On This Day 19/12/1985 The Alarm

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On this day, 12 December 1985, Welsh rockers The Alarm played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on the band’s Strength Tour.

Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.

The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain is 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their 1984 album Declaration, which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart.

Tour Setlist

• Deeside

• Declaration

• Marching On

• Howling Wind

• Knife Edge

• Dawn Chorus

• The Deceiver

• The Day the Ravens Left the Tower

• Third Light

• Absolute Reality

• Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke

• One Step Closer to Home

• Walk Forever by My Side

• Spirit of ’76

• Blaze of Glory

• Strength

• Encore: Sixty Eight Guns, The Stand (Prophecy)

• Encore 2: This Train Is Bound for Glory, We Are the Light

On This Day 25/08/2007 The Streets

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On this day, 25 August 2007, The Streets headlined the Cardiff Calling Festival. Also featured on the day were Welsh bands Super Furry Animals and The Automatic,

The Streets had recently released their third studio album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, In the UK it debuted the album chart at number one.

It is the shortest The Streets album released so far, with a running time of just 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem, two of Skinner's protégés, make guest appearances on the album.

Best known for the music project The Streets, leader Mike Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of The D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.

Skinner was born in Barnet, but grew up in West Heath, Birmingham. He started playing with keyboards at the age of five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy, which worsened in his early teens.

He began writing hip hop and garage music in his home in West Heath and later built a sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring".

At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; the relationship quickly ended, but Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London.

He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become the song "Has It Come to This?" to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington.

The song was released as a single in 2001, through Locked On Records.