On this day, 12 May 2003.

On this day, 12 May 2003, Scottish post-rock band Mogwai played Cardiff University supported by Kling Klang.

Formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwai typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.

Mogwai's 2003 album Happy Songs for Happy People continued the band's movement into the use of electronica and more spacious arrangements. It was the band's first album to sell in any numbers in the US, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Independent Albums Chart and even spending one week in the Billboard 200.

 Setlist 

1. Hunted by a Freak

2. Mogwai Fear Satan

3. You Don't Know Jesus

4. New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 2

5. Kids Will Be Skeletons

6. Ratts of the Capital

7. Killing All the Flies

8. Stop Coming to My House

9. My Father, My King

10. I Know You Are but What Am I?

11. 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

On This Day 11/05/1963 Del Shannon

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On this day, 11 May 1963 American rock and roll country musician, singer and songwriter Del Shannon played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

Also on the bill were, The Eagles, Peppi, Kenny Lynch, Johnny Tillotson, The Springfields (featuring Dusty Springfield) and Ret Anton.

Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover on December 30, 1934, in Grand Rapids, Michigan

He came up with the name "Del Shannon", combining Mark Shannon—a wrestling pseudonym used by a regular at the Hi-Lo Club—with Del, derived from the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, his favorite car.

Shannon's career slowed down greatly in the 1970s, owing in part to his alcoholism. The Welsh rock singer Dave Edmunds produced the single "And the Music Plays On" in 1974.

In 1978 Shannon stopped drinking and began work on "Sea of Love", released in 1982 on his album Drop Down and Get Me, produced by Tom Petty.

The album took two years to record and featured Petty's band, the Heartbreakers, backing Shannon. However, RSO Records, to which Shannon was signed, folded.

On This Day 10/05/1990 Inspiral Carpets

On this day 10 May 1990 English rock band Inspiral Carpets played Cardiff University.

Formed in Oldham in 1983, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassist Martyn Walsh and keyboardist Clint Boon.

Formed by Lambert and singer Stephen Holt, who departed the band before they signed with Mute Records, Inspiral Carpets was known for using organs and distorted guitars with influences from psychedelic rock.

In 2011, Hingley departed the band, though members disagree about the circumstances. The band continued on, reuniting with Holt.

Inspiral Carpets formed their own label, Cow Records, in March 1989. The label's first release was the Trainsurfing EP.

With half of the first album, Life, written, Holt and Swift departed and formed the Rainkings, so the band recruited Too Much Texas singer Tom Hingley and Martyn "Bungle" Walsh of The Next Step to replace them.

Martyn Walsh became the band's 13th bass player. After a handful of singles on their own label, with "Move" nearly reaching the UK top 40, the band signed a deal with Mute Records and soon experienced their first top-40 chart success in the UK with "This Is How It Feels."

The single reached No. 14 on the singles chart, and the debut album Life reached No. 2 on the albums chart in 1990.

Setlist

Real Thing

Directing Traffik

Besides Me

This Is How It Feels

Find Out Why

Sackville

Dreams Are All We Have

Caravan

Weakness

Move

Beast Inside

She Comes in the Fall

Further Away

Keep the Circle Around

Encore:

Commercial Reign

Joe

On This Day 09/05/1993 Gil Scott Heron

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On this day 9 May 1993, African-American soul singer, jazz poet, musician and author Gil Scott Heron played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange.

Known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.

His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron.

His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".

In 1993, he signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that included the seminal track "'Message to the Messengers".

The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day. Scott-Heron is known in many circles as "the Godfather of rap" and is widely considered to be one of the genre's founding fathers.

Given the political consciousness that lies at the foundation of his work, he can also be called a founder of political rap.

"Message to the Messengers" was a plea for the new generation of rappers to speak for change rather than perpetuate the current social situation, and to be more articulate and artistic.

Regarding hip hop music in the 1990s, he said in an interview:

“They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music, and blending those same words into the music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms, and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing.”

On This Day 07/05/1963 John Leyton

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On this day, 7 May 1963 singer John Leyton played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Also on the “All Stars 63” bill were, Billy Boyle, Duffy Power, Don ‘Fireball’ Spencer. Bick Ford, Grazina, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, Mike Berry, Mike Sarne and Billie Davis.

John Leyton was an English actor and singer.

As a singer he is best known for his hit song "Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961 despite being banned by the BBC for its death references.

His follow-up single, "Wild Wind", reached number two in the charts.

Alongside singing, Leyton's acting career saw him appearing in television and films throughout the 1960s. His films included The Great Escape, Guns at Batasi, Von Ryan's Express and Krakatoa, East of Java.

On This Day 06/05/1978 Magazine

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On this day, 6 May 1978, rock band Magazine played Cardiff University.

Formed in 1977 in Manchester in England by singer Howard Devoto and guitarist John McGeoch.

After leaving the punk group Buzzcocks in early 1977, Devoto decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band.

The original lineup of Magazine was composed by Devoto, McGeoch, Barry Adamson on bass, Dave Formula on Keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums.

Their debut album Real Life (1978) was critically acclaimed and was one of the first post-punk albums. After releasing two other albums Secondhand Daylight and The Correct Use of Soap, McGeoch left the band in 1980 to join Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Magazine released another studio album and disbanded in 1981.

In early 1978, the band released their first single, "Shot by Both Sides", a song Magazine recorded as a quartet. It featured a guitar-bass-drums sound similar to punk rock.

Shortly after the single's release, Dave Formula, who had played with a briefly successful 1960s rock band from Manchester called St. Louis Union, joined as keyboardist. "Shot by Both Sides" used a chord progression suggested by Pete Shelley, which was also used in the Buzzcocks track "Lipstick".

The Magazine single just missed the UK Top 40. The band, with Formula on keyboards, made its first major TV appearance on Top of the Pops in February 1978, performing the single.

Following a British tour to promote their debut album Real Life (which made the UK Top 30), Jackson left Magazine in late July. He was replaced briefly by Paul Spencer, who performed with the band for gigs across Europe and some television appearances, including The Old Grey Whistle Test, where they played "Definitive Gaze".

On This Day 05/05/1986 Echo And The Bunnymen

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On this day, 5 May 1986, rock band Echo And The Bunnymen played Cardiff’s Top Rank with support provided by the Blue Orchids

Formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freitas joined as the band's drummer.

Their 1980 debut album Crocodiles went into the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart.

After releasing their second album Heaven Up Here in 1981, the band's cult status was followed by mainstream success in the UK in 1983 when they scored a UK Top 10 hit with "The Cutter", and the album which the song came from, Porcupine, hit number 2 in the UK.

Ocean Rain (1984), continued the band's UK chart success with its lead single "The Killing Moon" entering into the top 10.

After releasing a self-titled album in 1987, McCulloch left the band and was replaced by singer Noel Burke. In 1989, de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident.

On This Day 01/05/2011 Jan Akkerman

On this day 1 May 2011; Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman played The Globe, Cardiff.

He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz fusion influences.

Focus explored progressive rock, an amalgam of classical, jazz, and rock music, and had hits in the seventies such as "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia".
The band's albums Focus II and Focus 3 were certified Gold.

In 1973 Akkerman was voted Best Guitarist in the World by readers of the UK magazine Melody Maker. With manufacturer Framus he helped produce one of the first signature guitar models.

In April 2011, Akkerman released his solo album Minor Details, receiving positive reviews.