Preview - Barbara - Tramshed, Cardiff - 2 Nov 2023

Currently supporting Haircut 100 on their current UK tour, Barbara are creating waves with their glorious West Coast, 70’s pop rock sound that is a melting pot of truly eclectic influences that will intrigue you, making them certainly a name to watch as their music gets to the masses.

Hailing from Brighton, the band, namely brothers Henry and John Tydeman have a unique approach that goes far and above the obvious Glam rock, American Beach Boy harmonies that they no doubt admire and have inspired them.

But it’s not just melody that sets them apart from the pack. Lyrically they have the quintessential Britishness that creates a heady mix that can’t fail to impress any listener, and something they and their bandmates can seemingly effortlessly repeat in their live performances.

Having had the good fortune seeing the band previously I would advise anyone fortunate to have tickets for the evening to get to the gig early and see what Barbara have to offer. You will not be disappointed.

What’s LOVE got to do with it? Well, just about Everything!

How would you like to hear one of the very best albums of all time- don’t rely on me, rely on Rolling Stone, NME, The Great Rock Discography and many others- played live in an intimate setting in Cardiff?

Well you can on Wednesday July 12th, when Johnny Echols’ LOVE, led by the co-founder, guitarist and songwriter, will perform a set of classic psychodelia tracks from the seminal San Francisco band’s flower-power soaked catalogue.

Johnny Echols set up the band in the mid-sixties with his childhood friend Arthur Lee and their first three albums Love, Da Capo and, of course, the aforementioned legendary LP Forever Changes, fired them into the counterculture superstructure.

Joining Johnny Echols on the Earl Haig stage will be Baby Lemonade, who from 1993 until Arthur’s death in 2006 had become an essential part of the renaissance of LOVE’s music. 

Forever Changes may not have created a revolution in society but it did in youth culture, merging new rock and guitar conventions with intricate horn and string arrangements and embracing bandleader Arthur Lee’s ahead of his time (Geddit?) skewed scepticism of the flower power movement of the time.

So get to the Earl Haig Club on July 12 and enjoy THE gig of Cardiff’s summer of LOVE. And make sure you wear a flower in your hair- that is, if you’re lucky enough to still have some….

Praise for Love’s ‘Forever Changes’ LP

‘The Second Greatest Psychedelic Album of all Time’

‘One of the Best and Most Highly Regarded and Influential Rock Albums of All Time’

‘One of the Finest and Most Haunting Albums to come out of the Summer of Love’

‘The Best Record Ever’ – The Stone Roses.

Five stars out of five -AllMusic 

Five stars out of five- The Encyclopedia of Popular Music  

Five stars out of five -Rolling Stone Album Guide

Ten out of ten-NME 

Preview - John Cooper Clarke - Caerphilly’s Workman’s Hall on 24 March

‘I WANNA BE YOURS’ UK TOUR - A SPECIAL WARM-UP GIG FOR THE LAUGHARNE WEEKEND 2023

‘I Wanna Be Yours’ is the latest tour from the legendary Dr John Cooper Clarke. Also known as the Bard of Salford, Clarke is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator – he’s one of Britain’s most beloved and influential writers and performers.

John’s new show is a breathtaking showcase of poetry and spoken work, sharing stories from his incredible life and hugely successful career. JCC will take you on an incredible journey with pieces from the new book as well as his usual musings, off the wall chat, riffs, gags and wicked humour.

The new book follows on from John's poetry collection, ‘The Luckiest Guy Alive’, published in Autumn 2018, one of the best-selling poetry collections of the year selling over 25,000 copies in three months.

John’s memoir, entitled ‘I Wanna Be Yours’, was recently released in the UK by Picador. The book explores his extraordinary life, filled with remarkable personalities: from Nico to Chuck Berry; Bernard Manning to Linton Kwesi Johnson; Elvis Costello to Gregory Corso; Mark E. Smith to Gil Scott Heron and Joe Strummer and on to more recent fans and collaborators like Alex Turner, Plan B and Guy Garvey. Interspersed with stories of his rock and roll and performing career, John also reveals his mind-boggling encyclopaedic take on popular culture over the centuries: from Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe, to Pop Art, pop music, the movies, fashion, football and show business – with more than a few laughs along the way.

John Cooper Clarke shot to prominence in the 1970s as the original ‘people’s poet’, and since then his career has spanned cultures, audiences, art forms and continents.

His influence can be heard within the keen social observations of the Arctic Monkeys and Plan B. These collaborations mean that John has been involved in 2 recent global number 1 albums - with The Arctic Monkeys putting one of John's best loved poems, “I Wanna Be Yours”, to music on their critically acclaimed AM Album.

The Undertones Gig Preview 19/3/22 Mickey Bradley Interview

Prior to their gig at The Great Hall, Cardiff University this Saturday 19/3/2022 (Supported by Hugh Cornwell), Steve Johnson of Keep Cardiff Live had a chat with Mickey Bradley, Bass Player, founding member, and Undertone.

The Undertones emerged from Derry in 1976, the result of five friends (John O’Neill, Damian O’Neill, Fergal Sharkey, Billy Doherty and Michael Bradley) learning how to play basic rock and roll.

Even by the standards of that decade Derry was not the rock and roll capital of anywhere. With no live bands worth watching, they learned by listening to mail order records, reading one of the few copies of NME that made it to Derry but most of all from listening to John Peel’s wonderful show on BBC Radio One. Practicing in their bedrooms eventually led to the band recording John O’Neill’s ‘Teenage Kicks’ in 1978 on Terri Hooley's Good Vibrations label in Belfast. The legendary DJ John Peel received a copy and liked it so much he played it twice in a row on his radio show.

The Undertones signed with Sire Records and ‘Teenage Kicks’ was re-released, resulting in the band's first appearance on Top Of The Pops. Over the next five years, John O Neill, crafted further pop gems such as `Here Comes The Summer`, ‘Jimmy Jimmy`, `You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It)’ and ‘Wednesday Week’ whilst Damian O’Neill and Michael Bradley contributed ‘My Perfect Cousin. They also recorded four highly acclaimed LPs. Indeed, they almost enjoyed the life of professional musicians. In 1983 Feargal Sharkey left the band to pursue a solo career and the remaining members decided to call it a day. The Undertones were to remain silent for the next sixteen years.

In 1999 The Undertones reconvened, without Fergal Sharkey, to once again perform their two-minute, three and a half chord songs to a new generation of fans in Derry. Fellow Derryman Paul McLoone replaced Sharkey on vocals and his vocal prowess and electric onstage presence soon convinced any doubters that he was more than capable of doing the job.

After much consideration the band released an LP of new songs called `Get What You Need', which was critically acclaimed by Q magazine, Uncut, Rolling Stone and Hot Press. Songs like ‘Thrill Me’, ‘I Need Your Love The Way It Used To Be’ and ‘Everything But You' showed that the art of writing short, sharp songs had not been lost over the previous two decades.

In 2003 ‘Thrill Me’ was released as a limited edition 7” vinyl single and found its way to John Peel’s turntable. He introduced it on his show commenting, “And these are words I thought I would never be saying on radio again, a new single from The Undertones”. He liked it so much he played it twice, just as he did with ‘Teenage Kicks’ in 1978.

The band marked Record Store Day 2013 with a 7” vinyl only release, recorded in the famous Toe Rag studio in London. A return to their punk roots, 'Much Too Late' sold out the 1,000 copies before the day was out.

In 2016 the Band released vinyl remasters of their first two LPs; ‘The Undertones – The Undertones’ and ‘The Undertones – Hypnotised’ along with a 7” vinyl remix of the 1979 single ‘Get Over You’. Remixed by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine/Primal Scream). Michael Bradley also published his book Teenage Kicks: My Life As An Undertone’.

2018 marked the 40th Anniversary of the release of their most influential and famous song, ’Teenage Kicks’. On 21st April for Record Store Day 2018 the band released a Vinyl Singles Box Set containing the 13 x 7” original Undertones singles from the classic early period: 1978-1983.