On This Day 23/08/2008 Madonna

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On this day, 23 August 2008, Pop icon Madonna played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the opening night of her Sticky & Sweet Tour, with support provided by trance DJ Paul Oakenfold.

In all, the tour started in Cardiff on August 23, 2008, and ended in Tel Aviv on September 2, 2009. The 2008 legs also marked Madonna's thirteen-year return to Mexico and the continent of South America, and the 2009 legs marked her first shows in Sweden in sixteen years and Israel in fourteen years.

Reviewed by the Independent, the start, despite the wait, certainly seemed worth it.

FIRST NIGHT: MADONNA, MILLENNIUM STADIUM, CARDIFF

WHAT WAS LACKING IN PUNCTUALITY SHE MADE UP FOR IN POMP

Well, she did arrive on stage an hour and a half late. And sure, ticket touts were rumoured to be flogging the £150 tickets at half price to fill the rows of empty seats.

But if those who took in this spectacular opening to Madonna's world tour on Saturday have seen anything as slick, innovative, and energetic in recent months then please point it out. For it is easy to feel spoiled when judging one of the most successful pop acts of all time. If the bar is high, it is her own fault, and you would be hard pressed to find any other 50-year-old pelting their way through two hours of back-breaking dance routines.

The tour, Sticky & Sweet, is named after Madonna's latest album, Hard Candy, which had a less-than-effervescent reception in April. Part of the problem seemed to be that pop's grande dame was just trying too hard; her collaborations with Pharrell, Kanye West, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake seemed to hanker after being "down with the kids". The artists in question appeared too scared to give her any criticism. In the end, the tracks on which they worked ("4 Minutes", "Beat Goes On") were less "collaborations" than Madonna shipping in the best talent money could buy to pay homage to her less-than-plugged-in greatness. Their talent was diluted accordingly.

 But if such a display of raw power and influence could not impress the reviewers, in a live setting, there was no such problem. The choreography, the visuals, the other live talent, were world class, and mind-blowingly well executed, intelligent, and witty.

While the show's producers might have bastardised the best elements of vintage acid house, Geisha culture, gypsy folk and burlesque, it was almost certainly worth the compromise.

The concert was loosely based around four themes – "Pimp", "Old School", "Gypsy" and "Rave" – that tellingly looked like they had been named by your Mum. And so, Mother Pop was unveiled sitting in a throne for the opening number; with her legs akimbo, she launched into "Candy Shop" then "Beat Goes On".

"Vogue" was remixed with "4 Minutes", her recent single with Timberlake, then dancers sparred as in a boxing match for a reimagining of her theme tune to the Bond film Die Another Day. There was a bit of an awkward "granny moment" when for "Into The Groove" she pole-danced around a 1980s Deejay booth, before Britney Spears appeared on a video screen for "Human Nature", which showed her in CCTV-style footage being characteristically strange inside a lift.

Madonna strummed on her guitar (is she playing it? isn't she?) which made several appearances during the evening, before the night built to its climax: Timberlake, projected on to a collection of 15ft screens for "4 Minutes". By sliding her leg erotically up and down his image, Madonna still managed to flirt with him.

For all her excesses, and the fact that she is musically relevant only in fits and starts, Madonna is a necessary tonic for those who remember with fondness a more impressive and talented time in pop. It is a desert out there. Long may her hubris continue.

'Sticky & Sweet' – by numbers 
*37 venues in four months 
*45 concerts 
*3,500 items of clothing 
*250 staff 
*36 designers 
*30 wardrobe trunks 
*16 dancers 
*16 caterers 
*12 musicians 
*12 seamstresses 
*9 wardrobe experts 
*4 freezers continually stocked with ice to soothe aches and pains 
*1 masseuse 
*1 personal trainer 
*1 chiropractor

Setlist:

1. Candy Shop

2. Beat Goes On

3. Human Nature

4. Vogue

5. Into The Groove

6. Heartbeat

7. Borderline

8. She’s Not Me

9. Music

10. Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You

11. Spanish Lesson

12. Miles Away

13. La Isla Bonita

14. You Must Love Me

15. 4 Minutes

16. Like A Prayer

17. Ray of Light

18. Express Yourself

19. Hung Up

20. Give It 2 Me

On This Day 16/07/1990 Rolling Stones

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On this day, 16 July 1990, legendary rockers the Rolling Stones played Cardiff’s National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, on their Urban Jungle tour. The concert was original to be played on the 11 July but Keith Richards had injured a finger and therefore the concert was postponed until 16th July.

These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.

Review - South Wales Echo

The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion

Keith Richards – guitar, vocals

Ronnie Wood – guitar

Bill Wyman – bass guitar

Charlie Watts – drums

Additional musicians

Matt Clifford – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion, French horn

Bobby Keys – saxophone

Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals and musical director

Bernard Fowler – backing vocals, percussion

Lorelei McBroom – backing vocals

Sophia Jones – backing vocals

The Uptown Horns

Arno Hecht – saxophone

Bob Funk – trombone

Crispin Cioe – saxophone

Paul Litteral – trumpet

On This Day 14/07/1996 Toto

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On this day, 14 July 1996, American rock band Toto played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. The band were part of the bill supporting singer Tina Turner.

Formed in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. Toto combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, hard rock, R&B, blues, and jazz. Having released 14 studio albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide, the group has received several Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009.

In 1995 Toto recorded Tambu, their first album with Simon Phillips, which saw the band back with CBS (now Sony). A departure from Toto's sound of the late 1970s and 1980s, Tambu was a very organic release and featured the single "I Will Remember", which received moderate radio play. Other singles released were "Drag Him To The Roof" and "The Turning Point". Tambu also featured John James and Jenny Douglas-McRae as backup singers on some of the tracks. Douglas-McRae even sang lead on the album's bonus track, "Blackeye", and also in a duet with Steve Lukather on "Baby He's Your Man". Tambu sold 600,000 copies worldwide.[citation needed]

The "Tambu Tour" proved to be another success, although there were no North American dates. Simon Phillips suffered from a back problem, so Gregg Bissonette had to fill in for him during the first leg of the tour in late 1995. The tour concluded in 1996. The rest of the tour personnel remained the same, with the exception of Donna McDaniel who had left in 1994 shortly after the "Night of the Proms" performances (which Douglas-McRae had missed since she was out touring with Joe Cocker). The song "Hold the Line" was now sung as a duet between James and Douglas-McRae.[31] Both James and Douglas-McRae were dropped from the band at the conclusion of the 1997 tour.

Lukather released his second solo album, Luke, which was a more "introspective" album than his previous solo album.

On This Day 31/12/1999 Manic Street Preachers

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On this day, 31 December 1999, Manic Street Preachers played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium with support provided by a Welsh lineup of Super Furry Animals, Feeder plus Shack.

For the Manic Street Preachers it was the biggest gig of their career when they heralded in a new century at the Millennium Stadium in front of a sellout crowd.

Bassist Nicky Wire said of the importance of the gig: “Ten years ago we did a gig in Cardiff to two people. Today we’re playing in front of 60,000 people. I think that shows how far we’ve come, how far we have grown and how much Wales has grown.”

Setlist

Part 1: 1999

You Stole the Sun From My Heart

Faster

Everything Must Go

Tsunami

The Masses Against the Classes

The Everlasting

Kevin Carter

La tristesse durera (Scream to a Sigh)

Rock and Roll Music

(Chuck Berry cover)

Ready for Drowning

Of Walking Abortion

No Surface All Feeling

Motown Junk

(Baby Love Intro)

Motorcycle Emptiness

Part 2: 2000

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

(Frankie Valli cover) (Acoustic)

Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky

(Acoustic)

Australia

Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier

You Love Us

Stay Beautiful

If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

A Design for Life

On This Day 22/08/2009 U2

On this day, 22 August 2009, Irish rock band U2 played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on their 360° Tour with support provided by Glasvegas and The Hours.

Staged in support of the group's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon, the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band playing "in the round" on a circular stage, allowing the audience to surround them on all sides. To accommodate the stage configuration, a large four-legged structure nicknamed "The Claw" was built above the stage, with the sound system and a cylindrical, expanding video screen on top of it.

At 164 feet (50 m) tall, it was the largest stage ever constructed. U2 claimed that the tour would be "the first time a band has toured in stadiums with such a unique and original structure."

Setlist

Space Oddity (David Bowie song) (intro tape)

Breathe

No Line on the Horizon

Get on Your Boots

Magnificent

Beautiful Day

(with "Land of Our Fathers" and "Blackbird" snippets)

Mysterious Ways

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

(with "Stand By Me" snippet)

Stay (Faraway, So Close!)

Unknown Caller

The Unforgettable Fire

City of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight

(remix; with "Two Tribes" snippet)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

(with "Oliver's Army" snippet)

Pride (In the Name of Love)

MLK

Walk On

(with "You'll Never Walk Alone" snippet)

Where the Streets Have No Name

(Desmond Tutu Speech)

One

Bad

(with "40" snippet)

Encore:

Ultraviolet (Light My Way)

With or Without You

Moment of Surrender

Review - Wales Online

U2 at the Millennium Stadium: 'The best gig Cardiff's ever had'

IT was one of the most eagerly anticipated gigs of the year.

And for 70,000 fans, it delivered on every count.

When U2 rolled into Cardiff last night for the last leg of their European 360 Degree Tour, they blew the audience away.

Taking centre stage and most of the audience’s breath away in the Millennium Stadium was the £20m set dubbed The Claw – which towered over the main circular stage.

As the iconic front man Bono emerged last night, clad in black and wearing his trademark sunglasses, the crowd erupted with delight.

The almost capacity 70,000 audience made it a record-breaking attendance for any gig at the stadium, outselling Take That’s 64,000 audience earlier this year.

After opening with Breathe, from the new album No Line on the Horizon, the band treated fans to a mix of their many hits from the last three decades and new songs from their latest CD.

Highlights included Beautiful Day, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo, Pride and One, as well as newer stand out songs, Get On Your Boots, Crazy Tonight and Magnificent.

Homage was also paid to The Edge’s Welsh roots, with Bono confessing to having once had singing lessons from the guitarist’s father, Garvin Evans.

“He told me to look after the consonants and the vowels will look after themselves,” Bono told the crowd, who lapped up his every word.

The Edge, whose family were in the Cardiff crowd, received a rapturous applause simply by saying “Cymru Am Byth”, before the band launched into I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For while the adoring masses sang along.

Of course, no U2 gig would be complete without a political message of democracy and freedom, and this was no exception.

The band dedicated their tracks Walk On and MLK to imprisoned Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu gave an uplifting video message before the song One.

Fans hailed the gig as possibly the greatest spectacle seen in the stadium’s 10 year history.

Martin Howarth, 25, from Swansea, said: “I’ve seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the stadium and the Rolling Stones but U2 were much better.

“They get such a mixed crowd because they have been going for so long. Some people knew all the words of the old stuff and others only knew the recent albums.

“You have to give them credit and say they are one of the best live bands in the world.

“I would definitely go back and see them again if they came to Cardiff.”

Lloyd James, 24, from Swansea, said: “It was unbelievable. I have never seen a gig like it before.

“The sound was fantastic and the stage looked immense.

“I’ve been to some pretty special rugby games in the Millennium Stadium before but the atmosphere was something totally different to those.

“It’s the best gig Cardiff’s ever had.”

On This Day 21/07/2001 Stereophonics

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On this day 21 July 2001, Welsh rockers The Stereophonics played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, with support provided by the Black Crowes, Ash and another Welsh band The Crocketts.

The band had just released their third studio album Just Enough Education To Perform (JEEP) and spawned three top-ten singles in the form of "Mr. Writer", "Have a Nice Day" and "Handbags and Gladrags" as well as topping the UK album charts.

Review - BBC Wales

The Stereophonics conquered the odds of illness to stage a triumphant homecoming concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday night.

Plagued by foot-and-mouth disease, which forced a relocation from Chepstow Racecourse, and Kelly Jones's flu, which cancelled their US tour, the band were happy to finally turn up at their biggest ever gig on Welsh soil.

An estimated 60,000 fans joined the Phonics in the capital along with support acts the Black Crowes and the Crocketts - this was a rock concert in the very best sense of the word.

Stadium bosses closed the retractable roof to keep out the rain and to keep in the raucous rockers' noise.

But the fans could not keep a lid on their enthusiasm, many waving Welsh flags and huge plastic daffodils.

The boys from Cwmaman played a varied, two-hour set including material from their third and latest album, Just Enough Education To Perform, which went to the top of the charts when it was released in April.

JEEP is still top of the indie charts, moving around 20,000 copies each week.

The performance came as a relief after a troubled few months for the Phonics.

In May, the band was forced to cancel a US tour after Kelly Jones's flu bug worsened to a chest infection and doctors ordered a month's rest.

They also had to pull out of a curtain-raising appearance before the FA Cup Final on 12 May.

Saturday's concert, which seemed to fit the Millennium Stadium so well, was slated for Chepstow Racecourse - but foot-and-mouth put paid to the band's "Day At The Races" idea along with a host of horse races.

Then, Glastonbury 2001, which the Stereophonics were rumoured to headline, was cancelled over crowd safety concerns.

They went on to play a virtual 90-minute Glastonbury event to a handful of faithful fans and a web audience.

But it served as little more than a rehearsal for the impressive Cardiff concert.

Setlist

Local Boy in the Photograph

More Life in a Tramp's Vest

A Thousand Trees

Traffic

T-Shirt Sun Tan

The Bartender and the Thief

Just Looking

Pick a Part That's New

I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio

I Stopped to Fill My Car Up

Mr Writer

Hurry Up and Wait

Have a Nice Day

Step on My Old Size Nines

Roll Up and Shine

Encore:

Everyday I Think of Money

Watch Them Fly Sundays

Vegas Two Times

Rooftop

On This Day, 21/07/2001 Stereophonics

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 21 July 2001, Welsh rock band Stereophonics, played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium with support provided by the Black Crowes, Ash and another Welsh band The Crocketts.

The band had just released their third studio album Just Enough Education To Perform (JEEP) and spawned three top-ten singles in the form of "Mr. Writer", "Have a Nice Day" and "Handbags and Gladrags" as well as topping the UK album charts.

Review - BBC Wales

The Stereophonics conquered the odds of illness to stage a triumphant homecoming concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday night.

Plagued by foot-and-mouth disease, which forced a relocation from Chepstow Racecourse, and Kelly Jones's flu, which cancelled their US tour, the band were happy to finally turn up at their biggest ever gig on Welsh soil.

An estimated 60,000 fans joined the Phonics in the capital along with support acts the Black Crowes and the Crocketts - this was a rock concert in the very best sense of the word.

Stadium bosses closed the retractable roof to keep out the rain and to keep in the raucous rockers' noise.

But the fans could not keep a lid on their enthusiasm, many waving Welsh flags and huge plastic daffodils.

The boys from Cwmaman played a varied, two-hour set including material from their third and latest album, Just Enough Education To Perform, which went to the top of the charts when it was released in April.

JEEP is still top of the indie charts, moving around 20,000 copies each week.

The performance came as a relief after a troubled few months for the Phonics.

In May, the band was forced to cancel a US tour after Kelly Jones's flu bug worsened to a chest infection and doctors ordered a month's rest.

They also had to pull out of a curtain-raising appearance before the FA Cup Final on 12 May.

Saturday's concert, which seemed to fit the Millennium Stadium so well, was slated for Chepstow Racecourse - but foot-and-mouth put paid to the band's "Day At The Races" idea along with a host of horse races.

Then, Glastonbury 2001, which the Stereophonics were rumoured to headline, was cancelled over crowd safety concerns.

They went on to play a virtual 90-minute Glastonbury event to a handful of faithful fans and a web audience.

But it served as little more than a rehearsal for the impressive Cardiff concert.

Setlist

Local Boy in the Photograph

More Life in a Tramp's Vest

A Thousand Trees

Traffic

T-Shirt Sun Tan

The Bartender and the Thief

Just Looking

Pick a Part That's New

I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio

I Stopped to Fill My Car Up

Mr Writer

Hurry Up and Wait

Have a Nice Day

Step on My Old Size Nines

Roll Up and Shine

Encore:

Everyday I Think of Money

Watch Them Fly Sundays

Vegas Two Times

Rooftop

On this day 23/08/2008 Madonna

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On this day, 23 August 2008, Pop icon Madonna played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the opening night of her Sticky & Sweet Tour, with support provided by trance DJ Paul Oakenfold.

In all, the tour started in Cardiff on August 23, 2008, and ended in Tel Aviv on September 2, 2009. The 2008 legs also marked Madonna's thirteen-year return to Mexico and the continent of South America, and the 2009 legs marked her first shows in Sweden in sixteen years and Israel in fourteen years.

The tour was described as a "rock driven dancetastic journey". It was divided into four acts: Pimp, where S&M was the main theme; Retro, where Madonna's classic songs were performed while displaying work of deceased artist Keith Haring; Gypsy, a fusion of Romani folk music and dance with the performances ranging from melancholic to joyous; and Rave, where high-energy uptempo songs were performed. The last section of the show included a special 'request song', to which the audience was invited to sing-along. Some changes were made to the set list during the second European leg of the tour in 2009, including a dance tribute to deceased singer Michael Jackson.

Setlist

Act 1: Pimp

"The Sweet Machine" (Video Introduction) (contains elements of "Manipulated Living", "4 Minutes", "Human Nature" and "Give It 2 Me")

"Candy Shop" (contains elements of "4 Minutes" and "Beat Goes On")

"Beat Goes On" (contains elements of "And the Beat Goes On")

"Human Nature" (contains elements of "Gimme More" and "What You Need")

"Vogue" (contains elements of "4 Minutes" and "Give It To Me")

Act 2: Old-School

"Die Another Day" (Remix Interlude) (contains elements of "Do You Wanna Get Funky", "Planet Rock", "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Mortal Kombat")

"Into the Groove" (contains elements of "Back in the Day", "Toop Toop", "Body Work", "Jump", "Apache", "It's like That" and "Double Dutch Bus")

"Heartbeat"

"Borderline"

"She's Not Me"

"Music" (contains elements of "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit", along with excerpts from "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life")

Act 3: Gypsy

"Rain" (Remix Interlude) (contains elements of "Here Comes the Rain Again" and "4 Minutes")

"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You"

"Spanish Lesson"

"Miles Away"

"La Isla Bonita" (contains elements of "Lela Pala Tute", "Doli Doli", and "Me Darava")

"You Must Love Me"

Act 4: Rave

"Get Stupid" (Video Interlude) (contains elements of "Beat Goes On", "Give It 2 Me", "4 Minutes" and "Voices")

"4 Minutes"

"Like a Prayer" (contains elements of "Feels Like Home" and "Don't You Want Me")

"Ray of Light"

"Hung Up" (contains elements of "A New Level" and "4 Minutes")

"Give It 2 Me" (Jody Den Broeder Remix) (contains elements of "Fired Up!" (Club 69 Mix))