On This Day 16/07/2008 Jay-Z

On this day. 16 July 2008, American rap legend Jay-Z played Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. Support was provided by Mark Ronson.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he has been central to the creative and commercial success of artists including Kanye West, Rihanna, and J. Cole. He is the founder and chairman of entertainment company Roc Nation, and was the president and chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007.

Review - Independent - Simon Price

How much significance can you read into a pair of glasses? A couple of weeks ago, Jay-Z turned up on the Jonathan Ross show studiously bespectacled, with the dress sense and demeanour of an amiable college-boy slacker rather than Roc-A-Fella CEO, rap megastar and bling-bling billionaire.

It was also one hell of a turnaround: the king of shopping- mall rap who has done more than anyone this side of P Diddy to cement the public view of hip-hop as a world of rapacious capitalism suddenly presenting himself as a cuddly intellectual, one of us.

He carried it off, just as – by common consent – he carried off his Glastonbury headlining set, which had the likes of Noel Gallagher in such an apoplectic tizzy beforehand.

The Jay-Z who shows up in Cardiff sure looks like the familiar bling-merchant: the hinges on his ever-present shades have more carats than Bugs Bunny, and the chain around his neck is more than merely goldie-lookin'.

Tellingly, Jay-Z had admitted to Ross that many rap acts make their initial breakthrough with one studio-forged track and, unlike rock bands, have no schooling in the art of the live show.

Indeed, last time I saw Jay-Z himself, he filled Wembley Arena with deadening thuds and bovine bellows. Not any more. He's learned a few lessons in the intervening years, and he's ready to deliver something that's only just short of a masterclass.

You have no idea how much it hurts me to say this. After all, I came to bury Jay-Z, not to praise him. This is a man whose main contribution to 21st-century culture has been to pop up on singles by Rihanna or Beyoncé, mumble lazily for 30 seconds or so and take a million-dollar cheque. (We get abridged bursts of "Umbrella" and "Crazy in Love" tonight.)

His excellent ensemble slide seamlessly between Latin hustle and funk-rock, incorporating teasing snatches of Amy's "Rehab", The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum" and AC/DC's "Back in Black".

The high-speed interplay between the main man and his sidekick Memphis Bleek is often dazzling and, in the flesh, a track like "99 Problems" just cannot be argued with.

Just when you're wondering what the point of showing Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted skull – one piece of bling the Jigga doesn't own – on the big screen might be, and cursing his audacity for name-dropping Public Enemy's Nation of Millions, he ties them both together in a passage about Hurricane Katrina.

A montage of American presidents freezes on the image of GW Bush, and Jay solicits boos, before rapping unaccompanied: "You're up on the roof/A helicopter swooped down with a telescopic lens/Just to get a scoop/But they didn't scoop you..." This time, the screen freezes on Barack Obama, and Jay-Z whips up the cheers.

On This Day 13/07/1966 The Creation

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On this day, 13 July 1966, English rock band The Creation played Cardiff Top Rank.

Formed in 1966. Their best-known songs are "Making Time", which was one of the first rock songs to feature a guitar played with a bow, and "Painter Man", which made the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in late 1966, and reached No. 8 in the German chart in April 1967. It was covered by Boney M in 1979, and reached the No. 10 position in the UK chart.

"Making Time" was used in the movie Rushmore, and as the theme song from season 2 onwards of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Creation biographer Sean Egan defined their style as "a unique hybrid of pop, rock, psychedelia and the avant garde."

The band's style, produced by Shel Talmy, was, at this point, loud art pop, similar to early records by The Who. Their first single, "Making Time", was a Pickett/Phillips original featuring Phillips playing his electric guitar with a violin bow. (He was reputedly the first guitarist to use this technique.) Released in June 1966 on Talmy's own label, Planet (distributed in the UK by Philips and in the US by Jay-Gee), it reached No. 49 on the UK chart. Almost immediately thereafter, The Creation suffered another lineup change when Jack Jones was fired and replaced by new drummer Dave Preston. However, the band was unsatisfied with Preston's live work,[citation needed] and in less than three weeks Jones was asked back and rejoined the group.

Their next single, October 1966's "Painter Man", became their biggest hit, reaching No. 36 UK and the top 10 in Germany. The Creation took their pop art experimentation slightly further when, during live performances of "Painter Man," Pickett would spray-paint a canvas during their concerts before a member of the road crew would set fire to the artwork on stage.

On This Day 11/07/1988 Voice of the Beehive

On this day, 11 July 1988, Alternative pop band Voice of the Beehive played The Ritzy, Cardiff.

Formed in London in 1986, the group featured Californian lead vocalist sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland (daughters of The Four Preps singer Bruce Belland). They teamed with British musicians Mike Jones, Martin Brett, Mark Bedford and Daniel Woodgate, the latter two of whom were former members of Madness.

Bedford left after making formative contributions to the band and did not feature again, while Woodgate stayed for most of the band's main period of activity. The band took their name from the Greek meaning of the name Melissa, meaning honey bee.

The band had five Top 40 singles from two albums in the UK. Their biggest commercial success came with the singles "I Say Nothing", "Don't Call Me Baby", "Monsters and Angels" and "I Think I Love You", taken from albums Let It Bee and Honey Lingers. Sex & Misery, a third album, was released in 1996; by this point sisters Tracey and Melissa were the sole group members.

The band reformed in 2003 to play a two-week UK tour.

On This Day 08/07/1981 The Exploited

On this day, 8 July 1981, Scottish punk rock band The Exploited played Cardiff Top Rank on their Apocalypse Now Tour supported by Discharge, Anti Pasti, Infa Riot and Chron Gen.

Formed in 1978 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981, and their debut EP, Army Life, and debut album, Punks Not Dead, were both released that year.

The band maintained a large cult following in the 1980s among a hardcore working class punk and skinhead audience. Originally a street punk band, the Exploited eventually became a crossover thrash band with the release of their album Death Before Dishonour in 1987.

In March 1981, the band signed to Secret Records, and spent a month recording their debut album, Punks Not Dead. The Exploited released the single "Dogs of War", which peaked at #2 in the Independent charts and #63 on the UK Charts. Also in 1981, the band released their first live album, On Stage, recorded during a concert in Edinburgh.

During this time, the Exploited appeared on the popular mainstream TV programme, Top of the Pops.[8][9] A lot of fans of the Exploited were unhappy with the band's decision to appear on the show. The hardcore punk band Conflict wrote the song Exploitation about this appearance, which began a long-standing rivalry between Conflict and the Exploited that divided the punk fan base.

On This Day 07/07/1980 Black Uhuru

On this day, 7 July 1980, Jamaican reggae group Black Uhuru played Cardiff Top Rank. The band had just released their first album Sinsemilla since signing to Island Records.

Formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru (Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful period in the 1980s, with their album Anthem winning the first ever Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1985.

Trouser Press wrote that the album "delivers a level of consistency only Bob Marley himself had achieved." The Miami New Times wrote that "by 1980's Sinsemilla, Black Uhuru was a paragon of politics, close harmonies, pumping grooves, and a social awareness as astute and incisive as Marley's." Spin deemed Sinsemilla a "classic reggae" album, writing that Sly and Robbie's "trademark synth-drum grooves drove the group's harmonies like a diddling steam turbine."

On This Day 06/07/1996 Fear Factory

On this day, 6 July 1996, American heavy metal band played Cardiff University on their Demanufacture with support provided by Drain STH and Manhole.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020.

Fear Factory's second album, Demanufacture was awarded the maximum five-star rating in the UK's Kerrang! rock magazine. It went on to become a fairly successful album

Setlist

Zero Signal

Self Immolation

New Breed

Self Bias Resistor

Scumgrief

Flashpoint

Pisschrist

Dog Day Sunrise

(Head of David cover)

Concreto

Martyr

Your Mistake

(Agnostic Front cover)

Replica

Scapegoat

On This Day 05/07/2010 Leona Lewis

On this day, 5 July 2010, British singer Leona Lewis played Cardiff International Arena on the last night of her Labyrinth tour with support provided by Gabriella Cilmi.

Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music. Her winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and broke a world record by reaching 50,000 digital downloads within 30 minutes. In February 2007, Lewis signed a five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records.

Wales Online - Music review: Leona Lewis, Cardiff International Arena

SHE emerged out of the shadows of a derelict woodland castle in a hooded cloak and black boots you could measure by the mile.

Almost two hours and five or six costume changes later – who’s counting? – she left the CIA stage in a purple puff ball outfit with the chants of the Bleeding Love chorus ringing in our ears.

Lewis is no longer the shy hesitant London girl who overwhelmed us with her powerful vocal range but under-whelmed us with a lack of personality as she won the third X-Factor final four years ago.

Her debut solo Labyrinth tour, with superb choreography – it features terrific high-voltage dancing by semi-naked men – with horns! – is based on the theme of Leona’s favourite childhood film.

But you never lose sight of who the star of this show is. With subtle changes in pace, it threads together high-energy hits from her debut album Spirit (2007) and the follow up Echo released last November.

But Lewis has an equally captivating quality when she turns her attention to those slow ballads such as the Roberta Flack classic The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

It took a while for the crowd to respond and get on their feet, but when they did, she ensured they stayed there with the upbeat Run, Sweet Dreams and her encore of what has become a classic, Bleeding Love.

Forget her X-Factor roots, Lewis put on a show that demonstrates just why she has become such a huge star.

By David Owens

Setlist

Intro

(Video Introduction)

Brave

Don't Let Me Down

Better in Time

Whatever It Takes

Take a Bow

Ride A White Swan

(T. Rex cover)

I See You

Can't Breathe

Forgive Me

Happy

Could It Be Magic

(Barry Manilow cover)

I Got You

Cry Me a River

(Justin Timberlake cover)

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

(Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger cover)

Homeless

They Don't Care About Us

(Michael Jackson cover)

Outta My Head

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

(Eurythmics cover)

Run

(Snow Patrol cover)

Encore:

Bleeding Love

Setlist

On This Day 04/07/1960 Billy Fury

On this day, 4 July 1960, British rock ‘n’ roller Billy Fury played the first of five dates at Cardiff’s New Theatre.

Born Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), but better known as Billy Fury, he was an English musician and actor.

An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 weeks on the UK chart. His hit singles include "Wondrous Place", "Halfway to Paradise" and "Jealousy". Fury also maintained a film career, notably playing rock performers in Play It Cool in 1962 and That'll Be the Day in 1973.

AllMusic journalist Bruce Eder stated that Fury's "mix of rough-hewn good looks and unassuming masculinity, coupled with an underlying vulnerability, all presented with a good voice and some serious musical talent, helped turn [him] into a major rock and roll star in short order". Others have suggested that his rapid rise to prominence was due to his "Elvis-influenced hip swivelling and, at times, highly suggestive stage act".

He released his first hit single for Decca, "Maybe Tomorrow", in 1959. He also appeared in a televised play Strictly for Sparrows, and subsequently on Oh Boy! In March 1960, he reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart with his own composition "Colette", followed by "That's Love" and his first album The Sound of Fury (1960),[8] which featured a young Joe Brown on lead guitar, with backup vocals by the Four Jays.