On This Day 24/01/1975 Strider

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On this day, 24 January 1975, blues rock band Strider played Cardiff University

Taking their name from Lord of the Rings, Strider was formed by guitarist Gary Grainger, keyboard player and lead vocalist Ian Kewley, bassist Lee Hunter (real name; Strzelczyk) and drummer Jimmy Hawkins.

After supporting headline acts including Humble Pie, Status Quo and Deep Purple and building up a solid following on the UK club and universities circuit they released their first LP, Strider Exposed, in 1973.

Their second (and final) album, Misunderstood (1974), featured new lead vocalist Rob Elliott and Tony Brock in place of Jimmy Hawkins on drums.

Just as it seemed the band were going places, internal squabbles caused them to split up with Grainger going on to feature in Rod Stewart‘s band and Tony Brock moving on to The Babys.

Rob Elliott
Vocals
Ian Keyley
Keyboards, vocals
Gary Grainger
Guitar
Lee Hunter (Strzelczyk)
Bass
Tony Brock
Drums, vocals
Jimmy Hawkins
Drums

On This Day 23/01/1976 Ralph McTell

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On this day, 23 January 1976, singer songwriter Ralph McTell played Cardiff’s New Theatre.

McTell has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s and is best known for his song "Streets of London" (1969), which has been covered by over two hundred artists around the world.

McTell modelled his guitar style on American country blues guitar players of the early 20th century, including Blind Blake, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie McTell.

These influences led a friend to suggest his professional surname. An accomplished performer on piano and harmonica as well as guitar, McTell issued his first album in 1968 and found acclaim on the folk circuit.

He reached his greatest commercial success in 1974 when a new recording of "Streets of London" became a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Another of his notable compositions is "From Clare to Here", a ballad about Irish emigration.

During 1976, McTell topped the bill at Montreux Jazz Festival and played another sold-out concert at The Royal Albert Hall. This was followed by his first tour of Australia and the far east. At McTell's insistence, local buskers were given free tickets for the flagship concert at Sydney Opera House.

On This Day 22/01/2006 Fall Out Boy

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On this day, 22 January 2006, American alternate rock band Fall Out Boy, played Cardiff University. Support was provided by Gym Class Heroes and Nightmare Of You.

Formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, drummer Andy Hurley, and lead guitarist Joe Trohman.

The band originated from Chicago's hardcore punk scene and was formed by Wentz and Trohman as a pop-punk side project; Stump joined shortly thereafter. The group went through a succession of drummers before Hurley joined.

Their debut album, Take This to Your Grave (2003), became an underground success and helped the band gain a dedicated fanbase through heavy touring. Take This to Your Grave is cited as influential on pop-punk music in the 2000s.

A central part of Fall Out Boy's sound is rooted in the band's lyrics, mainly penned by bassist Pete Wentz, who commonly uses irony and other literary devices to narrate personal experience and stories. Wentz stated, "I write about what I'm going through most of the time, or what I imagine people are going through most of the time." He draws inspiration from authors such as Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway, and JT LeRoy, as well as rappers such as Lil Wayne, who he described as his primary influence while writing Infinity on High.

On Fall Out Boy's earlier works, Wentz wrote primarily about love and heartbreak. Themes addressed on From Under the Cork Tree include narcissism and megalomania, while many tracks on Infinity on High discuss the ups and downs of fame.

On This Day 21/01/2003 Martin Grech

On this day, 21 January 2003, singer, songwriter and musician Martin Grech played Cardiff’s Barfly.

From Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Grech released his debut album Open Heart Zoo, produced by Andy Ross, in June 2002. He achieved critical acclaim for his falsetto title track, "Open Heart Zoo" (written when he was 15 years old), which was featured on a Lexus advert on British television. This was followed by a well-received UK tour.

In 2003 Grech was invited to play at the Jeff Buckley tribute concert by Buckley's mother Mary Guibert, at the Garage, Highbury alongside Ed Harcourt and Jamie Cullum. In 2005, Adam White sampled "Open Heart Zoo" for his trance track "Ballerina".

In 2005, Grech released a second album, Unholy. As before, reviews were positive. The Unholy art work created by Stephen Kasner was hung as a backdrop to his concerts.

On This Day 20/01/2005 Keane

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On this day, 20 January 2005, alternative rock band Keane played Cardiff University on their Hope and Fears tour.

Formed in 1995. They met while at Tonbridge School together. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin (lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitar, piano), Tim Rice-Oxley (piano, synthesisers, bass guitar, backing vocals), Richard Hughes (drums, percussion, backing vocals), and Jesse Quin (bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, backing vocals). Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.

Keane's debut album Hopes and Fears was released on 10 May 2004 in the UK, a day before the band started their first world tour. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the second best-selling British album of the year. It has been certified 9× platinum in the UK.

The album has sold approximately 5.5 million copies worldwide. In the UK, it stayed in the top 75 of the UK Albums Chart for 72 weeks, appearing again on its 115th week.

The band won two awards at the 2005 BRIT Awards in February; Best British album for Hopes and Fears, and the British breakthrough act award as voted for by listeners of BBC Radio 1. Three months after, Rice-Oxley received the Ivor Novello award for songwriter of the year.

Setlist

Can't Stop Now

Your Eyes Open

Sunshine

Bend and Break

Nothing in My Way

Hamburg Song

We Might as Well Be Strangers

Everybody's Changing

Snowed Under

She Has No Time

Somewhere Only We Know

Encore:

Try Again

This Is the Last Time

Bedshaped

On This Day 19/01/1972 Ten Years After

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On this day, 19 January 1972, blues/rock band Ten Years After played Cardiff University.

The band's core formed in late 1960 as Ivan Jay and the Jaycats. After several years of local success in the Nottingham/Mansfield area, they changed their name to the Jaybirds in 1962, and later to Ivan Jay and the Jaymen. Ivan Jay sang lead vocals from late 1960 to 1962 and was joined by Ric Lee in August 1965, replacing drummer Dave Quickmire who had replaced Pete Evans in 1962.

Roy Cooper played rhythm guitar and sang from 1960 to 1962. The Jaybirds moved to London to back the Ivy League in 1966. In the same year, Chick Churchill joined the group as keyboard player. That November, the quartet signed a manager, Chris Wright, and changed their name to Blues Trip. Using the name Blues Yard they played one show at the Marquee Club supporting the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons again changed their name in 1966 to Ten Years After – in honour of Elvis Presley, one of Lee's idols. (This was ten years after Presley's successful year, 1956). Some sources claim that the name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine, advertising a book, Suez Ten Years After (referring to the Suez Crisis).

On This Day 18/01/1999 Idlewild

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On this day, 18 January 1999, Scottish rock band Idlewild played Cardiff University on their on their Hope Is Important tour.

Formed in Edinburgh in 1995. The band's line-up consists of Roddy Woomble (lead vocals), Rod Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Newton (drums), Andrew Mitchell (bass), and Luciano Rossi (keyboards).

Initially, Idlewild's sound was faster and more dissonant than many of their 1990s indie rock contemporaries. However, it developed over time from an edgy and angular sound (as heard in their early material—once described by the NME as "the sound of a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs" to a sweeping, melodic rock sound as displayed on The Remote Part and Warnings/Promises.

Hope Is Important was the debut studio album by Idlewild, released 26 October 1998 through Food Records. and received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the songwriting and Idlewild's energy.

The album charted at number 44 in Scotland, and number 53 in the UK; it was also certified silver in the UK. All of the songs appeared on the Scottish and UK Singles Charts, with "When I Argue I See Shapes" charting the highest at number 15 in Scotland, and number 19 in the UK. Hope Is Important appeared on a best-of-the-year album list by NME, as well as a best Scottish albums list by The Herald.

On This Day 17/01/1991 Cinderella

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On this day, 17 January 1991, American rock band Cinderella played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their Heartbreak Station tour. Support was provided by Slaughter.

Formed in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1983. The band emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum studio albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation and popularity. Cinderella initially had a glam metal sound throughout the late 1980s before shifting into a more blues rock-based sound during the early to mid 1990s.

Cinderella's third album, Heartbreak Station, was released in 1990. It featured more songs than last recording Long Cold Winter, that were influenced by Keifer's love of the blues. Following the accompanying tour, Fred Coury left the band and joined former Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy in the band Arcade. The song "Hot and Bothered" was featured in the movie Wayne's World and its subsequent soundtrack.

In 1991, Keifer lost his voice due to a paresis of his vocal cords. He underwent several surgeries to repair a vocal cyst and hemorrhage.