On This Day 23/05/1978 Ian Dury

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On this day, 23 May 1978, English rocker, actor, poet, Ian Dury played Cardiff Top Rank with his band The Blockheads.

Under the management of Andrew King and Peter Jenner, the original managers of Pink Floyd, Ian Dury and the Blockheads quickly gained a reputation as one of the top live acts of new wave music.

Dury's lyrics are a combination of lyrical poetry, word play, observation of British everyday life, character sketches, and sexual humour: "This is what we find ... Home improvement expert Harold Hill of Harold Hill, Of do-it-yourself dexterity and double-glazing skill, Came home to find another gentleman's kippers in the grill, So he sanded off his winkle with his Black & Decker drill".

The song "Billericay Dickie" rhymes "I had a love affair with Nina, In the back of my Cortina" with "A seasoned-up hyena Could not have been more obscener".

The band was formed after Dury began writing songs with pianist and guitarist Chaz Jankel (the brother of music video, TV, commercial and film director Annabel Jankel). Jankel took Dury's lyrics, fashioned a number of songs, and they began recording with members of Radio Caroline's Loving Awareness Band – drummer Charley Charles (born Hugh Glenn Mortimer Charles, Guyana 1945), bassist Norman Watt-Roy, keyboard player Mick Gallagher, guitarist John Turnbull and former Kilburns saxophonist Davey Payne.

An album was completed, but major record labels passed on the band. Next door to Dury's manager's office was the newly formed Stiff Records, a perfect home for Dury's maverick style.

On This Day 22/05/2008 Mark Knopfler

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On this day, 22 May 2008, former rock band Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler played Cardiff International Arena on his Kill To Get Crimson tour.

Knopfler released his fifth solo studio-album Kill To Get Crimson on 14 September 2007 in Germany, 17 September in the UK and 18 September in the United States.

During the autumn of 2007 he played a series of intimate 'showcases' in various European cities to promote the album. A tour of Europe and North America followed in 2008.

The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitars, vocals), Richard Bennett (guitars), Danny Cummings (drums), Guy Fletcher (keyboards),Matt Rollings (keyboards), Glen Wharf (bass) and John McCusker (fiddle, cittern).

Setlist

Cannibals 


Why Aye Man 


What It Is 


Sailing to Philadelphia 


True Love Will Never Fade 


The Fish and the Bird


Hill Farmer's Blues 


Romeo and Juliet 
(Dire Straits song) 


Sultans of Swing 
(Dire Straits song) 


Marbletown 


Postcards From Paraguay 


Speedway at Nazareth 


Telegraph Road 
(Dire Straits song) 



Encore:

Brothers in Arms 
(Dire Straits song) 
Our Shangri-La

So Far Away 
(Dire Straits song) 
Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero

On This Day 20/05/2009 Here And Now - Best Of The Eighties - Tour

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On this day, 20 May 2009, the Here And Now tour came to the Capital performing at the Cardiff International Arena.

The tour consisted of seven dates in the UK. Originally the tour would have had Boy George as headliner, but after he was sentenced to prison earlier in the year, he was replaced by Rick Astley.

Other acts included in the line-up were, Kim Wilde, Nathan Moore (from Brother Beyond), Hazel O'Connor, Altered Images, Howard Jones and Kid Creole & the Coconuts.

Set list and running order

Nathan Moore -

He Ain't No Competition

Be My Twin

The Harder I Try

Hazel O'Connor -

D-Days

Will You

Eighth Day

Kid Creole & the Coconuts -

Stool Pigeon

I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby

Annie I'm Not Your Daddy

Altered Images -

I Could Be Happy

See Those Eyes

Don't Talk To Me About Love

Happy Birthday

Howard Jones -

Pearl in the Shell

Things Can Only Get Better

Hide and Seek

Like to Get to Know You Well

What Is Love?

New Song

Kim Wilde -

Never Trust a Stranger

Cambodia

If I Can't Have You

Another Step (Closer to You)

Chequered Love

You Came

You Keep Me Hangin' On

Kids in America

Rick Astley -

Together Forever

She Wants to Dance With Me

When I Fall in Love

Take Me to Your Heart

Cry for Help

Whenever You Need Somebody

Never Gonna Give You Up

On This Day 19/05/2000 Paul Weller

On this day, 19 May 2000, The Modfather, Paul Weller played Cardiff International Arena.

The tour coincided with the April release of Weller’s fifth solo album ‘Heliocentric’ – his first since 1997’s ‘Heavy Soul’ which peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums chart.

There were rumours at the time that Heliocentric would be Weller's final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album Illumination in September 2002.

Weller was born on 25 May 1958 in Woking, Surrey, England, to John and Ann Weller (née Craddock). Although born John William Weller, he became known as Paul by his parents.

Weller's musical vocation was confirmed after seeing Status Quo in concert in 1972. He formed the first incarnation of the Jam in the same year, playing bass guitar with his best friends Steve Brookes (lead guitar) and Dave Waller (rhythm guitar).

Weller's father, acting as their manager, began booking the band into local working men's clubs. Joined by Rick Buckler on drums, and with Bruce Foxton soon replacing Waller on rhythm guitar, the four-piece band began to forge a local reputation, playing a mixture of Beatles covers and a number of compositions written by Weller and Brookes.

Brookes left the band in 1976, and Weller and Foxton decided they would swap guitar roles, with Weller now the guitarist.

Weller became interested in 1960s mod culture in late 1974, particularly after hearing 'My Generation' by the Who.

As a result, he began riding a Lambretta scooter, styling his hair like Steve Marriott and immersing himself in 1960s soul and R&B music.

At his instigation, the Jam began wearing mohair suits onstage and he and Foxton began playing Rickenbacker guitars (as favoured by the Who and the Beatles in the mid-1960s).

He has been a committed mod ever since, declaring in a 1991 interview that, "I'll always be a mod. You can bury me a mod".

Setlist

Friday Street

Out of the Sinking

Into Tomorrow

Back in the Fire

Dust and Rocks

Peacock Suit

Heavy Soul

(Parts 1 & 2)

With Time & Temperance

Frightened

You Do Something to Me

The Changingman

Porcelain Gods

There's No Drinking After You're Dead

As You Lean Into the Light

Broken Stones

Picking Up Sticks

Love-Less

Encore:

Wild Wood

Sunflower

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On This Day 18/05/1982 Altered Images

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On this day, 18 May 1982, new wave/post punk band Altered Images played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Former schoolmates with a shared interest in the UK post-punk scene, Clare Grogan (vocals), Gerard "Caesar" McInulty (guitar), Michael "Tich" Anderson (drums), Tony McDaid (guitar), and Johnny McElhone (bass guitar), were all members of the Siouxsie and the Banshees official fan club.

When they learnt the Banshees were going to play in Scotland, they sent a demo tape to Billy Chainsaw, who managed the official Siouxsie fan club, with a note asking "can we support them on tour?". The Banshees gave the band a support slot on their Kaleidoscope British tour of 1980.

Altered Images's name referred to a sleeve design on the Buzzcocks' single "Promises", and was inspired by Buzzcocks vocalist Pete Shelley's constant interfering with the initial sleeve designs.

With additional guitarist Jim McKinven (formerly of Berlin Blondes), they recorded their debut album, Happy Birthday (1981), largely produced by Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

The band also worked briefly with producer Martin Rushent for the title track, which became the band's third single and their biggest hit.

The song reached number 2 in the UK (for three weeks) in October 1981, catapulting the band to fame. They quickly became established as a major new wave act, and were subsequently voted Best New Group at the NME Awards and Most Promising New Act in the 1981 Smash Hits readers poll.

After a successful headlining tour, the band retained Rushent as their producer and released their second album, Pinky Blue, in May 1982. It reached the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart and provided three more top-40 hit singles with "I Could Be Happy", "See Those Eyes", and the title track, but was perceived as a disappointment by the British press.

"I Could Be Happy" was the group's only foray onto the US charts, with the single peaking at number 45 on the Billboard Dance Chart.

On This Day 17/05/1977 Lone Star

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On this day, 17 May 1977, Welsh rock and heavy metal music band Lone Star played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed in Cardiff in 1975, they released two albums on CBS Records before splitting up in 1978.

An embryonic line-up consisted of former Iona members Kenny Driscoll and Tony Smith, former Quest bassist Ray Jones, and drummer Jim Mathews.

The band took on the Lone Star moniker in early 1975 with bassist Pete Hurley and drummer Dixie Lee replacing Jones and Mathews, respectively, and the addition of Canadian keyboardist Rick Worsnop and guitarist Paul 'Tonka' Chapman (a cousin of famed Welsh rocker Dave Edmunds), the latter whose credits included the bands Universe, Skid Row (where he had replaced Gary Moore), Kimla Taz, and most notably, UFO, in a short-lived 1974 dual guitar configuration alongside Michael Schenker.

They raised £300 and recorded a five-song demo tape (The Acorn Sessions) at a studio near Oxford, with four of the five songs appearing in re-recorded form on their first two albums.

The demo brought interest from manager Steve Wood, and after a bidding war, they signed a worldwide deal with CBS Records (which Driscoll would later describe as 'the worst record deal ever')."

The band recorded a studio session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in early 1976, and recorded their self-titled debut album in August 1976 at Sweet Silence studios in Copenhagen, with Roy Thomas Baker producing.

Driscoll had suffered a broken collarbone in a car crash (that left his girlfriend paralysed from the neck down) shortly before recording the album, and claimed to have recorded all the vocals for the album in three hours while drunk, and was disappointed with the results.

The album charted at No. 47 on the UK Albums Chart, and was supported by a UK tour with label mate Ted Nugent. A second Peel session was recorded in April 1976 and broadcast around the time of the first album's release that August.

The band's profile would get a further boost with a BBC Radio 1 In Concert broadcast, recorded at the Paris Theatre in London on 23 September 1976 while on tour as openers for Mott.

After friction between Driscoll and other band members, he left in 1977, and was replaced by 20-year-old John Sloman (ex-Trapper), with Abe Hoch taking over as manager from Wood.

The band's third BBC studio session, with Sloman now on vocals, was recorded in February 1977, and broadcast in July of that year on Alan Freeman's Saturday Show. This was an experimental quadraphonic broadcast trialling the BBC's Matrix H system.

The band's second album, Firing on All Six, produced by Gary Lyons and released in August 1977, bettered its predecessor and reached No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart. That same month, the band undertook their most high-profile gig yet with an appearance at the Reading Festival on 26 August, followed by a live broadcast on the BBC's Sight & Sound programme on 29 September, recorded at Queen Mary College in East London whilst sharing a bill with Canadian guitarist Pat Travers.

Both the BBC In Concert and Sight & Sound broadcasts were released in 1994 as the BBC Radio One Live In Concert CD.

Lone Star were on hiatus for a period when Chapman was called upon by UFO to fill in for the absent Michael Schenker for part of their US tour with Rush.

Upon his return the band began to prepare and demo material for a proposed third album but already on shaky ground and beset by management problems and tensions caused by Smith and Lee's interest in Scientology, Lone Star splintered in late 1978, CBS having pulled the plug due in part to the rapidly changing musical climate, with the rise of punk rock leaving bands like Lone Star seeming old fashioned

On This Day 16/05/2004 Supergrass

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On this day, 16 May 2004, rock band Supergrass played Cardiff University on their Supergrass is 10 tour.

Support was provided by 22-20s & Cathy Davey.

In June 2004 the band released a singles compilation Supergrass Is 10, spawning two new self-produced tracks: "Kiss of Life" and "Bullet". The companion DVD contained 'Home Movie', a humorous documentary charting the band's first 10 years' achievements, made in collaboration with "Seen the Light" video director Simon Hilton. The record entered the UK albums chart at number four and has since gone gold in the UK.

Formed in Oxford UK in 1993, the Brit, Q, NME and Ivor Novello-winning outfit released their Mercury-nominated No.1 debut album I Should Coco in 1995. Fourth single, ‘Alright’, was a pop masterpiece and became a massive hit, catapulting the band to global success.

Supergrass subsequently released another five acclaimed studio albums: In It For The Money (1997), Supergrass (1999), Life On Other Planets (2002), Road To Rouen (2005), Diamond Hoo Ha (2008) as well as top 5 best of, Supergrass Is 10 (2004).

Other top 20 singles include: ‘Lenny’, ‘Going Out’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Sun Hits The Sky’, ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’, ‘Moving’ and ‘Grace’.

Setlist

Electric

Lenny

Richard III

Lose It

Mary

Rush Hour Soul

Bullet

Hollow Little Reign

Faraway

Acoustic (On the Sofa)

Caught by the Fuzz

Seen the Light

Late in the Day

Wait for the Sun

Electric

Kiss of Life

Pumping on Your Stereo

Grace

Time

Alright

Moving

Strange Ones

Sun Hits the Sky

Encore:

Mansize Rooster

Sitting Up Straight

On This Day 15/05/1983 Iron Maiden

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On this day, 15 May 1983, heavy metal rock band Iron Maiden played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their World Piece tour in support of their fourth album, A Piece Of Mind.

The band were supported by Grand Prix.

In 1983, they released their fourth studio album, Piece of Mind, which reached the No. 3 spot in the UK, and No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

Piece of Mind features the successful singles "The Trooper" and "Flight of Icarus", the latter being notable as one of the band's few songs to gain substantial airplay in the US.

The other notable songs of the album are "Where Eagles Dare" (based on so same entitled movie with Clint Eastwood starring), "Revelations", "Die with Your Boots On" and an epic "To Tame a Land" based on Frank Herbert's novel titled "Dune".

Iron Maiden played 151 concerts in Europe and North America as a part of World Piece Tour. For the very the first time they booked a massive North America tour as headliners.

Nearly 90 shows took place in 10,000 + capacity arenas, and the band sold out Madison Square Garden with a crowd of 20,000.

In London, they played four consecutive nights at the Hammersmith Odeon, then toured many large venues across Western Europe, including an extensive German leg.

The World Piece Tour was summed up by two headlining performances at the Rock & Pop Festival at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund. The show was broadcast live to 300 million people with the exception of the song "Iron Maiden" due to the band's "violent behaviour on stage".

The final night of the tour in Dortmund saw the band "kill" their mascot Eddie after the song "Iron Maiden". Bruce Dickinson took the brain out of Eddie's head while the rest of the band kicked and pummelled the mascot, while guitarist Dave Murray smashed his Fender Stratocaster on Eddie's neck and a nearby amplifier.

Setlist

1 Intro – theme from Where Eagles Dare

2 "Where Eagles Dare" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

3 "Wrathchild" (from Killers, 1981)

4 "The Trooper" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

5 "Revelations" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

6 "Flight of Icarus" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

7 "Die with Your Boots On" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

8 "22 Acacia Avenue" (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)

9 "The Number of the Beast" (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)

10 "Still Life" (from Piece of Mind, 1983) (Dropped after 12 June 1983)

11 "To Tame a Land" (from Piece of Mind, 1983)

12 "Phantom of the Opera" (from Iron Maiden, 1980) (Dropped after 12 June 1983)

13 "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)

14 "Iron Maiden" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)

15 "Run to the Hills" (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)

16 "Sanctuary" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)

17 "Drifter" (from Killers, 1981)

18 "Prowler" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)