On This Day 12/07/1975 10cc

On this day July 12 1975, 10cc became the first band to headline a concert at Cardiff Castle.
The Rolling Stones first raised the possibility years earlier and even went as far as to have posters made for the event, but the show never went ahead.

10cc were riding high following the massive success of the single "I'm Not In Love" released in May 1975. It became the band’s second number-one single and stayed on the top spot in the UK for two weeks from June 28, while it spent three weeks at number two in the US.

With support provided by Steeleye Span, Thin Lizzy and local favourites Man as special guests, the day proved a success despite torrential rain. By the time 10cc hit the stage, the rain had stopped and the 15,000 saturated crowd managed to enjoy the headliners set with steam rising from the drenched surroundings.
The obvious worry about the lethal mixture of water and electricity did cause worry for the performers and the crowd were warned not to approach anything electrical.

10cc opened with explosions and fireworks which sort of undermined all the warnings being issued during the day. 
Such was the band's popularity that demand for tickets far exceeded supply, despite the appalling conditions.

Their manager Harvey Lisberg recalls in the excellent book 'Worst Band in the World' by Liam Newton, something about the day: "It rained and rained and rained. There were 15,000 people there, who had been waiting for hours to hear the group and another 10,000 turned away because they couldn't get anymore in and were sitting soaked through waiting for them to appear. There was a real risk that, with all those volts going through the sound system, if something went wrong one of the group might get electrocuted, so we had to make especially sure that the equipment was all right."
Kicking of their set with "Silly Love" and with three arches of lights and the illuminated Castle Keep lit up dramatically, it provided a stunning backdrop, with the band only stopping when proceedings were brought to a hasty finish with "Rubber Bullets" as the midnight curfew approached with stage times in disarray due to the weather.

The after show party was a medieval banquet which was quite fitting for such a venue. Brian Robertson of support band Thin Lizzy's memory of the evening was getting "trashed" before "walking through the grounds of the castle with Eric Stewart before getting arrested."

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.

On This Day 03/07/2005 Snoop Dogg

On this day, 3 July 2005, American rapper Snoop Dogg played the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff.

His fame dates back to 1992 when he was featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, "Deep Cover", and then on Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic. Snoop Dogg has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide. His accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 nominations at the Grammy Awards.

In June 2004, Snoop signed to Geffen Records/Star Trak Entertainment, both distributed by Interscope Records; Star Trak is headed by producer duo the Neptunes, which produced several tracks for Snoop's 2004 release R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. "Drop It Like It's Hot" (featuring Pharrell), the first single released from the album, was a hit and became Snoop Dogg's first single to reach number one.

His third release was "Signs", featuring Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson, which entered the UK chart at No. 2. This was his highest entry ever in the UK chart. The album sold 1,730,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and most of its singles were heavily played on radio and television. Snoop Dogg joined Warren G and Nate Dogg to form the group 213 and released The Hard Way in 2004. Debuting at No.4 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it included the single "Groupie Luv". Snoop Dogg appeared in the music video for Korn's "Twisted Transistor" along with fellow rappers Lil Jon, Xzibit, and David Banner.