going to a studio.”

The album cover is a montage of photos of Welsh-born drug smuggler Howard Marks, the subject of the song "Hangin' with Howard Marks". Marks visited Rockfield during the making of the album at the band's request.

On This Day 11/5/1966 Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash

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On this day, 11 May 1966, two music greats appeared in Cardiff on the same evening with Bob Dylan playing the Capitol Theatre whilst, just down the road at the Sophia Gardens Pavilion was Johnny Cash.

Backstage at the Capitol Theatre Cash and Dylan played some songs together, just before Dylan was due to go onstage.

Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker shot Dylan on the 1966 tour and filmed Dylan with the country legend who was at the height of his well-documented pill addiction. He was swallowing Dexedrine and Equanil like candy, and it nearly killed him.

Pennebaker shot Dylan and Cash playing some Hank Williams classics, and it seems like both of them are on the verge of collapse.

It is said that Dylan arrived on stage 30 minutes late looking sharp in a new suit and proceeded to perform a solo acoustic set for the first hour which no doubt went down well with the Welsh folk fraternal but things changed when he and his band plugged in for “new” electric versions that divided opinion amongst his now bewildered audience, some of whom up and left on disgust.

On This Day 10/5/1978 The Buzzcocks

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On this day, 10 May 1978, punk rock legends the Buzzcocks, played Cardiff’s Top Rank with support provided by Penetration.

The band had just released their first album Another Music In A Different Kitchen and singles What Do I Get and I Don’t Mind, both making the UK singles chart.

Formed in Bolton in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene.

Devoto left the band in 1977, after which Pete Shelley became the principal singer-songwriter. After releasing three albums, as well as the "Singles Going Steady" compilation, the band broke up in 1981 following a dispute with their then-record label, but reunited in 1989, since releasing six more albums. Shelley died on 6 December 2018.

Setlist

Fast Cars

Get on Our Own

Sixteen

Moving Away From the Pulsebeat

Fiction Romance

Breakdown

Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)

What Do I Get?

Real World

Noise Annoys

Love You More

I Don't Mind

Autonomy

Encore:

Boredom

Oh Shit!

Encore 2:

Time's Up