On This Day 04/02/2005 Green Day

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On this day, 4 February 2005, American rock band Green Day played Cardiff International Arena on their American Idiot tour.

Formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 20 million copies in the U.S. Alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and Social Distortion, Green Day is credited with re-popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.

American Idiot is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on September 21, 2004, by Reprise Records. As with their previous four albums, it was produced by Rob Cavallo in collaboration with the group. Recording sessions for American Idiot took place at Studio 880 in Oakland and Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, both in California, between 2003 and 2004.

A concept album, dubbed a "punk rock opera" by the band members, American Idiot follows the story of Jesus of Suburbia, a lower-middle-class American adolescent anti-hero. The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War. In order to accomplish this, the band used unconventional techniques for themselves, including transitions between connected songs and some long, chaptered, creative compositions presenting the album themes.

Setlist

Intro

American Idiot

Jesus of Suburbia

Holiday

Are We the Waiting

St. Jimmy

Longview

Hitchin' a Ride

Brain Stew

Jaded

Knowledge

(Operation Ivy cover)

Basket Case

She

King for a Day

Shout

(The Isley Brothers cover)

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Minority

Encore:

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

When I Come Around

We Are the Champions

(Queen cover)

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

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 02/02/2008 Dark Tranquility

On this day, 2 February 2008, Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquility played Cardiff’s Barfly on their Great British Fiction Tour.

They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates - regarded as the Gothenburg fathers in the film entitled Out of Nothing: A DT Documentary released by Century Media, which was filmed in their home town in April 2009.

After a nearly three-decade long collaboration of four founding members frequent lineup changes between 2016 and 2021 have left only vocalist Mikael Stanne as an original member, together with long-time keyboardist Martin

In 2007, Fiction was released, which in turn, saw a return of Stanne's clean vocals, and the first female guest vocalist since Projector. The album also saw writing style that combined the stylings of Projector and Haven, with the more aggressive traits of Character and Damage Done. At this time, Dark Tranquillity toured with The Haunted, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry for the North America Metal for the Masses Tour.

They also toured the UK in early 2008 along with Omnium Gatherum. They returned to the US during spring 2008 with Arch Enemy.

Setlist

Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)

The Lesser Faith

The Treason Wall

The Wonders at Your Feet

Lost to Apathy

Hedon

Inside the Particle Storm

The Endless Feed

Focus Shift

Misery's Crown

Punish My Heaven

ThereIn

Blind at Heart

My Negation

Final Resistance

Lethe

The New Build

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.

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 17/11/2006 Mr Scruff

On this day, 17 November 2006, English record producer and DJ Mr. Scruff played Cardiff University.

His most notable hit, "Get a Move On!", is built around "Bird's Lament (In Memory of Charlie Parker)" by Moondog and has been used in several commercials, ranging from Lincoln and Volvo automobiles to France Télécom and GEICO insurance. The song also samples Shifty Henry's "Hyping Woman Blues" and led to a renewal of interest in Henry's compositions.

In 2004, Mr. Scruff released Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1, the first of what is intended to be a series of several DJ mixed compilation CDs for Ninja Tune's Solid Steel series of artist mixes.These mixes are designed to recreate the eclectic genres one would expect to hear at a Mr. Scruff club night. In November 2006, Ninja Tune confirmed that the eighth Solid Steel record would be mixed by J Rocc and the ninth would be Volume 2 from Mr. Scruff. Other Solid Steel mixes have been released by fellow Ninja Tune artists including The Herbaliser, Hexstatic, DJ Food, and Amon Tobin.

He has a wide array of remixes to his name and has also produced tracks for others – notably "Echo of Quiet and Green" for sometimes-collaborator Niko on her 2004 album Life on Earth. Niko returned the favour by appearing on the track "Come Alive" from the Trouser Jazz album.

Having performed regularly at The Big Chill Festival in Eastnor Castle deer park, Ledbury, Herefordshire, Mr. Scruff was asked in 2006 to select the tracks for the compilation album, Big Chill Classics.

On This Day 14/11/2004 Peter Frampton

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On this day, 14 November 2004, rock singer/guitarist Peter Frampton played Cardiff International Arena. Also on the bill were Deep Purple and Thunder. Frampton had released his eleventh studio album Peter Frampton.

Frampton rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a solo artist. He has released several albums, including his breakthrough album, the live recording Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), which spawned several hit singles and has been certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States.

He has also worked with various other acts such as Ringo Starr, John Entwistle of the Who, David Bowie, Joe Bonamassa, and both Matt Cameron and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam.

Frampton is known for his signature hit songs "Show Me the Way", "Baby, I Love Your Way", "Do You Feel Like We Do", and "I'm in You", all of which remain staples of classic rock radio. He has also appeared as himself in television shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Madam Secretary. Frampton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.