On This Day 26/03/2006 OK Go

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On this day, 27 March 2006, American indie rock band OK Go played Cardiff University with support provided by The Bright Space.

The band's second album, Oh No, was recorded in Malmö, Sweden, in the fall of 2004 and was produced by Tore Johansson (the Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand) and mixed by Dave Sardy (Nine Inch Nails, Jet, System of a Down). In February 2005, Andy Duncan left the band, citing creative differences, major label pressures, and the band's rigorous touring schedule.

Duncan was replaced by Andy Ross, who beat out 34 other guitarists who auditioned for the role, in a process that ended with each candidate being asked about their willingness to do a choreographed dance on stage.[28] Ross introduced himself to the band's fans by writing a blog post entitled "The Will To Rock," in which he detailed life on the road, beginning with his first show with the band on February 18, 2005.

Released in August 2005, Oh No gained popularity for its first single, "A Million Ways". Ross programmed a web application, hosted at a1000000ways.com, that allowed people to hear the single and to share it with their friends in exchange for free downloads from the iTunes music store.

The video for "A Million Ways" featured the band in a backyard performing a dance choreographed by lead singer Kulash's sister, Trish Sie. By August 2006, the video had become the most downloaded music video ever, with over 9 million downloads.The band performed the dance live on British TV show Soccer AM, as well as on the late-night American comedy show Mad TV.

Setlist

"Don't Ask Me"

"No Sign of Life"

"Here It Goes Again"

"Let It Rain"

"Bye Bye Baby"

"A Good Idea at the Time"

"Don't Bring Me Down"

"Get Over It"

"The Fix Is In"

"Oh Lately It's So Quiet"

Invincible

"Do What You Want"

"You're So Damn Hot"

"It's a Disaster"

"A Million Ways (dance sequence)"

On This Day 26/03/2007 Faithless

On this day, 26 March 2007, dance music band Faithless played Cardiff International Arena on their To All New Arrivals tour.

To All New Arrivals was the bands 5th studio album and was created after the positive response to the Faithless Greatest Hits tour, originally described as their "final tour".

The album was released on 27 November 2006, a week after the single "Bombs". The title for the album was inspired by the recent birth of two babies to band members Rollo and Sister Bliss. The album cover features the 1880 oil painting, Nightfall on the Thames, by John Atkinson Grimshaw.

The album was supported by a tour of all of the United Kingdom's major arenas, which began in Nottinghamon 17 March 2007. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 30 for the week ending 3 December 2006. Given that their previous studio album, No Roots, entered the charts at number 1, this position was seen as a disappointment.

Lead singer Maxi Jazz loved the title, partly due to his Buddhist faith and partly due to his parents being new arrivals to the UK in the 1950s.

The track "Spiders, Crocodiles & Kryptonite" features the vocals of Robert Smith of English rock band The Cure, as well as a sample and a section of arrangement from The Cure hit "Lullaby".

Unlike the original versions of Faithless' previous studio albums, initially this album was not released in the United States.

On This Day 22/03/2007 Lionel Richie

On this day, 22 March 2007, American singer/songwriter and Grammy/Oscar winner Lionel Richie played Cardiff International Arena on his Coming Home World Tour.

Coming Home is the eighth studio album by American singer Lionel Richie. It was released by The Island Def Jam Music Group on September 12, 2006 in the United States. A breakaway from his previous albums and their adult contemporary sounds, Richie and executive producer Antonio "L.A." Reid recruited a number of sought-after producers and songwriters from the contemporary R&B and hip-hop genres to work with him on the album, including Dallas Austin, Jerry Duplessis, Jermaine Dupri, Sean Garrett, Wyclef Jean, Rodney Jerkins, and Norwegian duo Stargate.

The album earned a generally mixed reception from music critics, who either complimented or dismissed Richie's decision to update his sound. In the United States, Coming Home debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, becoming his biggest hit album since 1986's Dancing on the Ceiling, while selling up to 449,000 copies.

On This Day 20/03/2005 Erasure

On this day, 20 March 2005, synth-pop duo Erasure played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their Erasure Show Tour The band had just released their eleventh studio album Nightbird.

Nightbird received mixed reviews and was only a moderate commercial success, charting no higher than number 27 in UK. Despite the mixed critical reception, many longtime fans of the band hailed it as a return to the sound and feel of classic Erasure albums like Wonderland and Chorus. Singer Andy Bell's revelation that he was HIV-positive just prior to the album's release shed new meaning on the songs' introspective and sometimes melancholy lyrics.

A massive concert tour accompanied this album which travelled across Europe and the UK as well as North America. The tour, dubbed The Erasure Show, featured the extravagant set designs and costume changes Erasure is known for. The tour wrapped up in June 2005.

The album graphic artwork was made by the British artist Rob Ryan.

The album's first single "Breathe" entered the UK Singles Chart at number four – Erasure's highest peak since "Always" hit number four in 1994. No singles from the album charted on the U.S. "Breathe" became Erasure's second number-one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart – their first being "Victim of Love" in 1987.

Setlist

Mr Gribber and His Amazing Cat - Intro

No Doubt

Hideaway

Phantom Bride

Knocking on Your Door

The Circus

Breathe

Ship of Fools

Drama!

All This Time Still Falling Out of Love

Stop!

Rapture

(Blondie cover)

Ave Maria

(Charles Gounod cover)

Breath of Life

A Little Respect

I Broke It All in Two

Chains of Love

Chorus

Love to Hate You

Blue Savannah

Always

Who Needs Love Like That

Oh l'amour

Encore:

I Bet You're Mad at Me

Sometimes

On This Day 19/03/2001 Ed Harcourt

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On this day, 19 March 2001, singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt played Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach.

Before going solo, Harcourt played the bass and keyboards for Snug, a band formed at school in the mid-1990s by Harcourt, James Deane, Ed Groves and Johnny Lewsley. The band recorded two albums and a handful of singles together before dissolving.

In 2000, Harcourt recorded his debut mini-album Maplewood EP straight to a 4-track recorder at Wootton Manor. After signing with Heavenly Records and releasing Maplewood in November 2000, Harcourt recorded his debut studio album Here Be Monsters with producers Gil Norton and Tim Holmes.

The album was released in June 2001, and charted on the UK Albums Chart at No. 84. One month after its release, the album was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize.

He later described the period as "very strange for me, I was naive, I knew nothing. I was used to making music in my room, so it felt very odd being on stage". In the US he signed with Capitol Records.

On This Day 12/03/2004 The Killers

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On this day, 12 March 2004, American rock band The Killers played Cardiff’s Barfly on their Hot Fuss tour. Support was provided but Stellastar*.

The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bassists and drummers, Mark Stoermer (bass, rhythm guitar, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion) joined in 2002.

On August 19, 2003, the song "Mr. Brightside" premiered on DJ Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show in the UK. The Killers traveled to London the following month to spend a week playing at live music venues across the city. On September 29, 2003, the song "Mr. Brightside" was released in the UK on a limited number of CDs and vinyl records.

Critical reviews of both the song and the shows were positive: NME noted the band's retro sound, commenting "The Killers steal so smartly, and with such mind-boggling variety". As a result of the buzz generated in the UK, a number of major labels in the US began showing strong interest in the band and they were invited to play at the ASCAP CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. They eventually signed with the record label Island Def Jam.

The band finished recording Hot Fuss in November 2003 with Jeff Saltzman. They decided to keep many of the previously recorded demos as they felt they had a spontaneity that re-recordings would not have. Shortly afterwards they returned to London, having been invited to support British Sea Power on their UK tour. The band also worked with Alan Moulder at Eden Studios and Townhouse Studios mixing tracks for their upcoming album.

They continued playing support slots during the first half of 2004, including touring both the US & UK with Stellastarr and opening for Morrissey on two occasions. The band filmed their first music video for the Spring 2004 release of "Somebody Told Me" which was to be the band's debut single in the US and second single in the UK. The band's first headline tour started in the UK in May 2004. During the spring and summer of 2004, the group played well-received sets at festivals across Europe and North America.

On This Day 07/03/2002 Ian Brown

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On this day, 7 March 2002, former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown played Cardiff University.

He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he began a solo career.

Since the break-up of the Stone Roses in 1996, Brown has released six solo albums and fourteen UK Top 40 singles. He has sold out seven UK tours and appeared three times at the Glastonbury Festival, including headlining the Other Stage in 2005.

He has appeared five times at V Festival since 1998, along with regular appearances at T in the Park and Oxegen festivals, and played the Move festival in 2002 at Old Trafford Cricket Ground as well as two tours of Australia in 2006 and 2008.

At the 2006 NME awards, Brown was presented with the "Godlike Genius" award and in 2007, was given the Q "Legend" Award.

In September 2007, Brown released his fifth studio album, The World Is Yours. The album represented a more political approach[citation needed] in his music, particularly the anti-war track "Illegal Attacks", which featured Sinéad O'Connor. The album also featured former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, Paul Ryder of Happy Mondays, and Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols.

On This Day 03/03/2005 Electric Six

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On this day, 3 March 2005, American rock band Electric Six played Cardiff University.

Formed in Detroit in 1996, they are known for combining elements of rock, disco, garage rock, metal, new wave, and punk rock.

Since achieving widespread recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", they have released 20 studio albums, two rarities albums, one live album and one live DVD. Each band member is given a unique stage name; the line-up has undergone changes over the years; co-founder, lead vocalist, and primary songwriter Dick Valentine has been the only constant member.

The band's second album, Señor Smoke, was released in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2005. Since the band had been dropped from their previous American record label, a North American release of the album was delayed until February 7, 2006, when it came out on Metropolis Records.

The first single from the album put the band at the center of controversy with Queen fans, following a cover of the hit Queen song "Radio Ga Ga". The controversial music video showed lead singer Dick Valentine portraying the ghost of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and performing with a backing band of poodles. Queen drummer and "Radio Ga Ga" writer Roger Taylor said that he was "unimpressed" with the video, though Queen guitarist Brian May reportedly liked it.

Valentine addressed the controversy and said, "Some have claimed this video portrays me dancing on Freddie Mercury's grave, but that wasn't the idea. Actually it's more like we are resurrecting Mr. Mercury for the duration of the song and his grave is the logical starting point. [...] I guess a video like that can be taken the wrong way, but we hadn't looked at it like that. [...] Everyone knows we disliked the fact that we had to put this song on our record, so this ridiculous video took a little bit of the sting out of it for us and made it somewhat bearable. [...] I definitely respect Freddie and his work."