On This Day 23/08/1966 Radio England Swinging 66 UK Tour

On this day, 23 August 1966, the Small Faces, Crispian St. Peters, Neil Christian, Dave Berry and Wayne Fontana played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre as part of the Radio England Swinging 66 UK Tour.

The tour was heavily advertised on air and gigs proved reasonably successful in the south-east of the country, where Radio England could be heard. Unfortunately outside the station's transmission area, audiences were understandably sparse. The tour proved a financial disaster, losing over £17,000.

The station attempted to get some of this back by selling autographed copies of the left-over concert programmes.

Nowadays record companies have synchronised worldwide release dates for their products but in the sixties American records were often released in the States months before they became available in the UK (and vice versa). Radio England frequently played the US releases which gave the station a unique sound and meant that it was often ahead of the competition.

It has been suggested that Radio England ultimately failed because it was “too American” for British tastes. If this is true, nowhere was the cuture gap more apparent than in the delivery of news. Listeners in the UK had never heard bulletins like this before! We were used to the BBC and its rather polite presentation of the stories of the day.

Radio London had introduced Morse bleeps between the items and a greater sense of urgency but news on Swinging Radio England was something else again. Jingles, sound effects and echo were all part of the mix. It was news as drama. Never knowingly under-stated, each bulletin was “a feature of the Radio England Department of News and Public Affairs” - “Europe's most comprehensive news service”!

On This Day 22/08/2009 U2

On this day, 22 August 2009, Irish rock band U2 played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on their 360° Tour with support provided by Glasvegas and The Hours.

Staged in support of the group's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band playing "in the round" on a circular stage, allowing the audience to surround them on all sides. To accommodate the stage configuration, a large four-legged structure nicknamed "The Claw" was built above the stage, with the sound system and a cylindrical, expanding video screen on top of it.

At 164 feet (50 m) tall, it was the largest stage ever constructed. U2 claimed that the tour would be "the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure."

Setlist

Space Oddity (David Bowie song) (intro tape)

Breathe

No Line on the Horizon

Get on Your Boots

Magnificent

Beautiful Day

(with "Land of Our Fathers" and "Blackbird" snippets)

Mysterious Ways

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

(with "Stand By Me" snippet)

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

Unknown Caller

The Unforgettable Fire

City of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

(remix; with "Two Tribes" snippet)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

(with "Oliver's Army" snippet)

Pride (In the Name of Love)

MLK

Walk On

(with "You'll Never Walk Alone" snippet)

Where the Streets Have No Name

(Desmond Tutu Speech)

One

Bad

(with "40" snippet)

Encore:

Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

With or Without You

Moment of Surrender

Review - Wales Online

U2 at the Millennium Stadium: 'The best gig Cardiff's ever had'

IT was one of the most eagerly anticipated gigs of the year.

And for 70,000 fans, it delivered on every count.

When U2 rolled into Cardiff last night for the last leg of their European 360 Degree Tour, they blew the audience away.

Taking centre stage and most of the audience’s breath away in the Millennium Stadium was the £20m set dubbed The Claw – which towered over the main circular stage.

As the iconic front man Bono emerged last night, clad in black and wearing his trademark sunglasses, the crowd erupted with delight.

The almost capacity 70,000 audience made it a record-breaking attendance for any gig at the stadium, outselling Take That’s 64,000 audience earlier this year.

After opening with Breathe, from the new album No Line on the Horizon, the band treated fans to a mix of their many hits from the last three decades and new songs from their latest CD.

Highlights included Beautiful Day, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Pride and One, as well as newer stand out songs, Get On Your Boots, Crazy Tonight and Magnificent.

Homage was also paid to The Edge’s Welsh roots, with Bono confessing to having once had singing lessons from the guitarist’s father, Garvin Evans.

“He told me to look after the consonants and the vowels will look after themselves,” Bono told the crowd, who lapped up his every word.

The Edge, whose family were in the Cardiff crowd, received a rapturous applause simply by saying “Cymru Am Byth”, before the band launched into I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For while the adoring masses sang along.

Of course, no U2 gig would be complete without a political message of democracy and freedom, and this was no exception.

The band dedicated their tracks Walk On and MLK to imprisoned Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu gave an uplifting video message before the song One.

Fans hailed the gig as possibly the greatest spectacle seen in the stadium’s 10 year history.

Martin Howarth, 25, from Swansea, said: “I’ve seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the stadium and the Rolling Stones but U2 were much better.

“They get such a mixed crowd because they have been going for so long. Some people knew all the words of the old stuff and others only knew the recent albums.

“You have to give them credit and say they are one of the best live bands in the world.

“I would definitely go back and see them again if they came to Cardiff.”

Lloyd James, 24, from Swansea, said: “It was unbelievable. I have never seen a gig like it before.

“The sound was fantastic and the stage looked immense.

“I’ve been to some pretty special rugby games in the Millennium Stadium before but the atmosphere was something totally different to those.

“It’s the best gig Cardiff’s ever had.”

On this Day 18/08/1993 U2

On this day, 18 August 1993, Irish rock band U2 played Cardiff Arms Park as part of their Zoo TV tour.

Support for the day was provided by Utah Saints and Stereo MCs.

Staged in support of their 1991 album Achtung Baby, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 to 1993. It was intended to mirror the group's new musical direction on Achtung Baby.

In contrast to U2's austere stage setups from previous tours, the Zoo TV Tour was an elaborately staged multimedia spectacle, satirising television and media oversaturation by attempting to instill "sensory overload" in its audience.

To escape their reputation for being earnest and overly serious, U2 embraced a more lighthearted and self-deprecating image on tour. Zoo TV and Achtung Baby were central to the group's 1990s reinvention.

The tour's concept was inspired by disparate television programming, coverage of the Gulf War, the desensitising effect of mass media, and "morning zoo" radio shows.

The stages featured dozens of large video screens that showed visual effects, video clips, and flashing text phrases, along with a lighting system partially made of Trabant automobiles.

The shows incorporated channel surfing, prank calls, video confessionals, a belly dancer, and live satellite transmissions with war-torn Sarajevo.

On stage, Bono portrayed several characters he conceived, including the leather-clad egomaniac "The Fly", the greedy televangelist "Mirror Ball Man", and the devilish "MacPhisto".

In contrast to other U2 tours, each of the Zoo TV shows opened with six to eight consecutive new songs before older material was played.

Setlist:

Zoo Station

The Fly

Even Better Than The Real Thing

Mysterious Ways

One / Hear Us Coming (snippet) / Unchained Melody (snippet)

Until the End of the World

New Year's Day

Numb

Babyface

Angel of Harlem

Dancing Queen

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

Satellite Of Love

Bad / Irish Heartbeat (snippet) / The First Time (snippet)

Bullet the Blue Sky

Running To Stand Still

Where the Streets Have No Name

Pride (In the Name of Love)

encore(s):

Desire / You Make Me Feel So Young (snippet) / Green Green Grass Of Home (snippet)

I Just Called To Say I Love You (snippet) / Ultraviolet (Light My Way) / My Way (snippet)

With or Without You / Shine Like Stars (snippet)

Love Is Blindness

Can't Help Falling In Love

ARCHIVE REVIEW
by Steve Duffy, South Wales Echo

The band too have moved on, as they must. CNN and NBC were the perfect backing for the PVC of Bono as band started with a huge chunk from their previous album Achtung Baby - techno-rock gloss of Even Better Than The Real Thing, The Fly (and with exotic dancer) Mysterious Ways, three tracks which stand with Us2 best.

Normal service was quickly resumed with New Year’s Day, who struck the crowd dumb with his new solo, effort, Numb.

On Babyface, Bono invites a girl up - these days she gets a camcorder rather than a kiss, and promptly zooms in on his crotch.

the band at last leave the technology behind to take to a small stage for semi-acoustic segment - a memorable Angel Of Harlem, an improbably good version of Abba’s Dancing Queen, the excellent Stay (Faraway So Close) from Zooropa and Satellite of Love (with fuzzy image of Lou Reed bearing down).

The crowd are predictably welcoming for the U2 - the anthems’ segment.

The old stadium rock atmosphere is recreated for Bad, although Bullet The Blue Sky is, with out irony, turned into a horrid Nuremberg style rally, to a backdrop of burning crosses turning into swastikas, Bono ending with clenched salute declaring, "We must not let this happen again." Please don’t.

They finish with Where The Streets Have No Name and Pride, and we’re left with a relaxation video of tropical fish.

Bono returns for the encore as MacPhisto - dressed in gold glitter suit, platform shoes, red devil horns and lip gloss for Desire.

Then it’s on the mobile phone to Lady Thatcher.

the band may have matured musically, but not politically - a naive call to the Commons in the summer recess to sing I Just Called To Say I Love You to The Lady (wrong number too), to be told by a telephonist to write in.

We should all write "Capitalism Suck" 100 times on our £10 tour programmes and send them to the band.

It ends wonderfully quietly - Love Is Blindness and a quick impression of Elvis before a simple sign off with I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.

"Elvis Is Still In The Stadium," were his last words.

Somehow Bono himself never really was.

On This Day 16/08/2005 Man

On this day 16 August 2005, legendary Welsh rock band Man played the Coal Exchange, Cardiff as part of the Titch Gwillym Foundation Concert. Also included were, Racing Cars, Sassafrass, Snatch it Back, Geraint Watkins, The Boogiemen and Mrs Huggett.

Formed in November 1968 as a reincarnation of the Welsh vocal group the Bystanders, Man is renowned for the extended jams during their live performances.

Man's style combined elements of psychedelia, space rock and progressive music.. With their debut album, Revelation, Man "positioned themselves between the space prog of Nektar and the acid-fried rock of Quicksilver Messenger Service".

According to AllMusic, "Man were one of the most promising rock bands to come out of Wales in the early '70s. Along with Brinsley Schwarz, they helped establish the core of the pub rock sound, but they played louder and also had a progressive component to their work that separated them from many of their rivals."

Member Martin Ace has denied that Man is a pub rock band, saying, "We ended up playing in pubs, but it would be completely false to lump us in with that scene. Dire Straits were a pub rock band, not us. Terry [Williams, a former member of Man] went on to join Rockpile, who were the definitive pub rock band, but we sounded nothing like them.”

The BBC called Man a progressive rock band and "psych-prog titans". Classic Rock magazine called Man a jam band.[44] Frank Zappa was an admirer of Man's music, and once described Man guitarist Micky Jones as "one of the 10 best guitarists in the world".

On This Day 15/08/1966 The Troggs

On this day, 15 August 1966, English rock band The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes), played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

Formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. They had a number of hits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs.

"Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.

The Troggs are widely seen as a highly influential band whose sound was an inspiration for garage rock and punk rock. Influential American critic Lester Bangs "called the band the progenitors of punk", according to NPR.For example, the Troggs influenced artists such as Iggy Pop, and the early version of British pop-punk pioneers Buzzcocks featured "I Can't Control Myself" in their live repertoire.

The Ramones are also among the punk bands who cited the Troggs as an influence. "I Can't Control Myself" is perhaps the most enduring favourite of critics; it continues to be championed for its originality and lasting influence by radio hosts such as "Little" Steven Van Zandt.

An in-studio tape of band leader Reg Presley's running commentary on a recording session, filled with in-fighting and swearing (known as The Troggs Tapes), was widely circulated in the music underground, and was included in the Archaeology box set, as well as the compilation album, The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records.

The group infighting is believed to be the inspiration for a scene in the comedy film This Is Spinal Tap, where the band members are arguing. Some of this dialogue was sampled by the California punk band the Dwarves on their recording of a cover version of the Troggs song "Strange Movies".

On This Day 14/08/2005 Beverley Knight

On this day, 14 August 2005 Soul sensation Beverley Knight played Cardiff’s Big Weekend.

Born Beverley Anne Smith, (22 March 1973) an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, The B-Funk, in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released eight studio albums.

Widely labelled as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, Knight is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", and "Come as You Are".

As Knight grew up in a Pentecostal environment of Jamaican descent, music – especially gospel music – became a staple part of her childhood. She entered the gospel choir of her local church at just four years of age and eventually became the musical director before she left in her late teens. Her musical education continued at home, where her family would often sing together around the piano and listen to music from their favourite gospel and soul artists such as Sam Cooke.

In 2005, Knight revisited her childhood when she hosted Beverley's Gospel Nights, a BBC Radio 2 series exploring gospel music. Featuring interviews with artists such as Shirley Caesar, Percy Sledge and Destiny's Child stars Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, the six-part series explored the roots of gospel music and the impact it had upon the black community. Such was the success of the show that a second six-part series was commissioned and began in March 2006 and featured new interviews with artists such as Candi Staton, David McAlmont and Marvin Winans. Knight's interview technique and her ability to get her guests to open up and discuss issues in their personal lives such as domestic violence and depression received favourable reviews and led the Radio Times to comment "Knight's passion for the music is obvious – but so is her warmth, which makes her a rarity among interviewers."

The first artist to make an impact upon Knight was one of the true founders of contemporary gospel and soul music, Sam Cooke. Despite his untimely death in 1964, his music endured and became a staple part of Knight's childhood:

My mother played Sam Cooke and he was the first voice I ever heard on record. His was the first voice that directly had a big impact on me, vocally. He still makes me cry. He'd take the very simple Bible stories that I grew up with and just make them into a two-and-a-half-minute song and yet with an intensity and a passion that the world had never heard before. He really was a major influence on my life.

The impact of Cooke can be seen throughout Knight's career as she has often performed and recorded Cooke classics, the most notable of which is "A Change Is Gonna Come". The track, which came to exemplify the civil rights movement in the 1960s, has featured in many of Knight's live performances (usually with the aid of the London Community Gospel Choir) and she even recorded a studio version with musician Jools Holland, which featured on his Small World, Big Band Volume 2 album.

In September 2005 Knight was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton "in recognition of her outstanding contribution to music and the local community, and in recognition of her extensive charity work." Upon being made a Doctor of Music, she stated she was proud to be black, female, and British, adding: "it is still all me, I have not forgotten my roots."

On This Day 12/08/1995 Hugh Cornwall

On this day 12 August 1995, former Strangler Hugh Cornwall played Cardiff’s Big Weekend.

Also playing that day were, Chumbawamba, The Dharmas. The Underdogs, Fat Barry's Soul Band and Galaxy 101 Showcase feat Danii Minogue + The Spice Girls.

The English musician, singer-songwriter and writer is best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the Stranglers, Cornwell has gone on to record a further ten solo studio albums and continues to record and perform live.

A cricket fan, Cornwell appeared on the Jamie Theakston Cricket Show on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2001. He played a live acoustic version of "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" with the then England batsman and guitarist Mark Butcher. Cornwell subsequently became a player with Bunbury Cricket Club, and has been a guest on "A View from the Boundary" on BBC Radio 4's Test Match Special and BBC Radio 5 Live's Yes It's the Ashes.

On This Day 11/08/2013 Misfits

On this day, 11 August 2013, American punk rock band the Misfits played The Globe, Cardiff on their Dead Alive tour. The band had earlier in the year released a live album Dead Alive !

The group was founded in 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey and often recognized as the pioneers of the horror punk subgenre, blending punk and other musical influences with horror film themes and imagery.

Glenn Danzig, who had previous experience performing in local cover bands named the band after actress Marilyn Monroe's final film, The Misfits (1961).

Danzig's first recruit to the Misfits was drummer Mr. Jim and bassist Diane DiPazza, however, DiPiazza never showed up. Mr. Jim was replaced by Manny Martinez shortly after. The two practiced in Martínez's garage, with Danzig on electric piano and Martínez on drums.

The duo soon encountered Jerry Caiafa, who was dating a neighbor of Martínez's and had just received a bass guitar for Christmas. Although he was still new to the instrument, he joined the band; Caiafa and Danzig would remain the only consistent members of the Misfits until the group's dissolution in 1983.

In 2009 and 2010, the Misfits performed an extended 30th anniversary world tour. A new single, "Land of the Dead" was released October 27, 2009, marking the band's first release of new studio material in six years and the only release by the lineup of Only, Cadena, and Robo.

Robo was dismissed from the band in 2010, with Only explaining that ongoing problems with his Colombian passport inhibited the band's ability to tour consistently. He was replaced by Eric "Chupacabra" Arce of Murphy's Law, who had previously filled in with the band for tours in 2000 and 2001.[16] The Only/Cadena/Arce lineup released a new album, The Devil's Rain, recorded with producer Ed Stasium and titled after the 1975 film starring William Shatner. The album was released on October 4, 2011.[19] During the latter quarter of 2011, former vocalist Danzig and guitarist Doyle performed Misfits songs on four occasions as part of the Danzig Legacy tour. The first of the four shows, which took place on October 7 in Chicago, saw a sold-out crowd.

In 2013, the Misfits released their third live album, Dead Alive!. In October, they released a 12" single fronted by a new recording of "Descending Angel", backed by a cover of "Science Fiction/Double Feature", a song they previously only played live. Meanwhile, Danzig and Doyle continued to regularly play Misfits songs and included a set on Danzig's 25th anniversary tour. In October 2013, publisher Rowman & Littlefield published This Music Leaves Stains by James Greene, an unofficial Misfits biography, which tells the story of each incarnation of the band as well as spin-off projects such as Samhain and Danzig.[citation needed] In late 2015, the Misfits released the songs "Vampire Girl" and "Zombie Girl" as a single.