On This Day 20/02/1990 Michael Monroe

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On this day, 20 February 1990, Finnish rock musician Michael Monroe played Cardiff University on his No Fakin’ It tour.

After Hanoi Rocks broke up in 1985, Monroe decided to start his solo career, but first he got to work with his good friend Stiv Bators. In the Fall of 1985, Bators and Monroe were asked by Steven Van Zandt to record backing vocals in London and then fly to New York to appear on his song "Sun City" and its music video. Both agreed and recorded backing vocals for the song, and both can be seen in the music video.

In December 1985, Monroe announced that he would move to New York, and in 1986, Monroe founded his first solo band. In 1987, he released his first solo album, Nights Are So Long. The album was a moderate hit, but it attracted big record labels: In 1988, Monroe signed to Mercury Records.In 1989, Monroe's second solo album was released, titled Not Fakin' It.

The album featured guest appearances by Monroe's friends and fellow musicians, including Steven Van Zandt, Ian Hunter and Nasty Suicide. The album reached number 161 on the US Billboard Chart, and was Monroe's first album to be distributed internationally. The album also got good reviews from critics.

Music videos were shot for the singles "Dead, Jail or Rock 'N' Roll" and "Man With No Eyes". Axl Rose appeared in the music video for "Dead, Jail or Rock 'N' Roll". At that time, Michael Monroe hosted MTV's Headbangers Ball where he introduced the new music video to the world.

When Not Fakin' It was released, the Guns N' Roses record label, UZI Suicide, was re-releasing Hanoi Rocks albums in America. Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash also made a guest appearance on Monroe's Los Angeles shows in December 1989, performing the song "Looking at You".

Aerosmith's lead singer Steven Tyler had also taken notice of Monroe and asked him to perform with Aerosmith at Les Paul's 75th birthday at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York. Monroe played saxophone on the song "Big Ten Inch Record." He mostly spent the rest of 1989 and 1990 touring.

In the turn of the decade, Monroe performed along with Bryan Adams, Don Henley, Huey Lewis and Loudness in two New Year's shows at the 70,000-seat Tokyo Dome in Japan, on December 31, 1989 and January 1, 1990.

Monroe's solo career didn't prove to be as successful as he'd hoped, so in 1990 he decided to put together a new band. The band was called Jerusalem Slim, and was completed by former Billy Idol-guitarist Steve Stevens, Sami Yaffa, Greg Ellis and Ian McLagan.

On This Day 02/11/2001 Pitchshifter

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On this day, 11 February 2001, British industrial rock band Pitchshifter played Cardiff University University.

Pitchshifter was formed in 1989 (initially spelled Pitch Shifter) by guitarist and programmer Johnny Carter and bassist Mark Clayden, later joined by Stu Toolin, and then Jon "JS" Clayden (Mark Clayden's brother). During this time, the band played with local bands and soon gained attention of the Peaceville Records. During this time, JS went to live in France to sell paintings.

They have cited major influences as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Led Zeppelin, The Cure, The Doors, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and Ministry.

During 1990, the band started recording their début album, Industrial, with the main vocalist being Mark Clayden instead of JS, who contributed with backing vocals. The band later went on a small tour with bands like Napalm Death.

In 2000, founder Johnny Carter and drummer D.J. Walters left the band, and the band hired guitarist Matt Grundy and drummer Jason Bowld. The band later released their fifth album Deviant, which had appearances from drummer John Stanier and Jello Biafra. The band played in that year's Ozzfest.

The cover used a picture of one of Gee Vaucher's Paintings, who did artwork for Crass and Carcass. The painting shows a cross between the Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II. Due to outrage over the use of a caricature of the Pope, the album was banned in Poland. The band apologized for the artwork and changed it.

On This Day 10/02/2011 Good Charlotte

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On this day, 10 February 2011, American rock band Good Charlotte played Cardiff University on the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Tour.

Formed in 1995. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of Joel Madden (lead vocals), Benji Madden (guitar, vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (guitar, keyboards), and Dean Butterworth (drums, percussion).

The band released their self-titled debut album in 2000. In 2002, they released their second album, The Young and the Hopeless. Featuring the singles "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", "The Anthem" and "Girls & Boys", The Young and the Hopeless sold 3.5 million copies in the US and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA, for a total of almost 5 million copies sold worldwide.

The band followed up with The Chronicles of Life and Death in 2004; a darker album, both musically and lyrically. Backed by the singles "Predictable" and "I Just Wanna Live", The Chronicles of Life and Death continued the band's success, and the album was certified platinum by the RIAA, selling over one million copies in the US alone. In 2007, they released the dance-punk inspired album Good Morning Revival before going back to their pop-punk-roots with the album Cardiology in 2010.

After a four-year-long hiatus, the band announced its comeback on November 3, 2015. The band released Youth Authority 2016, and in 2018 they released their latest album, Generation Rx. In addition, they released two compilations: Greatest Remixes in 2008 and Greatest Hits in 2010.

Setlist

Introduction to Cardiology

The Anthem

Girls & Boys

My Bloody Valentine

Silver Screen Romance

Riot Girl

Like It's Her Birthday

Keep Your Hands Off My Girl

Predictable

Little Things

The Chronicles of Life and Death

The Young and the Hopeless

The River

Dance Floor Anthem

I Just Wanna Live

Sex on the Radio

Play Video

Counting the Days

Play Video

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

On This Day 08/02/2003 The Polyphonic Spree

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On this day, 8 February 2003, American choral rock band The Polyphonic Spree played Cardiff University on the NME awards tour.

The band from Dallas, Texas was formed in 2000 by singer/songwriter Tim DeLaughter. The band's pop and rock songs are augmented by a large vocal choir, and instruments such as flute, trumpet, french horn, trombone, violin, viola, cello, percussion, piano, guitars, bass, drums, electronic keyboards, and EWI.

In early 2003, they were dropped by their record label, 679 Recordings, for "lack of record sales". About this time, the band began to break into pop culture. The song "Light and Day" was used in a joint Volkswagen Beetle/iPod tie-in advertising campaign, appearing on television commercials nationwide in 2004.

The same song was used in a tribute to Bill Walsh during an NFL football preseason special, in an episode of the TV series Scrubs, in Murderball, a documentary about the U.S. wheelchair rugby team, and as the end music for the first series of the BBC Radio 7 sci-fi comedy Undone; the song's video was adapted for the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (the DVD features a clip). Also during this time the band was invited to be an opening act for Bowie's Reality Tour and again performed at South by Southwest.

On This Day 06/02/1975 Barclay James Harvest

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On this day, 6 February 1975, prog rock band Barclay James Harvest played Cardiff University.

After signing with EMI's Parlophone label in the UK for one single in early 1968 (entitled "Early Morning / Mr. Sunshine"), they moved to the more progressively inclined Harvest label.

The name of the band, according to The International Barclay James Harvest Fan Club, signifies nothing specifically. Having exhausted other possibilities, each of the band members wrote single words on pieces of paper which were drawn out of a hat one by one.

All were rejected until only three were left: James, a man who used to sing with the band, Harvest because they were living in a farmhouse, and Barclay after Barclays bank, because they aspired to make money. These were then rearranged to get the best-sounding name of Barclay James Harvest

On This Day 03/02/2002 The Hives

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On this day, 3 February 2002, Swedish rock band The Hives played Cardiff University.

Formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining traction in Sweden through the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival.

The band's line-up—consisting of Howlin' Pelle Almqvist (vocals), Nicholaus Arson (lead guitar, backing vocals), Vigilante Carlstroem (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Dr. Matt Destruction (bass), and Chris Dangerous (drums)—remained unchanged from 1993 until 2013, when Matt Destruction retired for health reasons and was replaced by The Johan and Only, the former Randy bassist.

Their mainstream success came with the release of Veni Vidi Vicious and its single "Hate to Say I Told You So", considered their signature song. They are known for always dressing in matching black-and-white tuxedos and for their energetic and eccentric live shows, with critics hailing them as one of the best live rock bands of the last two decades.

On This Day 01/02/2005 Rooster

On this day, 1 February 2005, indie rock band Rooster played Cardiff University.

After his previous band 50.Grind broke up, singer Nick Atkinson formed Rooster with childhood friend Luke Potashnick, who had attended Eastbourne College with him on guitar. The pair began writing songs together, before enlisting drummer Dave Neale (who had previously toured with Potashnick) and then bassist Ben Smyth (after advertising the role in the music press) to complete the lineup of the band in late 2003.

The name Rooster was chosen based on that of a horse on which Atkinson won £250 in a bet.

Rooster signed with Hugh Goldsmith's Sony BMG sub-label Brightside Recordings and recorded their debut album with producers including Steve Robson, Pete Woodroffe and Charlie Grant. The band released their first single "Come Get Some" on 11 October 2004, which reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

Also in 2004, the group became the first to broadcast a live performance over the 3G mobile phone network. "Staring at the Sun" followed on 10 January 2005,[6] which peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

Two weeks after "Staring at the Sun", Rooster's self-titled debut album was released on 24 January 2005. The album reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, behind Push the Button by The Chemical Brothers and Hot Fuss by The Killers, and as of July 2006 had sold over 500,000 copies, approximately half of which were in the UK.

On This Day 23/01/2005 The Used

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On this day, 23 January 2005, American rock band The Used played Cardiff University on their In Love And Death tour.

The Used formed in the summer of 2000 with Branden Steineckert, Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, and Bert McCracken.The band began composing songs without lyrics prior to McCracken joining.

They held auditions for vocalists at Howard's residence, but were not satisfied with any of the auditions, describing them as terrible. Allman then asked McCracken if he was interested in joining the band. McCracken was impressed with their material, and after being given some music, he wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories". He returned the next day to record a demo version of the song and was then officially confirmed as the band's vocalist.

During the early days of the band, members suffered from poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse, panhandling for change in order to buy food. They decided upon the name "Used" after friends claimed they felt "used" when contact with the band members waned as they became more engrossed in the project.

In Love and Death is the second studio album by American rock band the Used. It was released on September 28, 2004, and was later certified platinum in the United States, indicating over 1,000,000 copies shipped. It is their most commercially successful album to date.

The title and music reference a number of tragic events that surrounded vocalist Bert McCracken during the album's production, notably the death of his pregnant girlfriend. In Love and Death is the final studio album to feature drummer Branden Steineckert.