On This Day 31/03/2004 Bloc Party

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On this day, 31 March 2004, rock band Bloc Party played Cardiff’s Barfly venue.

Formed in London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards). They are joined in the band's current iteration by Louise Bartle (drums, percussion) and touring bassist Harry Deacon.

Former members Matt Tong, Gordon Moakes and Justin Harris left the band in 2013, 2015 and 2023 respectively. Their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music.

Upon their formation at the 1999 Reading Festival by Okereke and Lissack, the band went through a variety of names before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Moakes joined the band after answering an advert in NME magazine, while Tong was picked via an audition. Bloc Party got their break by giving BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos a copy of their demo "She's Hearing Voices".

In February 2005, the band released their debut album Silent Alarm. It was critically acclaimed and was named Indie Album of the Year at the 2006 PLUG Awards and NME Album of the year which both honour indie music. That year, the record was also certified platinum in Britain.

On This. Day 30/03/2005 Judas Priest

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On his day, 30 March 2005, heavy metal band Judas Priest played Cardiff International Arena on their Angel Of Retribution tour. Also on the bill were German band Scorpions.

Formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.

The band's membership has seen much turnover. During the 1970s, the core of bassist Ian Hill, lead singer Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing saw a revolving cast of drummers, before Dave Holland joined them for ten years from 1979 to 1989. Since Holland's departure, Scott Travis has been the band's drummer. Halford left the band in 1992, and after a four year hiatus, Judas Priest regrouped in 1996 with Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly of Winter's Bane, replacing Halford. After two albums with Owens, Halford returned to the band in 2003.

A new studio album, Angel of Retribution, was released on 1 March 2005 (US) on Sony Music/Epic Records to critical and commercial success, earning the band a 2005 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award for Best Album. A global tour in support of the album ensued.

Setlist

The Hellion

Electric Eye

Metal Gods

Riding on the Wind

The Ripper

A Touch of Evil

Judas Rising

Revolution

Hot Rockin'

Breaking the Law

I'm a Rocker

Diamonds & Rust

(Joan Baez cover) (Acoustic)

Deal With the Devil

Beyond the Realms of Death

Turbo Lover

Hellrider

Victim of Changes

The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)

(Fleetwood Mac cover)

Painkiller

Encore:

Hell Bent for Leather

Living After Midnight

You've Got Another Thing Comin'

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On this day, 29 March 1983, West Country band Tears For Fears played Cardiff’s Top Rank on the band’s The Hurting Tour.

The Hurting was the band’s debut album, released 7 March, the album peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart.

The Hurting contains Tears for Fears' first three hit singles – "Mad World", "Change", and "Pale Shelter" – all of which reached the top five in the UK and the Top 40 internationally.

It also contains a new version of the band's first single, "Suffer the Children", which had originally been released in 1981, while the album version of "Pale Shelter" is also a new recording.

Orzabal and Smith met as teenagers in Bath, Somerset, England. Their professional debut came with the band Graduate, a mod revival/new wave act whose influences included the Jam and two-tone music. In 1980, Graduate released an album, Acting My Age, and a single "Elvis Should Play Ska" (referring to Elvis Costello). The single just missed the top 100 in the UK, but performed well in Spain and in Switzerland.

The band split in 1981. Shortly afterwards, Orzabal and Smith became session musicians for the band Neon,where they first met future Tears for Fears drummer Manny Elias. Neon also featured Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher, who went on to become Naked Eyes. The pair continued working together, drawing inspiration from artists such as Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno.

On This Day 28/03/2014 The Wanted

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On this day, 28 March 2014, boy band The Wanted played Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on their Word Of Mouth World Tour.

The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldwide contract to Universal Music, Island Records and Mercury Records, and was managed by Scooter Braun.

The Wanted's released their debut album, The Wanted in 2010. It peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and spawned three UK top 20 singles: their debut single, "All Time Low", which topped UK Singles Chart, "Heart Vacancy", which reached number two, and "Lose My Mind", which reached number nineteen.

Their follow-up album Battleground, was released in 2011 and reached number five in the UK and number four in Ireland. The album lead single, "Gold Forever", was released in aid of Comic Relief and peaked at number three in the UK. The third single, "Lightning", hit number two in the UK.

The band originally announced in January 2014 that they were taking a hiatus in order to pursue individual solo projects. In a 2014 interview with The Sun, George stated that part of the group's reasoning for taking a hiatus was due to the success of One Direction, saying "One Direction are a phenomenon that no one else can compete with. They've taken over the market. We have our own fans, who we love, but we couldn't stop things from happening". Parker later echoed George's statements in an interview with Digital Spy, stating "For The Wanted to try and compete against one of the biggest bands in the world ... it's almost impossible. I don't think any band out there can compete with them at the moment".

Setlist

Gold Forever

Glow in the Dark

In the Middle

Lightning

Running Out of Reasons

Demons

Could This Be Love

Warzone

Behind Bars / Say It on the Radio / Replace Your Heart / Lose My Mind

Everybody Knows

Heartbreak Story

Show Me Love (America)

Heart Vacancy

Walks Like Rihanna

Chasing the Sun

I Found You

We Own the Night

Encore:

All Time Low

Glad You Came

On This Day 27/03/1982 Crispy Ambulance

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On this day, 27 March 1982, English post-punk band Crispy Ambulance played Cardiff’s No Name Cafe.

Formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums). They had been inspired by the Sex Pistols' second gig in the Lesser Free Trade Hall, in addition to the bands Magazine and Hawkwind.

The band played their first gig on 1 January 1978 at the Spurley Hey Youth Centre. Following a self-released debut single, "From the Cradle to the Grave" (1980), the band joined Factory Records. Singles "Unsightly and Serene" and "Live on a Hot August Night" (produced by Martin Hannett) preceded their album The Plateau Phase (1982) and final single "Sexus". The Plateau Phase was given a five star review by Sounds.

In April 1980 singer Alan Hempsall also appeared on stage with Joy Division at Derby Hall, standing in for Ian Curtis who was recovering from an attempted suicide attempt the previous day, a performance which ultimately descended into a riot. This scene is depicted in the Joy Division biopic Control. During 1981–1982, Crispy Ambulance played several dozen live dates in the UK, as well as a short European tour with Section 25. They also recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in January 1981.

Crispy Ambulance disbanded in late 1982, leaving behind Fin (1985), a live album of late period songs.

On This Day 26/03/1971 Sacha Distel

On this day, 26 March 1971, French singing star Sacha Distel played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Support was provided by compère comedian Ted Rogers, legendary violinist Stephane Grappelli and Lostontos.

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Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, “Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 1997.

He had also scored a hit as a songwriter when Tony Bennett recorded Sacha's song for The Good Life in 1963. It peaked at #18 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and Top 10 on the Easy Listening chart.

Distel was the son of Russian-French émigré Léonide Distel who was born in Odessa (Russian Empire) and French-Jewish pianist Andrée Ventura (1902–1965), born in Constantinople. His uncle was bandleader Ray Ventura. After Ventura settled in Paris with his orchestra Les Collégiens, Distel gave up piano and switched to guitar.

On This Day 25 March 2003 Paradise Lost

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On this day, 25 March 2003, British gothic metal band Paradise Lost played Cardiff’s MS1 on their Symbol of Life tour.

Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. Bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence, or have covered them, include My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Katatonia, Moonspell, Lacuna Coil, HIM, Nightwish and many others. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.

Their line-up has remained stable for such a long-standing heavy metal band, consisting of singer Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, and bassist Steve Edmondson. Holmes and Mackintosh are the principal composers, with almost all of the band's songs credited to them. During the years, the band has only changed drummers.

Symbol of Life is the ninth studio album by British metal band Paradise Lost. It marks a departure by the band from their synth-based approach and returning to a much heavier sound, although not abandoning the keyboards altogether. This album was the final release featuring drummer Lee Morris.

On This Day 24/03/1958 Buddy Holly and the Crickets

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On this day, 24 March 1958, American rock n roll legends Buddy Holly and The Crickets played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. Support was provided by Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters, Des O,Connor and Ronnie Keene and his Orchestra. It was the penultimate gig of their one and only UK tour.

Formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16, 1957.

The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own material.

Review - Cardiff and Suburban News.

HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS GIVE US LOUDEST ROCK SHOW YET!

If rowdyism, drive and down-to earth abandon are the ingredients necessary for success in the rock’n’roll field, then Buddy Holly and The Crickets are all set for a long and eventful run of popularity! They rocked their way through a tremendous, belting 25-minute act without letting up for one moment at the Capitol Theatre on Monday, and the audience shared their approval in no uncertain terms. Much of the trio’s success can be attributed to the fact that their “in person” sound is almost identical to the sound they produce on record. They generate a brand of contagious excitement that is irresistible. On Monday, they completely overpowered the 13-piece Ronnie Keene Orchestra in relation to the volume of sound produced and, at times, I felt that leader Holly’s guitar was badly over-amplified. Drummer Jerry Allison attacks his kit with murderous intent, but bassist Joe Maudin remains relatively calm, and looks rather miserable most of the time! But how these 3 boys manage to make such a big, big sound with their limited instrumentation still baffles me!