On This Day 16/09/1986 Rick Wakeman

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On this day, 16 September 1986, keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. Wakeman had recently released the album Country Airs. The album features piano instrumentals inspired by the countryside. The album marked a stylistic shift in Wakeman's output, having established himself primarily with progressive rock, concept albums, and commercial-oriented music at the start of the 1980s.

The album reached number one on the UK New Age chart. It was followed by two sequels, Sea Airs and Night Airs, released in 1989 and 1990, respectively for President Records.

Best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakeman as a "classically trained keyboardist extraordinaire who plied his trade with Yes and developed his own brand of live spectacular in a solo act."

In 1984, Wakeman signed with the independent label President Records in an association that would last until 2007, for which he would produce almost 40 albums.

The first was Silent Nights, Wakeman's first solo album in over two years, featuring Fernandez, Cronk, and Rick Fenn on guitar and released in 1985.

The single "Glory Boys" became a minor pop hit in the UK. In March 1985, Wakeman finished work on his part of the soundtrack to the comedy film Playing for Keeps, which was followed by a tour of the UK, North America, and Australia to promote Silent Nights.It was his first full-scale tour in four years, and his first shows in the US in over five.

A live album from the UK leg was released as Live at Hammersmith. The tour left Wakeman "seriously in debt", and he was forced to remortgage his Camberley home. In September 1985, during the tour's Australian leg, Wakeman fell ill from his alcoholism and has been teetotal since. Also in 1985, a single of Wakeman's theme tunes for the television shows Lytton's Diary and Database was released. By this time he had also composed music for the BBC show Paddles Up and the Channel 4 documentary Supercat. Wakeman also reunited with David Bowie to play the piano on his 1986 single "Absolute Beginners".

On This Day 15/09/2004 Susperia

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On this day, 15 September 2004, Norwegian thrash metal band Susperia played Cardiff’s Barfly. The had recently released their third studio album Unlimited

Formed in October 1998 by Tjodalv and Cyrus the band was originally named Seven Sins, but since there was another band with that name they changed it to the title of the horror film Suspiria, changing the spelling to avoid a clash with Suspiria, a gothic rock band that also took its name from the film.

On their early albums, the band experimented with a mixture of black and thrash metal. Testament, one of the members' favorite bands, was a major influence, and by the time the album Unlimited was released, the black metal elements had disappeared. Instead, the band gave more space to influences from heavy metal. Today, Susperia are generally regarded as a melodic thrash metal band.

The lyrics written by singer Athera are personal and either purely fictional or autobiographical. Politics and religion are not dealt with, nor are certain concepts. Athera uses both guttural and clean vocals.

Susperia is not a Satanic band, though their lyrics tend to criticise and question the views and morals of Christianity.

On This Day 14/09/1987 Billie Jo Spears

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On this day, 14 September 1987, American country singer Billie Joe Spears played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

She was known for a series of singles whose characters often represented women in assertive positions. Among these recordings was a song about sexual harassment ("Mr. Walker, It's All Over"), and a song about rekindling sexual desire ("Blanket on the Ground)".

Spears was raised in a working-class Texas family. She made her first recording at age 13 on the Abbott label. Singer–songwriter Jack Rhodes discovered her early music and helped her secure a professional partnership with producer Kelso Herston.

Under Herston's production, she had her first top-ten song with 1969's "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" (issued on Capitol Records). Several follow-up releases were not successful, and after recovering from a vocal setback she returned to United Artists. Her second release was 1975's "Blanket on the Ground", which topped the American country chart and became a commercial pop success in several countries.

In the final years of her career, Spears continued to perform on a regular basis. Because of her notable following in the United Kingdom, Spears did most of her concert engagements there. She would complete over 400 concerts and engagements in the United Kingdom during her lifetime.

Spears hoped to record a live album at the Pavilion Theatre in Scotland, but never got around to doing so.[3] Shortly before her passing, Spears performed regularly with Irish country artist, Philomena Begley. This included a tour in both 2010 and 2011.

On This Day 13/09/1985 Saxon

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On this day, 13 September 1985, heavy rock band Saxon played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall.

Formed in Barnsley in 1975 as one of the leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), they had eight UK Top 40 albums during the 1980s including four UK Top 10 albums and two Top 5 albums.

They had numerous hit singles on the UK Singles Chart and experienced success all over Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States.

During the 1980s, Saxon established themselves among Europe's most successful metal acts. The band tours regularly and have sold more than 23 million records worldwide

In late 1983, Saxon left their French record company Carrere they signed with EMI Records in 1984, with their first release on the label being Crusader.

Though still heavy, critics felt the album had a more commercial sound, and fans began to wonder what direction the band was taking. Despite its commercial sound, the title track became a fan favourite.

The album sold over two million copies and the 1984 world tour "The World Crusade" was a success both in Europe and America. In the US, the band toured with Accept as their special guests, as well as supporting Mötley Crüe for some shows of a yearlong tour.

On This Day 12/09/1984 Dio

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On this day, 12 September 1984, rock band Dio played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. The support was provided by Queensryche. Dio had recently released their second album The Last In Line. It became the band's highest-charting album in both the UK and the U.S., reaching number 4 and number 23.

Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Dio had left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice.

The name Dio was chosen because it made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well known at that time.

The band released ten studio albums and had numerous lineup changes over the years, with Dio himself being the only constant member. Guitarists included Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Doug Aldrich, Warren DeMartini, Tracy G, Jake E. Lee and Rowan Robertson.

The band dissolved in 2010 when Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer at the age of 67. R. J. Dio has sold over 50 million records worldwide.

Setlist

Stand Up and Shout

One Night in the City

Don't Talk to Strangers

Mystery

Egypt (The Chains Are On)

Holy Diver

Drum Solo

Heaven and Hell

(Black Sabbath cover) (with guitar solo)

The Last in Line

(followed by "Heaven and Hell" reprise)

Rainbow in the Dark

Man on the Silver Mountain / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

(Rainbow cover)

Encore:

We Rock

The Mob Rules

(Black Sabbath cover)

On This Day 11/09/1975 Wings

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On this day, 11 September 1975, former Beatle Paul McCartney played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre with his band Wings on their Wing over the World tour.

It was the third date on the tour following concerts at Southampton and Bristol.

The world tour followed the release of Wings' bestselling album Venus and Mars (1975), while the follow-up album, Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976), was completed after the band's Australian concerts.

Both Venus and Mars and Band on the Run (1973) were well represented in the setlist for the two 1975 legs. Songs from Speed of Sound were then introduced into the set in March 1976, and McCartney is known to have remarked: "Everything I have done since The Beatles split has been leading up to this."

Wings' line-up for this tour was Paul McCartney (vocals, bass, piano, acoustic guitar), Linda McCartney (keyboards, backing vocals), Denny Laine (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion), Jimmy McCulloch (electric and acoustic guitars, bass, vocals) and Joe English (drums, percussion, backing vocals). They were joined by brass and woodwind players Howie Casey, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard and Tony Dorsey.

Set List

Venus And Mars / Rock Show / Jet

Let Me Roll It

Spirits Of Ancient Egypt

Little Woman Love

C Moon

Maybe I'm Amazed

Lady Madonna

The Long And Winding Road

Medicine Jar

Soily

Picasso's Last Words

Richard Cory

Bluebird

I've Just Seen A Face

Blackbird

Yesterday

You Gave Me The Answer

Magneto And Titanium Man

Go Now

Junior's Farm

Letting Go

Live And Let Die

Call Me Back Again

My Love

Listen To What The Man Said

Band On The Run

Hi Hi Hi

On This Day 10/09/1987 Andre Previn

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On this day, 10 September 1987, world renowned German-American pianist, composer, and conductor Andre Previn played Cardiff’s St David’s Hall. Also featured was violinist Nigel Kennedy as soloist.

Previn was born in Berlin to a Jewish family, the second son and last of three children of Charlotte (née Epstein) and Jack Previn, who was a lawyer, judge, and music teacher born in Graudenz, then in Germany but now in Poland. The eldest son, Steve Previn, became a film director. The year of Previn's birth is disputed. Whereas most published reports give 1929, Previn himself stated that 1930 was his birth year. All three children received piano lessons and Previn was the one who enjoyed them from the start and displayed the most talent.

His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved success, and the latter two were part of his life until the end. In movies, he arranged and composed music. In jazz, he was a celebrated trio pianist, a piano-accompanist to singers of standards, and pianist-interpreter of songs from the "Great American Songbook". In classical music, he also performed as a pianist but gained television fame as a conductor, and during his last thirty years created his legacy as a composer of art music.

Before the age of twenty, Previn began arranging and composing for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He would go on to be involved in the music of more than fifty films and would win four Academy Awards. He won ten Grammy Awards, for recordings in all three areas of his career, and then one more, for lifetime achievement.

He served as music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1967–1969), principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (1968–1979), music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1976–1984), of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1985–1989), chief conductor of the Royal Philharmonic (1985–1992), and, after an avowed break from salaried posts, chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic (2002–2006). He also enjoyed a warm relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic.

On This Day 09/09/1975 Kraftwerk

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On this day, 9 September 1975, German pioneering electronic band Kraftwerk played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre.

Kraftwerk (German pronunciation: [ˈkʁaftvɛɐ̯k], lit. "power plant") were formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre.

The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet.

The year 1975 saw a turning point in Kraftwerk's live shows. With financial support from Phonogram Inc., in the US, they were able to undertake a tour to promote the Autobahn album, a tour which took them to the US, Canada and the UK for the first time.

The tour also saw a new, stable, live line-up in the form of a quartet. Hütter and Schneider continued playing keyboard synthesizers such as the Minimoog and ARP Odyssey, with Schneider's use of flute diminishing. The two men started singing live for the first time, and Schneider processing his voice with a vocoder live. Wolfgang Flür and new recruit Karl Bartos performed on home-made electronic percussion instruments. Bartos also used a Deagan vibraphone on stage. The Hütter-Schneider-Bartos-Flür formation remained in place until the late 1980s and is now regarded as the classic live line-up of Kraftwerk. Emil Schult generally fulfilled the role of tour manager.

After the 1975 Autobahn tour, Kraftwerk began work on a follow-up album, Radio-Activity (German title: Radio-Aktivität). After further investment in new equipment, the Kling Klang Studio became a fully working recording studio.

The group used the central theme in radio communication, which had become enhanced on their last tour of the United States. With Emil Schult working on artwork and lyrics, Kraftwerk began to compose music for the new record. Even though Radio-Activity was less commercially successful than Autobahn in the UK and United States, the album served to open up the European market for Kraftwerk, earning them a gold disc in France. Kraftwerk made videos and performed several European live dates to promote the album. With the release of Autobahn and Radio-Activity, Kraftwerk left behind avant-garde experimentation and moved towards the electronic pop tunes for which they are best known.