On This Day 17/01/1991 Slaughter

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 17 January 1991, American hard rock band Slaughter played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall supporting the headlining band Cinderella.

Slaughter formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in late 1988. Previously, lead vocalist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum had been in Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Vinnie Vincent Invasion's record company, Chrysalis Records, took the $4 million contract away from Vinnie Vincent for exceeding his credit line with the label, and transferred the contract to former members Slaughter and Strum. By 1989, Slaughter and Strum completed the lineup by recruiting lead guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias.

Slaughter's debut album Stick It to Ya had three singles released that hit the Billboard Hot 100: the hit "Fly to the Angels" (US#19), and the moderate hits "Up All Night" (US#27) and "Spend My Life" (US#39). During this time, a song was released from the soundtrack to the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. That song, titled "Shout It Out", was accompanied by a music video but failed to make the US Hot 100.

On This Day 16/01/1999 John Cale

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 16 January 1999, Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer and founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

The previous year, Cale spent on tour with singer Siouxsie Sioux. In February, he was the curator of one day festival called "With a Little Help from My Friends" that took place at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the presence of the Metropole Orchestra.

The concert was shown on Dutch national television and featured a song specially composed for the event and still unreleased, "Murdering Mouth", sung in duet with Siouxsie and her second band the Creatures.

Cale and Siouxsie then did a double bill tour in the US for two months from late June until mid-August, both artists collaborating on stage on several songs including a version of "Venus in Furs".

Cale's autobiography, What's Welsh for Zen?, was written in collaboration with Victor Bockris and published in 1999 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Review - SouthWales Echo

To promote the book he tours Europe with the John Cale trio (with Mark Deffenbaugh & Lance Doss, starting at St Davids Hall, Cardiff - January 16.

Setlist

Lament

On a Wedding Anniversary

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Buffalo Ballet

Chinese Envoy

Child's Christmas in Wales

Some Friends

Darling I Need You

You Know More Than I Know

Ship of Fools

Set Me Free

Leaving It Up to You

Cable Hogue

Cordoba

(Brian Eno & John Cale cover)

Dying on the Vine

Heartbreak Hotel

(Elvis Presley cover)

Fear Is a Man's Best Friend

Style It Takes

(Lou Reed / John Cale cover)

Thoughtless Kind

Hallelujah

(Leonard Cohen cover)

On The Day 09/08/1997 Death in Vegas

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 9 August 1997, electronic music group Death in Vegas played Cardiff’s Big Weekend.

The band was formed in 1994 by Steve Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record label of the same name, Dead Elvis became the title of their first album instead.

The band had earlier in the year released their debut album Dead Elvis (1997), that featured a blend of musical genres. Most of the tracks are mainly based in electronic dance music. Shortly after the release of the album, Hellier left the band and was replaced by Tim Holmes, who had already been involved with mixing and engineering tracks on the album.

The British release features coloured Elvis graffiti on the cover, while the US version features a tattoo artist. The music video for "Dirt" was a minor hit on MTV's 120 Minutes. "GBH" was featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 American comedy-thriller film Homegrown.

On This Day 22/06/1992 Crowded House

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, rock band Crowded House played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their 4 Seasons in 8 Weeks tour.

Formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in 1985 its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members included Finn's brother Tim who was in their former band together Split Enz, sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.

Originally active from 1985 to 1996, Crowded House had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand. They achieved success in the United States with their self-titled debut album, which provided the Top Ten hits "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong".

Further international success came in the UK, Europe, and South Africa in the early 1990s with their third and fourth albums (Woodface and Together Alone) and the compilation album Recurring Dream, which included the hits "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Distant Sun", "Locked Out", "Instinct", and "Not the Girl You Think You Are". Neil and Tim Finn were each awarded an OBE in June 1993 for their contributions to the music of New Zealand

Tour Setlist

There Goes God

How Will You Go

When You Come

Fall at Your Feet

Whispers and Moans

World Where You Live

Italian Plastic

Don't Dream It's Over

Love You 'til the Day I Die

The Mighty Quinn / Money's No Object

It's Only Natural

Mean to Me

Walking on the Spot

The Devil You Know

(Split Enz cover)

Into Temptation

On This Day 02/06/1994 Oasis

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 2 June 1994, Manchester rockers Oasis played Cardiff University on their Definitely Maybe tour.

The Definitely Maybe Tour was in support of their hugely successful debut album Definitely Maybe. The tour, which spanned the UK, Europe, Japan, the US and Canada, included 143 shows over a period of several months in 1994 and 1995 amidst 10 different tour legs. The tour started on 6 February 1994 with a short concert at Gleneagles, Scotland, and ended on 22 April 1995 at the Sheffield Arena. The latter show featured an acoustic debut of the future hit "Don't Look Back in Anger", and was also the last concert to feature original drummer Tony McCarroll.

Definitely Maybe was released midway through the tour and was widely acclaimed, propelling Oasis to become one of the foremost British acts and put them squarely at the forefront of the emerging Britpop scene. The Gallagher brothers regularly made tabloid headlines for their frequent fallouts and rockstar lifestyles, and the tour had several disruptions and cancellations.

One such occasion occurred when the band used drugs prior to the 29 September 1994 gig at the legendary Whisky a Go Go in California. The gig was a failure with numerous mistakes and afterwards, Noel left the band for several days. He was ultimately tracked down by the band's management and persuaded to continue the tour. Noel wrote the song "Talk Tonight" during this time while away from the band. They then headed to a recording studio and recorded new songs.

The Cliffs Pavilion gig on 17 April 1995 was filmed and later released as the Oasis VHS/DVD Live by the Sea.

Setlist

Shakermaker

Fade Away

Digsy's Dinner

Live Forever

Bring It On Down

Up in the Sky

Cigarettes & Alcohol

Supersonic

I Am the Walrus

(The Beatles cover)

On This Day 09/10/1993 The Lemonheads

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 9 October 1993, American alternative rock band The Lemonheads, played Cardiff University.

The band were about to release their sixth studio album Come on Feel the Lemonheads the same month.

Formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an independent/college rock band in the late 1980s, the Lemonheads' popularity with a mass audience grew in 1992 with the major label album It's a Shame about Ray, which was produced, engineered, and mixed by The Robb Brothers (Bruce Robb, Dee, and Joe).

This was followed by a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", which eventually became one of the band's most successful singles.

Come on Feel the Lemonheads released on October 12, 1993 was again produced by The Robb Brothers with the band lineup consisting of Evan Dando (lead vocals, guitar), Nic Dalton (bass guitar) and David Ryan (drums), along with former bassist Juliana Hatfield singing backing vocals on several tracks.

The album was written by Dando and his songwriting partner Tom Morgan. Following the success of their prior album, It's a Shame About Ray, the band had attracted considerable media attention as alternative rock darlings, and some big-name guest musicians appeared on the album as well, including the Go-Go's lead singer Belinda Carlisle and funk musician Rick James. The song "Into Your Arms", a cover version of a song written and recorded previously by Dalton's former band, became the Lemonheads' biggest charting hit.