On This Day 09/01/1987 Human League

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On this day, 9 January 1987, synth-pop band The Human League played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. The band had just released their 5th studio album Crash.

The album would provide the band with their second US number-one single, "Human", the same year. It was produced by the American production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also wrote several tracks.

The album name was taken from a moment in the studio during the recording. Oakey described it thus:

It's from a crash cymbal, because it's a disco album again with lots of cymbals. One day somebody said "what sorts of cymbals do you want, a ride or a crash?", and we thought, "what a great title!"

Formed in Sheffield in 1977, initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me".

The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" (a second US No. 1) and "Tell Me When".

The only constant band member since 1977 has been lead singer and songwriter Philip Oakey.

SETLIST:

Hard Times

Money

The Things That Dreams Are Made Of

The Real Thing or I Need Your Loving

Do Or Die

Human

The Sound Of The Crowd

Love Action (I Believe In Love)

Jam

Love On The Run

Seconds

The Lebanon

Together In Electric Dreams

Party or I Need Your Loving

Mirror Man

Don't You Want Me

(Keep Feeling) Fascination

Rock'n'Roll

LIVE LINE UP:

Philip Oakey - vocals

Joanne Catherall - vocals

Susan Sulley - vocals

Ian Burden - bass & vocals

Neil Sutton - synthesizer

Russel Dennett - syntesizer, guitar, vocals

Jim Russell - drums

Meyrick - guitar, vocals

David Beevers - technical

On This Day 08/02/1977 Gallagher & Lyle

On his day, 8 January 1977, Scottish musical duo Gallagher and Lyle played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre on their Love On The Airwaves tour in support of their sixth studio album Love On The Airwaves which peaked at #19 on the UK album charts.

Their first recognition came in 1968, when they were signed by the Beatles to write for Apple Records' artists. They were founding members of the band McGuinness Flint and wrote the 1970 UK chart hit "When I'm Dead and Gone".

In 1972, they formed the duo Gallagher and Lyle, whose fifth album Breakaway charted well, the title track being a cover hit for Art Garfunkel in 1975, and it included the hit songs "Heart on My Sleeve" and "I Wanna Stay with You". Don Williams took their song "Stay Young" to No. 1 on the US Country charts.

The duo split in 1980, but re-formed in 2010 and worked together on an intermittent basis, mainly as a live act, until 2018.

Gallagher and Lyle have worked, jointly and individually, on records with, among others, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood, Joan Armatrading, Ralph McTell, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention and Jim Diamond. Artists who have released Gallagher and Lyle songs include Bryan Ferry, Ringo Starr, Elkie Brooks, Fairport Convention, Art Garfunkel and Joe Brown.

On This Day 07/01/07 Bullet For My Valentine

On this day, 7 January 2007, Welsh band Bullet For My Valentine played Cardiff University.

They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. A change of style from that of Jeff Killed John led the band to change their name.

In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer.

Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the UK and on Valentine's Day 2006 in the US. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 128, and attained number 11 on the Independent Albums chart. On 30 January 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the US.

Setlist

"The Poison" Intro

Her Voice Resides

Hand of Blood

Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)

All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)

4 Words (to Choke Upon)

Room 409

Cries in Vain

Creeping Death

(Metallica cover)

The End

Spit You Out

Tears Don't Fall

On This Day 06/01/2011 You Me At Six

On this day, 6 January 2011, rock band You Me at Six played Cardiff University on their Final Hold Me Down Tour.

From Weybridge, Surrey. The band consists of lead singer Josh Franceschi, guitarists Max Helyer and Chris Miller, bassist Matt Barnes and drummer Daniel Flint.

Formed in 2004, the name for the group originated as an abbreviation for the group making Friday night plans after a concert. The band has released eight studio albums and one live album.

The group achieved initial success in 2008 with the release of their debut album, Take Off Your Colours, which included the singles "Save It for the Bedroom", "Finders Keepers" and "Kiss and Tell", with the latter two peaking at number 33 and number 42 respectively in the UK Singles Chart

Their second album Hold Me Down (2010) debuted at number five in the UK, while their third album Sinners Never Sleep (2011) peaked at number 3, was certified Gold, and spawned the band's fifth top 50 single "Loverboy".

Setlist

Save It for the Bedroom

Safer to Hate Her

Hard to Swallow

Take Off Your Colours

Finders Keepers

Contagious Chemistry

The Consequence

(with Sean Smith)

Kiss and Tell

If I Were in Your Shoes

Fireworks

You've Made Your Bed (So Sleep in It)

(acoustic)

Always Attract

(acoustic)

The Rumour

Encore:

Stay With Me

Liquid Confidence

Underdog

On This Day 04/01/1976 Procol Harum

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On this day, 4 Jan 1976, progressive rock band Procol Harum played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre, supported by Viv Stanshall's Vivarium.
Best-known for their recording "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is was the 1967 hit single and one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies.

Touring to support Procol's Ninth (their eighth studio album, ninth including Live) that was released in September 1975.

Procol's Ninth was the first release from the band to feature non-original songs: a remake of The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" and Leiber & Stoller's own "I Keep Forgetting". "Eight Days a Week" was put on the album by the producers, initially against the band's wishes. The album also featured "Pandora's Box", a track that had been composed by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid early in the band's career.

Cash Box said of "Pandora's Box" that "we guarantee you’ll be humming this Procol heavy night and day by the time Halloween rears its head a few weeks from now." As included on Ninth, it differed substantially from the more psychedelic unfinished version of the song that was ultimately released as a bonus track on the 2009 reissue of the band's first album.

Produced by renowned songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Procol's Ninth featured a slightly different direction with a much more stark sound than previous more elaborate productions. According to an interview with guitarist Mick Grabham, conducted by Roland Clare for the 2009 reissue, Leiber and Stoller focused less on the production sound and more on "the structure of the songs".

On This Day 03/01/2011 JLS

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On this day, 3 January 2011, boy band JLS played Cardiff International Arena on their Outta This World Tour.

The tour was launched in support of their debut studio album, JLS. The group performed throughout 2010 and early 2011, completing over 70 shows in the United Kingdom. The tour initially began in theatres however as the groups popularity grew, they performed at music festivals and arenas.

JLS (initialism for Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boy band consisting of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill; Williams formed the band.

They initially signed with Tracklacers production company New Track City and were the runners-up of the fifth series of the ITV reality talent show The X Factor in 2008, coming in second to Alexandra Burke.

After their appearance on The X Factor, JLS signed to Epic Records. Their first two singles "Beat Again" and "Everybody in Love" were both number one on the UK Singles Chart.

Setlist

Outta This World

That's My Girl

Eyes Wide Shut

One Shot

Heal This Heartbreak

Beat Again

Work

Umbrella

(Rihanna cover)

Other Side of the World

I Know What She Likes

Somebody to Love

(Justin Bieber cover)

Love You More

Everybody (Backstreet's Back)

(Backstreet Boys cover)

Girlfriend

(*NSYNC cover)

I Want It That Way

(Backstreet Boys cover)

Pop

(*NSYNC cover)

Better for You

Superhero

Encore:

The Club Is Alive

Everybody in Love

On This Day 02/01/1984 The Damned

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On this day,2 January 1984, punk pioneers The Damned played Cardiff’s New Ocean Club.

Formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976),release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.

In 1984, the Damned performed on the BBC Two sitcom The Young Ones with their song "Nasty", featuring new bassist Bryn Merrick (replacing Paul Gray) and both Roman Jugg and Sensible on guitar.[citation Sensible played his last concert with the band at Brockwell Park before leaving to pursue his solo career.

From the earliest days of the band, Vanian had adopted a vampire-like appearance onstage, with chalk-white makeup and formal dress. With Sensible gone, Vanian's image became more characteristic of the band as a whole.

The Damned on The Young Ones

The Damned signed a recording contract with major label MCA Records, and the Phantasmagoria album followed in July 1985, preceded by the UK No. 21 single "Grimly Fiendish". Other hits from the same album were "The Shadow of Love" with a gloomy gothic sound, and the lighter "Is It a Dream?"

The Damned at the New Ocean ClubPhotos: Anthony Tooze

Setlist

There Ain't No Sanity Clause

Disco Man

Ignite

Stranger on the Town

Wait for the Blackout

Do the Blitz

Melody Lee

Born to Kill

Love Song

Neat Neat Neat

Looking at You

(MC5 cover)

New Rose

Encore:

Smash It Up

Noise Noise Noise

Hippy Hippy Shake

(Chan Romero cover)

Encore 2:

We Love You

(The Rolling Stones cover)

1970

(The Stooges cover)

Encore 3:

Happy Talk

(Rodgers & Hammerstein cover)

Love Song

I Just Can't Be Happy Today

On This Day 22/12/2005 Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

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On this day, 22 December 2005, Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra played Cardiff International Arena.

Jools Holland OBE DL was born Julian Miles Holland on 24th January 1958 in Blackheath, South East London.

At the age of eight, he could play the piano fluently by ear, and by the time he reached his early teens he was proficient and confident enough to be appearing regularly in many of the pubs in South East London and the East End Docks.

At the age of 15, Jools was introduced to Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford; he joined Squeeze, followed by Gilson Lavis shortly afterwards (Gilson had already played with, among others, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and Max Wall) – who still drums with Jools.

Up The Junction and Cool For Cats gave Squeeze meteoric success and their popularity rapidly extended to America, where their tour included performances at New York's Madison Square Garden.

In 1987, Jools formed The Jools Holland Big Band – comprising himself and Gilson Lavis. This has gradually metamorphosed into the current 19-piece Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, which consists of pianist, organist, drummer, three female vocals, guitar, bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, baritone saxophone, three trumpets, and three trombones.

As well as formidable live performances, Jools has maintained a prolific recording career since signing to Warner Music in 1996, which includes the multimillion selling Jools Holland and Friends series. Notable 'friends' have included Sting, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Bono, Joe Strummer, KT Tunstall, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson, Kylie, Marc Almond, Ringo Starr, Peter Gabriel, Solomon Burke, and many more.