On This Day 31/08/2004 Alexisonfire

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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

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On this day, 30 August 1965, legendary British rock band The Who, playe 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 27/08/1967 Brian Epstein

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A day in the life: August 27, 1967. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, was found dead at his home in London. Jane Asher was the one who answered the phone call breaking them of the bad news in Wales, and communicated it to Paul. Sad, tearful and confused,

The Beatles gave a short press conference and left for London.

John recalled: “We were in Wales with the Maharishi. We decided to accept his invitation to Wales after the conference he gave in London.

“ I was stunned at the news, we all were, I guess, and went where the Maharishi was.. We told him he was dead and everything, and he just told us 'Oh, well, forget it', be happy, like idiots, in family, smile, that's what the Maharishi told us and that's what we did. I got that feeling anyone gets when someone very close to you dies: it's that little hysterical attack, that "ji-ji!

"It enters you for a moment and then suddenly, you start crying, I don't know if it's happened to you." I knew we were in trouble. I really didn't have these weird ideas about our abilities to do things other than playing music, so I was scared. We had her fucked up.

“I liked that Brian and I had such a close relationship for years because I wasn't willing to do things with strangers, I like working with friends.”

On This Day 26/08/1967 Amen Corner

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On this day, 26 August 1967, the Melody Maker reported that Cardiff popsters Amen Corner, despite holding the number 13 slot on the Melody Maker top 30 this week, the band had won a prize for an amateur talent contest they had entered last June.

It was Granada's TV's "First Timers" show which is screened daily in the North and features artists who have never appeared on TV before, produced by Johnny Hamp.

On Wednesday this week the group were to receive a trophy and cheque from Engelbert Humperdinck.

When the group entered the contest they were still without a recording contract.

The song that won them the contest? - "Gin House."

On This Day 25/08/2007 The Streets

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On this day, 25 August 2007, The Streets headlined the Cardiff Calling Festival. Also featured on the day were Welsh bands Super Furry Animals and The Automatic,

The Streets had recently released their third studio album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, In the UK it debuted the album chart at number one.

It is the shortest The Streets album released so far, with a running time of just 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem, two of Skinner's protégés, make guest appearances on the album.

Best known for the music project The Streets, leader Mike Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of The D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.

Skinner was born in Barnet, but grew up in West Heath, Birmingham. He started playing with keyboards at the age of five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy, which worsened in his early teens.

He began writing hip hop and garage music in his home in West Heath and later built a sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring".

At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; the relationship quickly ended, but Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London.

He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become the song "Has It Come to This?" to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington.

The song was released as a single in 2001, through Locked On Records.

On This Day 23/08/1966 Small Faces

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On this day 23 August 1966, mod rockers the Small Faces played two shows at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on the Swingin’ 1966 tour.

The band had recently released their debut album, released in May 1966 by Decca Records. It included the hit singles "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" and "Sha-La-La-La-Lee".

The album was well received by music critics and was popular with the public, rising to number 3 on the UK album chart remaining at the top for several weeks.

The album was recorded at IBC Studios, Portland Place, London between June 1965 and February 1966.] Glyn Johns was the studio engineer. In 1966, Small Faces became the eleventh biggest selling artists of the year.

Jimmy Winston was asked to leave after the band's second single "I've Got Mine", released on 5 November 1965, failed to make the charts.

He still appears on many tracks on this album, including joint writing contributions to "It's Too Late" and providing keyboards and vocals on various tracks. Winston's replacement, Ian McLagan, appears on the album cover and plays on various tracks as well.

On This Day 17/08/1968 Spencer Davis

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On this day, 17 August 1968, the rock magazine Melody Maker reported that Welsh rocker Spencer Davis and band had been robbed.

Vandals had wrecked the Spencer Davis Management Offices at Wardour Street, Soho, twice in a week, with petty cash taken and furniture damaged.

The Spencer Davis Group van was also stolen in Cardiff but was later recovered by Police.

The band were still unable to fufill an engagement in Scarborough as it broke down on the way.

On This Day 16/08/2002 Death Cab For Cutie

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On this day, 16 August 2002, American rock band Death Cab For Cutie played Cardiff’s Barfly.

Formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboards, guitar), and Jason McGerr (drums).

The band was originally a solo project by Gibbard, who expanded the project into a complete group upon getting a record deal.

They released their debut album, Something About Airplanes, in 1998. The band's fourth album, 2003's Transatlanticism, broke into the mainstream both critically and commercially; its songs were featured in various TV series and films.

The band's major label debut for Atlantic Records, 2005's Plans, went platinum.

Setlist

Bend to Squares

Photobooth

For What Reason

Why You'd Want to Live Here

We Laugh Indoors

A Movie Script Ending

Company Calls

Technicolor Girls

Pictures in an Exhibition

Information Travels Faster

Blacking Out the Friction

Atmosphere

(Joy Division cover)

Styrofoam Plates