On This Day 27/10/1982 GBH

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On this day, 27 October 1982, street punk band GBH played Cardiff’s Top Rank. Also on the bill was Abrasive Wheels and Blitz.

Formed in 1978 by vocalist Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin "Jock" Blyth, bassist Sean McCarthy (replaced by Ross Lomas after two years) and drummer Andy "Wilf" Williams, GBH were early pioneers of British street punk, often nicknamed "UK82", along with Discharge, Broken Bones, The Exploited, and The Varukers.

GBH have gone on to influence several punk rock musicians, but their influence has been especially far-reaching in metal, including the early Bathory albums, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Exodus and each of the "big four of thrash metal" (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax).

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has repeatedly expressed his enthusiasm for GBH and said such bands were the beginning of thrash to him. Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM has said he listened to second-wave punk bands before starting his own band, mentioning GBH as an example. GBH have also influenced 1990s and 2000s rock bands such as Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Green Day, The Offspring and Rancid.

On This Day 08/07/1981 The Exploited

On this day, 8 July 1981, Scottish punk rock band The Exploited played Cardiff Top Rank on their Apocalypse Now Tour supported by Discharge, Anti Pasti, Infa Riot and Chron Gen.

Formed in 1978 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981, and their debut EP, Army Life, and debut album, Punks Not Dead, were both released that year.

The band maintained a large cult following in the 1980s among a hardcore working class punk and skinhead audience. Originally a street punk band, the Exploited eventually became a crossover thrash band with the release of their album Death Before Dishonour in 1987.

In March 1981, the band signed to Secret Records, and spent a month recording their debut album, Punks Not Dead. The Exploited released the single "Dogs of War", which peaked at #2 in the Independent charts and #63 on the UK Charts. Also in 1981, the band released their first live album, On Stage, recorded during a concert in Edinburgh.

During this time, the Exploited appeared on the popular mainstream TV programme, Top of the Pops.[8][9] A lot of fans of the Exploited were unhappy with the band's decision to appear on the show. The hardcore punk band Conflict wrote the song Exploitation about this appearance, which began a long-standing rivalry between Conflict and the Exploited that divided the punk fan base.

On this day 21/6/1984 Siouxsie and the Banshees

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On this day 21 June 1984 punk originals Siouxsie and the Banshees played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall on their Hyæna Tour.

Hyæna was the band’s sixth studio album released earlier the same month. Hyæna is the only studio album that guitarist Robert Smith of the Cure composed and recorded with Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Hyæna was namechecked by Brett Anderson, the singer of Suede.James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers hired producer Hedges because he loved the sound on lead single "Swimming Horses".

Bradfield stated: "Swimming Horses' by the Banshees – what a fucking record that is! I remember thinking 'You really care about that record. I'm gonna have to chase that record down." He also mentioned the importance of the drums: "I loved Banshees records, where everything starts with the drums".

Setlist

Dazzle

Cascade

Running Town

Feathers

Desert Kisses

Pointing Bone

Red Over White

Melt!

Red Light

Christine

Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man

Painted Bird

Arabian Knights

Spellbound

Monitor

Encore:

Helter Skelter

(The Beatles cover)

On This Day 11/2/1980 The Clash

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On this day, 11 Feb 1980, original Punk rockers The Clash played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on The 16 Tons Tour promoting the recently released London Calling album.

The band’s third album achieved great critical acclaim and considered by many to be the band’s finest work and has since been considered by many critics to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Opening for The Clash that evening were Bristol punks The X-Certs. Whose pinnacle was undoubtedly when they were given the opportunity to open at Sophia Gardens.

The X-Certs arrived in their hired transit for their sound check, only to be told they would need to pay the Lighting Engineer £50 if they wanted any lights. A quick emptying of pockets and the money was scraped together, they took up their positions and the stage was illuminated with light. "You need to pay the Sound Engineer £50 too" came the sucker punch. Penniless and unable to pay, the biggest gig of their career so far was turning into a disaster an hour before the doors opened.Nicky "Topper" Headon (The Clash's drummer) appeared to ask what was going on and when told, in true punk camaraderie, he muttered "F**k that, I'll mix you meself!" So, with Topper's assistance, an hour later The X-Certs opened the gig; with The Clash watching the performance from the wings and 4500 in the audience dancing up and down, could it get any better?

On This day 22/1/1980 The Ramones

On this day, 22 Jan 1980, the legendary New York punk band The Ramones played Cardiff University, supported by The Boys.
The band was about to release their fifth album, End Of The Century, the band’s first album to be produced by Phil Spector.
Spector used more advanced standards of engineering, such as high-quality overdubbing and echo chambers. These painstaking methods caused conflict between the band and Spector, since the Ramones were accustomed to a quicker recording process.
Formed in 1974, the band is often cited as the first true punk rock group.
All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname "Ramone", although none of them were biologically related.
They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the Ramones played a farewell concert in Los Angeles and disbanded.
By 2014, all four of the band's original members had died – lead singer Joey Ramone (1951–2001), bassist Dee Dee Ramone (1951–2002), guitarist Johnny Ramone (1948–2004) and drummer Tommy Ramone (1949–2014).

SET LIST

Blitzkrieg Bop
Teenage Lobotomy
Rockaway Beach
I Don't Want You
Go Mental
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
Rock 'n' Roll High School
I Wanna Be Sedated
Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
She's the One
I'm Against It
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
This Ain't Havana
Commando
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
I'm Affected
Surfin' Bird
(The Trashmen cover)
Cretin Hop
All the Way
Judy Is a Punk
California Sun
(Joe Jones cover)
I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
Pinhead

Encore:
Do You Wanna Dance?
(Bobby Freeman cover)
Suzy Is a Headbanger
Let's Dance
(Chris Montez cover)

Encore 2:
Chinese Rocks
(The Heartbreakers cover)
Beat on the Brat
We're a Happy Family