On This Day 07/09/1987 Gary Numan

On this day, 7 September 1987, synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall, the opening night of his Exhibition Tour. Support was provided by West Won.

In 1987, Numan's old label Beggars Banquet released the best-of compilation Exhibition, which reached No. 43 on the UK Albums Chart, and a remix of "Cars". The remix, titled "Cars (E Reg Model)" charted at No. 16, Numan's final top 20 hit until the 1996 re-release of the same song.

He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his debut solo album The Pleasure Principle in 1979, topping the UK Albums Chart. While his commercial popularity peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits including "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars" (both of which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart), Numan maintains a cult following. He has sold over 10 million records.

Numan faced intense hostility from critics and fellow musicians in his early career, but has since come to be regarded as a pioneer of electronic music. He developed a signature sound consisting of heavy synthesiser hooks fed through guitar effects pedals, and is also known for his distinctive voice and androgynous "android" persona. In 2017, he received an Ivor Novello Award, the Inspiration Award, from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.

Band Members

Gary Numan - Vocals

Rrussell Bell - Guitar

Greg Brimstone - Drums

John Webb - Keyboards

Chris Payne - Keyboards

Nick Davis - Bass

Emma Chalmers - Backing Vocals

Valerie Chalmers - Backing Vocals

Setlist

01 - Call Out The Dogs

02 - I Die: You Die

03 - Creatures

04 - I Can't Stop

05 - Me! I Disconnect From You

06 - Tricks

07 - The Sleeproom

08 - My Breathing

09 - Strange Charm

10 - Cars

11 - Metal

12 - Sister Surprise

13 - This Disease

14 - We Take Mystery (To Bed)

15 - We Are Glass

16 - Are 'Friends' Electric ?

Encore 1.

17 - Down In The Park

18 - My Shadow In Vain

Encore 2.

19 - Berserker

On This Day 04/09/1972 Guto Pryce

Born 4 September 1972 Guto Pryce is a Welsh musician best known as bass guitar player and songwriter in the band Super Furry Animals.

With them he has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums, plus numerous singles, EPs, compilations and collaborations. Pryce also records and performs with several other musical acts including his band Gulp.

He is part of the era of Welsh music prominence known as Cool Cymru.

Born in Cardiff, Pryce was in the Welsh-language band U Thant with his brother Iwan Pryce, Huw Bunford (also later of Super Furry Animals), Owen Powell (later of Catatonia) and others in a changing line-up, from 1989 to 1993. He recorded with Catatonia on their first two EPs before Super Furry Animals formed in 1993.

Working with dub and reggae label Trojan Records, Pryce put together a compilation Furry Selection: Luxury Cuts Of Trojan Chosen by a Super Furry Animal in 2007.

In 2008 Pryce recorded The Golden Mile with The Peth, a group which features Welsh actor Rhys Ifans on vocals, Super Furry Animals bandmate Dafydd Ieuan, Meilyr Gwynedd, Osian Gwynedd, Mick Hilton, Dic Ben and Kris Jenkins.

Under the band name The Stand, Pryce joined Welsh actor Jonny Owen, Owen Powell (formerly of Catatonia) and Ryan Richards of Funeral for a Friend to record a fundraising single "I'll Be There" in 2010. Stuart Cable of Stereophonics was involved in the project prior to his death. Proceeds from sales went to a fund to erect a statue of the footballer Fred Keenor on the Cardiff City F.C. grounds.

The song was adapted from the original written during the coal miner's General Strike of 1926 and often sung by Cardiff City fans. Pryce had previously shown his support for the team when the Super Furry Animals signed on as sponsors in 1999, with the band's name displayed on team jerseys.

On This Day 02/09/2013 Dinosaur Jr

On this day, 2 September 2013, American rock band Dinosaur Jr played Cardiff University.

Originally called Dinosaur, the band was forced to change their name due to legal issues.

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..

Creative tension led to Mascis firing Barlow, who later formed Sebadoh and Folk Implosion. His replacement, Mike Johnson, came aboard for three major-label albums. Murph eventually quit, with Mascis taking over drum duties on the band's albums before the group disbanded in 1997. The original lineup reformed in 2005, releasing five albums thereafter.

Setlist

Thumb

The Lung

In a Jar

Don't Pretend You Didn't Know

Watch the Corners

Pieces

Rude

Out There

Start Choppin

Little Fury Things

Training Ground

(Deep Wound cover)

Freak Scene

Forget the Swan

Encore:

Bulbs of Passion

Just Like Heaven

(The Cure cover)

ON THIS DAY 01/09/1958 Jackie Dennis

On this day, 1 September 1958, Scottish singer Jackie Dennis, The Kilted Choirboy, played Cardiff’s New Theatre.

He was discovered by the comedians Mike and Bernie Winters in 1958. The brothers brought him to the attention of the show business agent Eve Taylor, and he appeared on the television programme, Six-Five Special, at the age of 15, and in a subsequent film spin-off.

The kilt-wearing, spiky-haired pop singer enjoyed seven successful years in the show business and toured the world. "La Dee Dah" was his biggest UK hit, reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1958, whilst his cover of Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" was his second and final UK hit, peaking at number 29.

Dennis appeared on Perry Como's US television show, where he was introduced as 'Britain's Ricky Nelson' performing the song "Linton Addie".

He latterly worked as a nursing home carer, before retiring and living in Pilton, Edinburgh, with wife Irene, to whom he was married for over 30 years.

He died in September 2020 at the age of 77.

ON THIS DAY 31/08/2004 ALEXISONFIRE

On this day, 31 August 2004, Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisisonfire played Cardiff’s Barfly,

They describe their music as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight" (a reference to their song "A Dagger Through the Heart of St. Angeles", also the inspiration for their debut album cover art).

When the band emerged in late 2001, it was enough to impress critics as well as earning their self-titled debut album a platinum certification in Canada.

The band has released three subsequent successful studio albums since then: Watch Out! in 2004, Crisis in 2006, and Old Crows/Young Cardinals in 2009, each achieving platinum certification in their native country. Plus three special edition live albums from Manchester Academy, Birmingham Academy, and Brixton Academy.

Their accolades include a 2005 Juno Award for New Group of the Year.

In August 2011, vocalist George Pettit posted a message to fans on the band's official website stating that, following the departure of two members, that they would issue several special releases and complete a farewell tour before parting ways.

On March 9, 2015, following the previously shared post on social media the band appear to have confirmed themselves for several reunion shows, including Heavy MONTRÉAL, Reading and Leeds festivals, Sonic Boom, X-Fest, Riot Fest Toronto and the band's only American date, Riot Fest Chicago.

On September 19, 2015, during the band's last date of the tour at the Riot Fest in Toronto, Ontario, MacNeil announced on stage that the band was officially back.

On This Day 30/08/1965 The Who

On this day, 30 August 1965, legendary British rock band The Who, played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

The Cardiff show is the first for The Who placed by their new booking agent, Australian Robert Stigwood. Two Stigwood acts, The Merseybeats and The Graham Bond Organization, open for The Who.

In early 1965, The Who made their first appearance on the television music show, Top of the Pops, at the BBC's Dickenson Road Studios in Manchester, with "I Can't Explain".

The follow-up single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", by Townshend and Daltrey, features guitar noises such as pick sliding, toggle switching and feedback, which was so unconventional that it was initially rejected by the US arm of Decca. The single reached the top 10 in the UK and was used as the theme song to Ready Steady Go!

The transition to a hit-making band with original material, encouraged by manager Kit Lambert, did not sit well with Daltrey, and a recording session of R&B covers went unreleased.

The next single, "My Generation", followed in October. Townshend had written it as a slow blues, but after several abortive attempts, it was turned into a more powerful song with a bass solo from Entwistle. The song used gimmicks such as a vocal stutter to simulate the speech of a mod on amphetamines, and two key changes.

The debut album My Generation was released in late 1965. Among original material by Townshend, including the title track and "The Kids Are Alright", the album has several James Brown covers from the session earlier that year that Daltrey favoured.

On this day, 26/08/2007 Paul Van Dyk

On this day, 26 August 2007, German DJ, record producer and musician Paul Van Dyk played Coopers Field, Cardiff. Also featured were Sasha, Roger Sanchez, Pete Tong, Plump DJs, Marco V, Grooverider, Sander Van Doorn.

One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electronic album for his 2003 release Reflections.

He was named the World's number one DJ in both 2005 and 2006, something few DJs have ever achieved. He was the first ever DJ to be named number one by Mixmag in 2005. By 2008, he had sold over 3 million albums worldwide.

Van Dyk released his fifth studio album, In Between, worldwide on 14 August 2007. The album, which he created over a three-year period, debuted at number No. 115 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Billboard's Top Electronic Albums and No. 1 on the Top Heatseekers.

The album was released accompanied by a special edition limited to two thousand copies which included a mixed version of the full album, along with an eight-track bonus CD and an eight-page photo anthology.[

The album was produced primarily by Paul van Dyk himself, and features a wide range of collaborators including David Byrne of Talking Heads, Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls, Ashley Tomberlin from Luminary, Alex M.O.R.P.H, Lo Fi Sugar, Rea Garvey of Reamonn, Ryan Merchant and Wayne Jackson. It also features a vocal sample from Ben Lost from Probspot's "Blows My Mind" on the song "Another Sunday". In June 2007, van Dyk embarked on the worldwide "In Between Tour" to promote the album.

On This Day 24/08/1975 Queen

On this day, 24 August 1975 Supergroup Queen started recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at Rockfield studio' in Monmouth, South Wales. The song was recorded over three weeks.

Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to achieve widespread commercial success and appeal to a mainstream audience.

Mercury referred to "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a "mock opera" that resulted from the combination of three songs he had written.

Mercury had mentally prepared the song beforehand and directed the band throughout the sessions. May, Mercury, and Taylor sang their vocal parts continually for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting in 180 separate overdubs.

According to Guitarist Brian May, much of Queen's material was written in the studio, but this song "was all in Freddie's mind" before they started.