On this day June 9th 1973 Marlene Dietrich

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On this day, 9 June 1973, German actress/singer and Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich played the last concert of a week-long visit to Cardiff’s New Theatre.

A big fan of Welsh miners, she was presented with a special Davy lamp necklace by Dai Francis of the NUM. He was a lifelong Communist.

She would wear it on stage that night.

In her personal life, Dietrich was a strong opponent of the Nazi government in Germany. She had been asked to return to Germany by people associated with Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s to make films there, but she turned them down. As a result, her films were banned in her native land.

She made her new country her official home by becoming a U.S. citizen in 1939. During World War II, Dietrich traveled extensively to entertain the allied troops, singing such songs as "Lili Marlene" and others that would later become staples in her cabaret act.

She also worked on war-bond drives and recorded anti-Nazi messages in German for broadcast.

On this day 8/6/72 Budgie

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On this day, 8 June 1972, Welsh rockers Budgie played Barry Memorial Hall on their Squawk tour.
Budgie formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales under the name Hills Contemporary Grass.

Their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips on drums.

After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo.

The band had initially considered going under the name "Six Ton Budgie", but decided the shorter single word variant was preferable.

Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".

Squawk was the group’s second album recorded at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth.

Many future stars of hard rock/metal have cited them as an important influence and covered their songs, including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Van Halen, Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.

On This Day 7/6/2007 Velvet Revolver

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On this day, 7 June 2007, American hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver played the Cardiff International Arena with support provided by Satellite Party.
The band were promoting their soon to be released second album Libertad.
The band consisted of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of punk band Wasted Youth, and Scott Weiland (lead vocalist) formerly of Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland left the band to rejoin Stone Temple Pilots in 2008.
Their second and final album peaked at No 6 in the UK album charts.

Setlist

Let It Roll
Do It for the Kids
Sucker Train Blues
Superhuman
The Last Fight
She Mine
Get Out the Door
Fall to Pieces
Big Machine
Vasoline
(Stone Temple Pilots cover)
Just Sixteen
She Builds Quick Machines
Set Me Free

Encore:
It's So Easy
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
Wish You Were Here
(Pink Floyd cover)

Encore 2:
Psycho Killer
(Talking Heads cover)
Slithered

Review - South Wales Echo

NO matter how many bare tattooed torsos and leather trousers Velvet Revolver put on show they couldn’t top the costume choice of Perry Farrell, frontman with support act Satellite Party.

The gentleman deviant of alt-rock oozed around the stage in his gold lamé jumpsuit and neck scarf – Elvis styled by Scissor Sisters Jake Shears – thrusting a metronomic pelvis at his beautifully sluttish backing singer.
It was brilliant theatre but as amusing as Farrell was (“I hope your ears are bleeding. In a nice way.”), when Scott Weiland came windmilling onto the stage, high on energy, the modest crowd erupted.

Velvet Revolver provided their own amusement when one punter sprayed Slash with water. He tutted and wiped his leather trousers dry but soon after guitarist Dave Kushner slipped on the wet patch and fell heavily on his back.

Upright, he grinned, and from then on the band played with the volume of a Concorde crash. From the explosion of Fall To Pieces to the bluesy crawl of The Last Fight, from upcoming second album Libertad, they hit every song like a punch to the stomach.

New single She Builds Quick Machines had fathoms of strength and Set Me Free spat voltage. In the second encore they covered Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer and gave a rapturously-greeted It’s So Easy before slithering into the night; masterfully precise and brutishly powerful.

On This Day 6/6/1960 Marty Wilde

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On this day, 6 June 1960, English singer/songwriter Marty Wilde, played Cardiff’s New Theatre headlining a package that included, Cherry Wainer with Don Storer, Syd & Paul Kaye,

The 10 Wild Kittens, Allen Kemble & Christine and The Trio Rayros (Continental comedy acrobats).
Wilde was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky, Kim and Roxanne Wilde.

From mid-1958 to the end of 1959, Wilde was one of the leading British rock and roll singers, along with Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard.

Wilde's backing group was called the Wildcats. At various times they featured Big Jim Sullivan on lead guitar, Tony Belcher on rhythm guitar, Bobby Graham or Bobbie Clarke on drums, plus Brian Locking on bass guitar and Brian Bennett on drums who both later joined the Shadows.

He appeared regularly on the BBC Television show 6.5 Special and was the main regular artiste on the Saturday ITV popular music shows Oh Boy! and Boy Meets Girls.

There he met and married Joyce Baker, one of the Vernons Girls who were also show regulars.
He moved partly into all-round entertainment, appearing in musicals such as Conrad Birdie in the original West End production of Bye Bye Birdie and several films.

He enjoyed success as a songwriter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In collaboration with the songwriter Ronnie Scott, he co-wrote the one-hit wonders the Casuals' "Jesamine" under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. The pair also wrote Lulu's "I'm a Tiger" and the early Status Quo hit, "Ice in the Sun".

On This Day 5/6/1994 Crowded House

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On this day, 5th June 1994, New Zealand/Australian rock band Crowded House played Cardiff International Arena on their Together Alone tour with support provided by Irish band The Cranberries.

Together Alone was the band’s fourth studio album released October 1993 and reaching No 4 in the UK album chart.

Setlist

Black and White Boy
There Goes God
Love You 'til the Day I Die
Nails in My Feet
Love This Life
Fingers of Love
Distant Sun
Four Seasons in One Day
Pineapple Head
When You Come
Hole in the River
Fall at Your Feet
Locked Out
Weather With You
Private Universe
In My Command
Throw Your Arms Around Me
(Hunters & Collectors cover)
Catherine Wheels
Together Alone

On This Day 4/6/1971 East of Eden

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On this day, 4 June 1971, progressive rock band East of Eden played Cardiff University.

The band had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the single "Jig-a-Jig" in 1970.

The track was stylistically unlike any of their other work. Although some might consider them a symphonic progressive band, others state that their style is mostly jazz-oriented.

Though they split in 1978, the three core members (Dave Arbus, Ron Caines and Geoff Nicholson) reunited in 1996, and their album Kalipse was released the following year.

Like most of their earlier work, it was a cult hit.

Arbus was a guest musician on the Who's track "Baba O'Riley", playing the violin solo.

He was a friend of that band's drummer Keith Moon, and was also later a member of Fiddler's Dram.

On This Day 3/6/1976 Elton John

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On this day, 3 June 1976, rock superstar Elton John played the first of two nights at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on his Louder Than Concorde tour, with the Cardiff gigs being the last two dates in the UK.

The tour was in support of his 10th studio album Rock of the Westies. the tour included two legs and a total of 62 shows.

The tour concluded in mid-August with a record-breaking seven sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden. For these shows, Elton and the band shared the stage with the New York Community Choir and performed encores with Kiki Dee, Alice Cooper and the drag queen, Divine.

As this week was winding down, Elton notified the band that he was taking a break from touring and the group soon disbanded.

Setlist

Grow Some Funk of Your Own
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Island Girl
Rocket Man
Hercules
Bennie and the Jets
Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Love Song (Lesley Duncan cover)
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (The Beatles cover)
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Empty Sky
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Don't Go Breaking My Heart
I've Got the Music in Me (Kiki Dee cover)
Philadelphia Freedom
We All Fall in Love Sometimes
Curtains
Tell Me When the Whistle Blows
Encore:

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
Your Song
Pinball Wizard (The Who cover)

Tour band

Elton John – lead vocals, piano
Davey Johnstone – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Caleb Quaye – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Kenny Passarelli – bass guitar, backing vocals
Roger Pope – drums
James Newton Howard – keyboards, electric piano, synthesizer
Ray Cooper – percussion
Cindy Bullens – backing vocals
Jon Joyce – backing vocals
Ken Gold – backing vocals

On This Day 2/6/1981 XTC

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On this day, 2 June 1981, new wave legends XTC played Cardiff’s Top Rank with support provided by Lost Touch.

It was to be the group’s final live appearance in the UK.

Lead singer and guitarist Andy Partridge recalled the gig not so flatteringly.

“ Last gig of a tour should have gone perfectly but both of my Amps blow up on stage. Nevertheless, the road crew decided to have their end of tour japes and dumped on my head a sack of confetti during 'Snowman' (Oh! nearly forgot, got myself a rotten electric shock that night as well).”

At the age of 12, Partridge was professionally diagnosed as "hyperactive" and given a prescription of Valium.

He later formed a dependency on the drug that was exacerbated by the pressures of his music career.

After disposing of the drug in 1981, he experienced severe withdrawal effects that led to XTC's withdrawal from touring.