On This Day 05/04/2009 The Prodigy

On this day, 5 April 2009, electronic/dance band The Prodigy played Cardiff International Arena on their Invaders Must Die tour. Support was provided by Dizzee Rascal.

On 5 November 2008, it was announced that the band's fifth studio album would be called Invaders Must Die and would be released on the band's new label, Take Me to the Hospital. It was released in the U.S. on 3 March 2009, and was the first Prodigy album since 1997's The Fat of the Land to feature all three members of the band.

The album featured Dave Grohl on drums for "Run with the Wolves". The top five hit "Omen" and "Invaders Must Die" were co-produced with Does It Offend You, Yeah? frontman James Rushent. The band said that the album would go back to their "old-school but cutting edge" roots.[citation needed] The album was released as a CD, CD-DVD set, double vinyl, digital download, and a luxury 7-inch vinyl box set including five 7-inches, CD-DVD, bonus CD, poster, stickers, and stencils.

Invaders Must Die was released on 21 February 2009 in Australia and in Europe on 23 February 2009, charting at number one in the U.K. with week one sales of over 97,000—a higher figure than for either Always Outnumbered or their singles collection. The album also reached the top five in Germany and Australia and top 10 in Norway and several other European countries.

To coincide with the release of the album, the band embarked on a nine-date UK arena tour, with support from Dizzee Rascal, Noisia, Herve, and DJ Kissy Sell Out. The tour included the first edition of the band's own annual dance gig, the Warriors Dance Festival. The single "Omen" debuted at number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart the week of 25 February 2009 and won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.

The initial critical response to Invaders Must Die was somewhat mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 20 reviews.[66] However, the album was well received by the fans, who welcomed it in a positive light compared to Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.

Setlist

Invaders Must Die

(Intro)

World's on Fire

Their Law

Breathe

Breathe

(Dubstep Mix)

Omen

No Good (Start the Dance)

Poison

Warrior's Dance

Firestarter

Action Radar

(Link)

Run With the Wolves

Voodoo People

Death of the Prodigy Dancers

Comanche

Encore:

Omen (Reprise)

Invaders Must Die

Diesel Power

(Beats)

Smack My Bitch Up

Take Me to the Hospital

Out of Space

On This Day 04/04/2004 Hi-5

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On this day, 4 April 2006,American singer Gene Pitney played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. It was to be his last ever performance as he was found dead in his hotel room by his agent the following day.

A spokesman for South Wales Police said that the body had yet to be formally identified. He added: “(The death) is not believed to be suspicious.” The Cardiff coroner has been informed.

Pitney’s tour manager James Kelly said the singer was found dead in his room by long-term friend and agent Geoff Clennell.

“We don’t have a cause of death at the moment but it looks like it was a very peaceful passing,” said Mr Kelly. “He was found fully-clothed, on his back, as if he had gone for a lie-down. It looks as if there was no pain whatsoever, which is nice.”

Mr Kelly added: “It’s terrible news and I’m still shaking. I just can’t believe it. There was no indication anything was wrong. It’s terribly sad.

“It wasn’t like a business relationship (with Gene) - he was a friend and that is why it has hit hard with everybody. It was almost like he had a family going around with him. He was a really nice person.”

Wendy Horton, a journalist who reviewed Pitney’s performance last night for the South Wales Echo newspaper, said that the singer had given one of his best ever shows but had appeared to be in some pain. “He did show a little discomfort on stage, which was well covered by the showman that he is. You could see a slight limp as he walked across the stage.”

She described how after he performed his last song - Town Without Pity - the audience gave him a standing ovation, and scores of fans rushed to the front of the stage to shake his hand and ask him to sign autographs.

“I couldn’t believe (the news of his death),” she said. “Last night at Cardiff he was so alive. When we came out (of the concert) I said ‘My God, he’s really got it all... I’ve seen him six times and I don’t think he’s ever been that enthusiastic’. He just wanted to please - and he did.”

In an interview at Christmas, Pitney spoke of his excitement at taking his show around the UK on the 23-date tour. He denied it was a gruelling schedule, saying: “I take care of myself. I can finish up the tour no problem whatsoever. I love doing what I’m doing - to pick and choose where I want to go and what I want to do.”

The singer was regarded as one of the hardest-working stars in showbusiness. Royalties from his string of hits had made him rich but he continued to perform around the world.

On This Day 31/03/2006 The Organ

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On this day, 31 March 2006, Canadian post-punk band The Organ, played Cardiff’s Barfly.

The Organ were conceived in 2001 by frontwoman Katie Sketch in Vancouver, BC. Sketch's musical training started at the age of three, when she began classical training on the violin. Her childhood was spent largely in ignorance of the underground sounds of The Smiths, The Cure, and Joy Division, whom The Organ would later often be favorably compared to. "Tiffany and Bon Jovi – that was my take on '80s music."

On November 14, 2005, The Organ appeared live on BBC Radio 6 Music with their new bass player. They gave a brief interview and performed live renditions of the songs "Nothing I Can Do" and "Love, Love, Love." On the 27th, a little over a week later, The Organ announced via their website that they had just been signed to Too Pure Records, through which Grab That Gun would be available throughout the world in February 2006.

The album cover was designed by David Cuesta at 7th Avenue house, and is based on a grid constructed around the Fibonacci sequence, to match musical scales. He also designed the logo based on sketches by Katie and Jenny.

On August 23, 2006, the band released a statement on MySpace saying they were canceling the remaining portion of their UK tour which included dates at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The reason given was illness to a band member and they assured fans the band were not splitting up.

On December 7, 2006, the band released a statement on their MySpace and official site stating that they were breaking up. The statement read:

"We are sad to announce that we're breaking up. We want to thank our friends, fans, and family for all the support you gave to us. Thank you.

Shelby, Jenny, Katie, Debora, and Shmoo."

In an interview on CBC Radio 3 the following day, Jenny declined to discuss the reasons for the breakup saying that there were issues they preferred to keep private but implied that it had little or nothing to do with either geography or Katie's modeling career. "There were," she said, "so many reasons," she "wouldn't know where to start."

On This Day 30/03/2002 Reuben

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On this day, 30 March 2002, alternative rock/metal band Reuben played Cardiff’s Barfly on their Scared of the Police tour.

The band performed in the UK underground music scene. Although they attracted a significant fanbase, Reuben never achieved mainstream success, but did chart four songs in the UK Singles Chart. Their highest charting single was 2004's "Freddy Kreuger", that reached UK No. 53.

The band formed in 1998 when singer/guitarist Jamie Lenman and bassist Jon Pearce originally played with producer Jason Wilson (formerly Wilcock) of Stakeout Studios on drums as Angel, sharing local stages with many bands, one of which would become Hundred Reasons. Between 1998 and 2000, Angel recorded and self-released a string of limited edition demos. The songs and artwork of one of these demos, Betrayed, was available to download via the band's website. Many Angel songs were used as b-sides to Reuben singles.

In March 2000, they parted ways with Wilson, and Mark Lawton joined as drummer, with whom they wrote and recorded the Pilot EP, which was released in January 2001 on the Badmusic label after they changed their name to Reuben. The group decided to go ahead with recording the EP after they had won a battle of the bands in Bookham, Surrey, in front of a panel of 12-year-olds. Following the release of Pilot EP, Lawton left and was replaced by their final drummer, Guy Davis. The new line-up toured around the UK, and were the subject of a two-hour special on Zane Lowe's XFM Radio Show, despite not yet releasing an album.

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