On This Day 25/04/1989 Salif Keita

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On this day, 25 April 1989, Salif Keita, the Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa" played Cardiff University. He had just released the album Ko-Yan which was recorded in Paris.

The album contains more influence from Western music, while still maintaining a traditional style. All the songs were written by Keita, including "Nou Pas Bouger", one of his first hits.

Album review - South Wales Echo

The New York Times wrote: "Synthesizers and Western horns perk along (sometimes sounding like Weather Report on Ko-Yan), but the underlying rhythms percolate in triple time, and it's hard for a Western ear to predict where Mr. Keita's vocal lines, and the responses of his female backup singers, will begin or end." The Edmonton Journal noted that Keita's music "injects the stirring traditional rhythms of Mali with nourishing contemporary textures—funk, soca, and soul."

On This Day 24/04/1977 Small Faces

On this day, 24 April 1977, rock band Small Faces played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Also on the bill were Cock Sparrer and P P Arnold.

Following the breakup of the Faces in 1975, the original Small Faces line-up reformed briefly to film videos miming to the reissued "Itchycoo Park" which hit the charts again. The group tried recording together again but Lane left after the first rehearsal due to an argument. Unknown to the others, he was just beginning to show the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and his behaviour was misinterpreted by Marriott and the others as a drunken tantrum.

Nevertheless, McLagan, Jones and Marriott decided to stay together as Small Faces, recruiting ex-Roxy Music bassist Rick Wills to take Lane's place. This iteration of Small Faces recorded two albums, Playmates (1977) and 78 in the Shade (1978), released on Atlantic Records.

Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch also briefly joined this line-up after leaving Wings. When McCulloch phoned Paul McCartney, who had found him increasingly difficult to work with, to announce he was joining Marriott, McCartney reportedly said "I was a little put out at first, but, well, what can you say to that?" McCulloch's tenure with the band lasted only for a few months in late 1977. He recorded only one album with the group, 78 in the Shade .

The reunion albums were both critical and commercial failures. Small Faces broke up again in 1978.

On This Day 22/04/2005 The D4

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On this day, 22 April 2005, New Zealand rock band The D-4 played Cardiff’s Barfly. Support was provided by The Caves and the Little Unknown.

The group was assembled by vocalist/guitarists Dion Palmer and Jimmy Christmas, who put together a collection of songs and built a four-piece combo, featuring founding members English Jake and Rich Mixture, during late 1998 and started playing at the Frisbee Leisure Lounge parties along Symonds Street, followed shortly thereafter by inner city pub gigs. They have also played at the Big Day Out and at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

The group's debut EP was released by Flying Nun Records in 1999 featuring the tracks "Girl" and "Come On!". The band was later enhanced by members Vaughan Williams (Vaughn) (bass) and Daniel Pooley (Beaver) (drums). The D4 went on a UK tour supporting The Hives.

As of May 2006, Breakfast announced that after eight years, the D4, would be taking an indefinite break from the music industry. After the split, Rich Mixture went on to replace Paul Robertson as the drummer of The Rock n Roll Machine, bassist Vaughn joined Shocking Pinks, an Auckland-based indie pop act and Jimmy Christmas formed the rock group Luger Boa who have supported Shihad on tour. Most recently, Dion has moved to NYC, formed a new band called The True Lovers and also plays bass in A Place to Bury Strangers.

On This Day 22/04/1997 Catatonia

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On this day, 22 April 1997, Welsh band Catatonia played Cardiff’s Coal Exchange on their Way Beyond Blue tour.

The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, Paul Jones on bass, and Clancy Pegg on keyboards. With this line-up the band recorded two EPs, For Tinkerbell and Hooked.

Pegg was fired prior to work on their first studio album, Way Beyond Blue, and during the recording of the album the band was joined by drummer Aled Richards, replacing Ieuan, who left to focus full-time on Super Furry Animals. During the live promotional appearances for the album the band was joined by guitarist Owen Powell. This latest incarnation of the band lasted until its dissolution in 2001.

The single "You've Got a Lot to Answer For" received radio airplay and became the band's first top 40 single in the UK Singles Chart in September 1996.

Their breakout success came at the start of 1998 with the International Velvet album and the release of the single "Mulder and Scully" some two weeks apart. The album went to number one in the UK Albums Chart, and sold more than 900,000 copies being certified triple platinum by British Phonographic Industry, while the single reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, the highest any Catatonia single would chart.

On This Day 21/04/1958 Lonnie Donegan

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On this day, 21 April 1958, skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan played Cardiff’s Gaumont Theatre, the first of a week of shows, playing twice nightly. Also on the bill was Welsh comedian Ossie Morris, Paul and Peta Page, Ballet Montmartre, The Terry Sisters, The Carlo Sisters and Grif Kendall.

Review - South Wales Argus

On This Day 19/04/2010 Feeder

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On this day, 19 April 2010, Welsh rock band Feeder played the Millennium Music Hall on their Renegades tour.

The band was formed in 1994, although an earlier incarnation under the name of "Reel" was formed in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Grant Nicholas, drummer Jon Lee and bassist Simon Blight, three of the four members of Raindancer, after the departure of that band's other member, guitarist John Canham. However, Blight left Reel later in 1992, and the band played with many session bassists before hiring Taka Hirose in 1994 and re-establishing themselves as Feeder; that year, the band signed with The Echo Label.

Feeder garnered media attention in 2001 for their third album, Echo Park, and its lead single, "Buck Rogers", which later became a UK top five Platinum-selling single. Jon Lee died by suicide at his Miami home in January 2002, after which the remaining members began to record and play with former Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson.

They released their fourth album, Comfort in Sound later that year. Richardson was ultimately made an official member, remaining so until May 2009 when he returned to a reformed Skunk Anansie. Feeder have since worked with a roster of drummers live and in the studio, including Tim Trotter, Damon Wilson, Karl Brazil and former Elviss drummer Geoff Holroyde. Between 2010 and 2024, the band charted seven more top 20 albums, with the latest of these being 2024’s Black / Red, their fifth consecutive top 10 album. In 2019, the band signed a deal with Believe UK to release their tenth studio album, Tallulah. The band released their eleventh studio album, titled Torpedo, in 2022. Their twelfth studio album, a double album titled Black/Red, was released in 2024.

Setlist

Barking Dogs

Sentimental

This Town

Left Foot Right

Home

Down to the River

White Lines

Tangerine

The End

Renegades

Call Out

Encore:

Sweet 16

Descend

Shade

On This Day 18/04/2007 Drowning Pool

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On this day, 18 April 2007, American rock band Drowning Pool played Cardiff’s Cardiff University on their Full Circle tour.

Drowning Pool rose to fame with their debut album and played at the Ozzfest in 2001. Their 2001 debut album Sinner was certified platinum within six weeks. A number of songs from the album were featured at various WWE events that year, and three tracks would be included on the soundtrack for the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge in early 2002.

On August 14 that year, Dave Williams was found dead inside his tour bus. He died from an undiagnosed heart condition, now known to be hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. When asked if the band had any unreleased songs, according to a 2002 Blabbermouth article, drummer Mike Luce replied that "only 3-4 songs were done, including one called "Heroes," which is a tribute to dead rock musicians such as Layne Staley. I don't know if we will ever release them."

In 2003, Jason 'Gong' Jones replaced Williams as Drowning Pool's vocalist and the band released the album Desensitized in 2004. Despite the success of the album's lead single, "Step Up", the album was not nearly as successful as Sinner, and it was publicly announced on June 14, 2005, that Jones had departed from the band, due to "irreconcilable differences".

The band announced that their replacement singer would be formally announced at Ozzfest in Dallas, where the band did a one-off performance on the main stage. On July 20, 2005, the website SMNNews revealed that Ryan McCombs, then former singer of SOiL, was the new vocalist. The band initially wanted McCombs to join Drowning Pool as the replacement of Dave Williams, nearly two years prior.

The band's third album, Full Circle, was released on August 7, 2007. Two songs on the album were produced by Funny Farm Records, owned by Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba. The remaining songs were produced by Ben Schigel at the Ohio-based Spider Studios.

On This Day 17/04/1967 Bo Diddley

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On this day, 17 April 1967, American singer, guitarist, songwriter and music producer Bo Diddley played Cardiff Top Rank, supported by his backing band The Canadians. Also supporting were The Creation.

Diddley played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, George Thorogood, and the Clash.

His use of African rhythms and a signature beat, a simple five-accent hambone rhythm, is a cornerstone of hip hop, rock, and pop music.

In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2017.

He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Diddley is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his use of tremolo and reverb effects to enhance the sound of his distinctive rectangular-shaped guitar.