On This Day 28/07/2001 Tom Jones

On This day, 28 July 2001, Welsh singing superstar Tom Jones played Cardiff Castle, the first of three consecutive nights.

Jones had been enjoying somewhat of a resurgance with the release of his Reload album in September 1999, some of which featured in his Cardiff Castle set.

Reload became the highest seller of Jones' career, reaching number one on the British charts in 1999 and again in 2000. Its biggest single was the collaboration with Mousse T, "Sex Bomb", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later used in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons (a show Jones had guest starred on in 1992). The album has sold more than four million copies worldwide.

In 2000, Jones garnered a number of honours for his work, including a BRIT Award for Best British Male.

Setlist

Ain't That a Lot of Love

(Homer Banks cover)

Hard to Handle

(Otis Redding cover)

Help Yourself

Never Tear Us Apart

(INXS cover)

I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

.M<(Elvis Presley cover)

Burning Down the House

(Talking Heads cover)

Delilah

(Les Reed cover)

She's a Lady

(Paul Anka cover)

Without Love (There Is Nothing)

(Clyde McPhatter cover)

Sometimes We Cry

(Van Morrison cover)

Crapped Out Again

(Keb’ Mo’ cover)

Venus

(Shocking Blue cover)

If I Only Knew

You Need Love Like I Do

Mama Told Me Not to Come

(Randy Newman cover)

Give Me One Reason

(Tracy Chapman cover)

Am I Wrong

(Keb’ Mo’ cover)

A Boy From Nowhere

(Mike Leander cover)

I'll Never Fall in Love Again

(Lonnie Donegan cover)

Green, Green Grass of Home

(Johnny Darrell cover)

What's New Pussycat?

(Burt Bacharach cover)

You Can Leave Your Hat On

(Randy Newman cover)

Sex Bomb

It's Not Unusual

(Les Reed cover)

It's Your Thing

(The Isley Brothers cover)

Are You Gonna Go My Way

(Lenny Kravitz cover)

Kiss

(Prince cover)

On This Day 27/07/2003 Marc Almond

On this day, 27 July 2003 former Soft Cell singer Marc Almond played Cardiff’s Big Buzz Festival.

Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has also had a diverse career as a solo artist. His collaborations include a duet with Gene Pitney on the 1989 UK number one single "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart".

Almond's career spanning over four decades has enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim, and he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. He spent a month in a coma after a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2004 and later became a patron of the brain trauma charity Headway.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to arts and culture.

Setlist

Tears Run Rings

The Days of Pearly Spencer

(David McWilliams cover)

Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart

(Gene Pitney cover)

Adored and Explored

Tainted Love

(Gloria Jones cover)

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

On This Day 26/07/2014 Mostly Autumn

On this day, 26 July 2014, Celtic tinged prog rock band Mostly Autumn played The Globe, Cardiff .

The group formed in 1995 and have built their reputation through constant touring, never signing to a major label. They produce music heavily influenced by 1970s progressive rock.

According to the BBC, Mostly Autumn "fuse the music of Genesis and Pink Floyd with Celtic themes, hard rock and strong, emotional melodies". They have also been compared with other progressive bands from the same era such as Renaissance, Jethro Tull and Camel, blended with traditional folk music. Later albums also include more contemporary influences.

First Set

Deep in Borrowdale

Drops of the Sun

Changing Fast

Never the Rainbow

The Rain Song

Evergreen

The Last Climb

Nowhere to Hide (Close My Eyes)

Questioning Eyes

(Breathing Space cover)

Second Set - Dressed In Voices

Saturday Night

Not Yours to Take

Running

(See You)

Home

First Day at School

Down by the River

Skin on Skin

The House on the Hill

The Last Day

Dressed in Voices

The Library

(Footsteps)

Box of Tears

Encore:

Heroes Never Die

Tonight

On This Day 25/07/1996 Melissa Etheridge

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day. 25 July 1996, American singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge played Cardiff’s International Arena as support to Bryan Adams on her Your Little Secret World Tour.

Your Little Secret is the fifth album by singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, released in 1995. It was her most successful album on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number six.

The album also contained three singles, "Your Little Secret", "I Want to Come Over", and "Nowhere to Go". "I Want to Come Over" went on to reach No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Nowhere to Go" peaked at No. 40.

As of 2010, the album has sold 1,348,000 copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Etheridge is known for music with a mixture of "confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals." She has been a gay and lesbian activist since her public coming out in January 1993.

She has received fifteen Grammy Award nominations throughout her career, winning two, in 1993 and 1995. In 2007, she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I Need to Wake Up" from the film An Inconvenient Truth.

In September 2011, Etheridge received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tour Setlist

I Really Like You

If I Wanted To

I Want to Come Over

An Unusual Kiss

Come to My Window

Nowhere to Go

Silent Legacy

I Could Have Been You

Must Be Crazy for Me

I'm the Only One

Your Little Secret

Bring Me Some Water

Like the Way I Do

On This Day 24/07/1999 Simply Red

On this day, 24 July 1999, soul/pop band Simply Red played a sell-out gig at Cardiff Castle.

Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thirteen studio albums, from Picture Book (1985) through Time (2023), all of which have peaked within the top ten on the UK Albums Chart; with the albums A New Flame (1989), Stars (1991), Life (1995) and Blue (1998), along with their Greatest Hits (1996) album, reaching number one. Their 1991 album Stars is one of the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom.

1998 saw the release of the cover-heavy Blue, which produced four UK top 40 singles, including the top 10 hits "Say You Love Me" and "The Air That I Breathe". The follow-up album, 1999's Love and the Russian Winter, was a relative disappointment, spawning two minor hits that failed to break the top 10.

Simply Red were dropped from their label, East West Records in April 2000. Mick Hucknall subsequently set up the website Simplyred.com to handle releases of new recordings; the new label/website venture proved to be quite successful, many of the band's Simplyred.com releases selling and charting almost as well as their earlier recordings.

Setlist

Mellow My Mind

(Neil Young cover)

Never Never Love

Man Made the Gun

It's Only Love Doing Its Thing

(Barry White cover)

A New Flame

Thrill Me

For Your Babies

If You Don't Know Me by Now

(Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes cover)

So Beautiful

Thank You

Look Into Your Eyes

Night Nurse

(Gregory Isaacs cover)

Stars

Come to My Aid

I Won't Feel Bad

Infidelity

The Right Thing

Money's Too Tight (To Mention)

(The Valentine Brothers cover)

Holding Back the Years

(The Frantic Elevators cover)

Something Got Me Started

Fairground

On This Day 23/07/1990 Aztec Camera

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On this day, 23 July 1990, Scottish band Aztec Camera played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. The band or more notably leader and songwriter Roddy Frame had just released his fourth album Stray.

Stray was praised for its diversity of songs and styles, and for the assured nature of Roddy Frame's lyrics (which had been considered the weak-point of some of his earlier material). Its understated production was also received positively, particularly coming after the group's previous album Love, which sold well in the United Kingdom but had been criticised by some for being too sanitised and glossy.

Review - South Wales Echo

Stray peaked at No. 22 in the UK Albums Chart. The single "Good Morning Britain", a collaboration with Mick Jones, reached No. 19 in the UK Singles Chart.

Stray Tour Band (1990)

• Roddy Frame – guitar, vocals

• Eddie Kulak – keyboards

• Gary Sanford – guitars

• Clare Kenny – bass guitars

• Frank Tontoh – drums

On This Day 22/07/2008 Michael Buble

On this day, 22 July 2008, Canadian singer Michael Buble played Cardiff International Arena on his Call Me Irresponsible Tour.

Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songbook. Bublé has sold over 75 million records worldwide, and won numerous awards, including five Grammy Awards and fifteen Juno Awards.

Bublé grew up listening to his grandfather's collection of jazz records and credits his grandfather in encouraging his love for jazz music. "My grandfather was really my best friend growing up. He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation.

“Although I like rock and roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers, something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real, the way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I wanted to sing.”

In 2003, Bublé's first album reached the top ten in Canada and the United Kingdom. He found a worldwide audience with his 2005 album It's Time and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible – which reached number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and several European charts.

On This Day 21/07/2002 Bryan Adams

On this day, 21 July 2002, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams played Cardiff’s Cooper’s Field on his Here I Am tour.

Adams co-wrote and performed the songs for the DreamWorks animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron in 2002. The songs were included on the film's soundtrack. The most successful single from the soundtrack was "Here I Am", a British top five and German Top 20 hit. Adams received his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Song from a Motion Picture from the song.