On This Day 01/03/1979 The Skids

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On this day, 1 March 1979, Scottish punks The Skids played Cardiff’s Grannie’s Club. The previous night the band had played their first ever Welsh gig at Newport’s Stowaway Club.

Formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards).

The singles "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming" both made commercial inroads, before "Into the Valley" reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart in early 1979. The band had just released their debut studio album, Scared to Dance, the month before.

Scared to Dance has been well received by critics. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press called the album "excellent [...] Using loud guitar and semi-martial drumming for its basis, Jobson's hearty singing sounds like an 18th century general leading his merry troops down from the hills into glorious battle."

The song "The Saints Are Coming" was later covered by Green Day and U2 and released as a charity single, reaching #1 in several countries.

"Into the Valley" became popular as adopted and sung by fans of Dunfermline Athletic F.C., the band's local football team, as well as Charlton Athletic F.C. in England whose ground is known as The Valley.

On This Day 28/02/1993 Pulp

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On this day, 28 February 1993, Britpop band Pulp played Cardiff University on thier Razzmatazz tour supporting St Etienne.

Formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their best-known line-up from their heyday (1992–1997) consisted of Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks (drums, percussion), Steve Mackey (bass) and Mark Webber (guitar, keyboards).

Buoyed by a changing musical current, in June 1992 Pulp released "O.U." on Gift while Fire finally released Separations in the same month.

Melody Maker made "O.U" a single of the week alongside "The Drowners" by Suede, a prominent new band. Pulp then signed to Island Records, who jointly released (with Gift) the singles "Babies" and "Razzmatazz" to increasing chart success.

Setlist

Pink Glove

Stacks

Razzmatazz

You're a Nightmare

Acrylic Afternoons

She's a Lady

Babies

On This Day, 27/02/1979 Bill Nelson's Red Noise

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On this day, 27 February 1979, rock band Bill Nelson's Red Noise played Cardiff University.

The band had just released the first and only album Sound On Sound, after which Nelson continued as a solo artist.

The band was Bill Nelson's umbrella term for what effectively became a British new wave band formed by himself (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Ian (saxophone), Andy Clark (keyboards) and Rick Ford (bass). Dave Mattacks and Steve Peer (drums) both had brief stints in the band.

Nelson formed Red Noise after dissolving Be-Bop Deluxe,while metamorphosing from blues, progressive and glam rock to more new wave and electronic sounds following the last Be-Bop Deluxe album Drastic Plastic, released early in 1978.

EMI's Harvest Records subsidiary, to whom Be-Bop had been contracted, insisted on his name being added – hence Bill Nelson's Red Noise.

On This Day 26/02/1993 Dinosaur Jnr

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On this day, 26 February 1993, American rock band Dinosaur Jnr played Cardiff University. Support was provided by alternative rock band Come.

formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name.

The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow (bass, vocals), and Murph (drums). After three albums on independent labels, the band earned a reputation as one of the formative influences on American alternative rock.

The band had just released their fifth official studio album Where You Been. This was the only Dinosaur Jr. album between 1988's Bug and 2007's Beyond to be recorded entirely with a full band. During Dinosaur Jr.'s major label years, Mascis performed most of the instruments himself on record.

Where You Been was Dinosaur Jr.'s greatest commercial success up to that point, reaching number 50 in the US and number 10 in the UK. Mascis reacted at the time, "We're just making records and, I mean, every one sold more than the last one. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it then."

Setlist:

Raisans

Quest

The Lung

Just Like Heaven

Start Choppin'

Get Me

Drawerings

Out There

Keep the Glove

Budge

Thumb

Kracked

Freak Scene

On This Day 25/02/1970 Incredible String Band

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On this day, 25 February 1970, psychedelic folk band the Incredible String Band played Sophia Gardens Pavilion.

formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966.

The band built a considerable following, especially in the British counterculture, notably with their albums The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, and Wee Tam and the Big Huge. They became pioneers in psychedelic folk and, through integrating a wide variety of traditional music forms and instruments, in the development of world music.

Following Palmer's early departure, Williamson and Heron performed as a duo, later augmented by other musicians. The band split up in 1974.

During 1969/70, the group lived communally at a farmhouse near Newport, in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where they developed ideas for mixed media experiments with Malcolm Le Maistre and other members of David Medalla's Exploding Galaxy troupe and the Leonard Halliwell Quartet.

There, a film was made about the ISB, Be Glad For the Song Has No Ending. Originally planned for BBC TV's arts programme Omnibus, it featured documentary footage and a fantasy sequence, 'The Pirate and the Crystal Ball', illustrating their attempt at an idyllic communal lifestyle. It made little impact at the time, but reissues on video and DVD have contributed to the recent revival of interest in the band.

On This Day 24/02/1965 Sandie Shaw/Adam Faith

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On this day, 24 February 1964, Sixties pop icons Sandie Shaw and Adam Faith played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Also on the bill were, The Barron Knights, The Paramounts, Roulettes, Patrick Kerr with Freddie Earle (compere).

Sandie Shaw, an English singer is one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964), "Long Live Love" (1965) and "Puppet on a String" (1967). With the latter, she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

Shaw was a regular on popular British TV programmes of the time such as Top of the Pops, Ready Steady Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars.

She was seen as epitomising the "swinging Sixties", and her trademark of performing barefoot endeared her to the public at large.

She also recorded most of her hit singles in Italian, French, German and Spanish boosting her popularity in Europe.

Terence Nelhams Wright known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor and financial journalist.

A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with "What Do You Want?" (1959) and "Poor Me" (1960). He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the top 5, and was ultimately one of the most charted acts of the 1960s.

On This Day 23/02/1986 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

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On this day, 23 February 1986, electronic pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on the band’s Crush tour.

formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Cooper (various instruments) and Stuart Kershaw (drums); McCluskey has been the only constant member.

Regarded as pioneers of electronic music, OMD combined an experimental, minimalist ethos with pop sensibilities, becoming central figures in the late-1970s/early-1980s emergence of synth-pop.

Crush is the sixth studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 17 June 1985 by Virgin Records. It is the first of two OMD albums to be produced by Stephen Hague.

Aimed primarily at the US market, Crush is notable for moving the group toward a more polished sound, although elements of earlier experimentation are present on the record.

Tour Setlist

Crush

The Native Daughters of the Golden West

Messages

Tesla Girls

Secret

Julia's Song

Motion and Heart

White Trash

Talking Loud and Clear

Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)

La Femme Accident

Souvenir

So in Love

Telegraph

Locomotion

Enola Gay

Encore:

Women III

Electricity

Encore 2:

She's Leaving

The Romance of the Telescope

On This Day 22/02/2003 Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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On this day, 22 February 2003, American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs played Cardiff’s Barfly club.

Formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase.

In 2003, the band released their debut album, Fever to Tell, which received several strong critical reviews and sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The album's third single, "Maps", received significant airplay on alternative radio.

SETLIST

Machine

Kiss Kiss

Miles Away

Maps

Shake It

Bang

Art Star

No No No

Rich

Mystery Girl

Our Time

Tick