You might think 2021 was a wasteland where live music was concerned in Wales. But no! Unlike the dearth of activity in 2020 thanks to the ongoing pandemic, the rolling out of vaccinations and an easing to lockdown measures enabled some cracking gigs to go ahead – kickstarting the country’s live events scene back to life, both in homegrown talent and the luring of big and up-and-coming names from across the UK and beyond, into small, mid-size and stadium-filling spaces.
Including picks from Buzz contributors John-Paul Davies and Lynda Nash, here, in no particular order, is a review roundup of the best gigs in Wales in 2021 that we’ve seen, rated and fondly remembered. Here’s hoping for even more musical highs in 2022.
Roger Taylor
The Roger Taylor Outsider tour has only happened because COVID delayed Queen + Adam Lambert’s world tour. With this in mind, I don’t think anyone was expecting a gig of such power, energy and emotion from Taylor’s stopgap sojourn back into solo touring – his first for 20 years.
From opener Strange Frontier, it was clear this was a band who were here to play. The sound was huge, with all six on stage contributing harmony vocals. The effortless ease of their individual and group playing made the combined effect of their brilliant musicianship all the more startling.
Read the full review here.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Wed 6 Oct
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES photos GARETH GRIFFITHS
Black Stone Cherry
The arrival of Black Stone Cherry in town, rescheduled from nearly a year ago, was the occasion for a lot of clapping and cheering at St David’s Hall – live music has been away too long and this audience was ready to rock. The Kris Barras Band started off the event, though, with a high-octane performance. Ex-cage fighter turned musician Barras delivered old and new songs such as Dead Horses and Hail Mary with power and confidence, threw in some pretty decent shredding and proved he can hold his own against more established bands.
Read the full review here.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Fri 24 Sept
words LYNDA NASH photos ANTHONY JAMES
Manic Street Preachers
Watched by a socially distanced crowd of just 150, in a hall well over 10 times that capacity, and with rigorous COVID security measures in place, this was a strange setting for the return of the Manic Street Preachers. However, the preceding 18 months have been far stranger, so for Wales’ greatest rock band to even be performing a live show has the aura of a minor miracle. As frontman James Dean Bradfield sweetly put it, “this feels weird but nice. Like candyfloss.”
Read the full review here.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Thurs 12 Aug
words TOM MORGAN photos LOFTUS
Biffy Clyro
What better way to start the Bay Series at Alexandra Head in Cardiff Bay than with Biffy Clyro, a band that does live as gloriously as their prolific studio work? The crowd are eager for some respite and sheer entertainment amidst this unpleasantness; luckily, all of the bands tonight feel the exact same way.
After a vaccine card check (DON’T FORGET THEM, unless you like LFTs), merch vendors and food and drink stalls dot the mini-festival layout along with a very long bar, plus welfare tents and accessibility for all. As the picturesque sunset covers the sky directly behind the stage (it’s almost like they planned it that way!), the PA starts to sound off on some drum level checks. Here we go.
Read the full review here.
Alexandra Head, Cardiff Bay, Thurs 16 Sept
words JOE PRESCOTT photos TIM ALBAN
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Songs from 2019’s Ghosteen, Nick Cave’s most recent Bad Seeds album, and this year’s Carnage, a duo album with Warren Ellis, form most of the setlist tonight. Freeform and incantatory, vast in sound yet intimate in scope, they sound like mirages rather than concrete ‘songs’.
In the context of tonight’s set, performed with Ellis, a trio of backing singers and percussionist/bassist Johnny Hostile, these songs, fragile and sensitive, are set free. The thrumming synths that wash over the opening numbers – Spinning Song, Bright Horses and Waiting For You, the trio that also opens Ghosteen – seem to hold the audience in a semi-stunned collective silence, as if we’re not supposed to focus on something so singular for so long anymore.
Read the full review here.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Sun 26 Sept
words FEDOR TOT
Wolf Alice
The headliners arrive to deafening screams from the crowd and burst straight into Smile, from latest album Blue Weekend. The energy from the band is reciprocated; Wolf Alice seem justifiably taken aback by how impressive the response is, claiming Swansea wins the award for the best and loudest crowd. This band shine brightest when playing live: these are songs that need to be chanted and screamed. Each member seems in their element, Joff Oddie and Theo Ellis manning either side of the stage in complete control of the crowd and Joel Amey a machine on the drums.
Play The Greatest Hits has everyone in the front half of the room losing their minds, myself included. Wolf Alice’s versatility is demonstrated here: they can go from chill numbers like No Hard Feelings to this without anyone batting an eyelid.
Read the full review here.
Sin City, Swansea, Mon 27 Sept
words and photos SARAH BOWDIDGE
Nothing But Thieves
Southend five-piece Nothing But Thieves brought their long-awaited Moral Panic tour to the Motorpoint on a crisp autumn night: my first post-lockdown gig, as I imagine it was for many others, with a communal feeling of “it’s good to be back” in the air.
Getting unassumingly straight to work with electric hit Futureproof and Real Love Song, the latter in particular a showcase for NBT’s ferocious talent along with Conor Mason’s haunting, almost operatic vocals, the group forgo big screens for this one. A risky choice I’ve seen made by a few bands in this venue, but on this occasion it works.
Read the full review here.
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Thurs 7 Oct
words DENIECE CUSACK photos ANTHONY CONWAY
Erasure
Erasure are one of those bands everyone knows. Like The Beatles, they are incessantly tuneful, with a plethora of hits to their name. Like Abba, their songs are catchy, dipping into the dizzying creativity of dance but remaining ever accessible. It’s the mix of melody and heartfelt sense to the songs which makes them, to me, amongst the best pop ever written.
True to this, the duo delivers a simply superb 90-minute set at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. Andy Bell’s voice still soars, with the nuance and timbre of a songbird. He is, additionally, a sparkling presence on stage: greeting the audience in yellow tartan trousers and a shiny blue corset, pink nips peeking above, an embodied celebration of gayness, queerness, of just being who we are.
Read the full review here.
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Tue 12 Oct
words MAB JONES photos KEVIN PICK
Salem
The singer from Creeper, downstairs in Clwb Ifor Bach? Surely not? That’s what they’ll say in the future, as for whatever reason the decision has been made to situate tonight’s sold-out performance from Salem in the cosy confines of the venue’s downstairs room. If you are lucky enough to have a ticket, then this promises to be a doozy.
And if Salem were not enough to satisfy you this evening, then a stacked support bill of James And The Cold Gun and The Nightmares, should more than suffice.
Read the full review here.
Clwb Ifor Bach, Tues 12 Oct
words CHRIS ANDREWS photos NADINE BALLANTYNE
Kasabian
Occasionally you find an act whose music intrigues you, but whose live performance transcends anticipation. For me, that act is Kasabian. There’s some anxiety surrounding this show – this is their first tour in the absence of frontman Tom Meighan, with guitarist Sergio Pizzorno adopting all vocal duties. Despite that, any worries about how he will live up to the theatrics of his predecessor are quickly dispelled, as the East Midlands band sound just as enthused as ever.
Read the full review here.
Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Fri 15 Oct
words ALEX SWIFT photos EMMA LEWIS
Fontaines D.C
Entering the stage distributing flowers is not your typical music venue encounter, but this is exactly how Fontaines D.C. announced themselves to the eagerly awaiting crowd at Cardiff University, and what a highly anticipated arrival it was. Support act, fellow Irish rockers The Altered Hours, had provided the perfect starter, bringing their romantic lyricism to the stage and an exciting prospect for a future headline act.
The postpunk Dublin five-piece have been waiting a while to begin this stage of an extensive tour, promoting their second album A Hero’s Death. Having had to reschedule for obvious reasons, both the crowd and the band seemed to revel in each other’s company during this sold-out gig.
Read the full review here.
Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Thurs 14 Oct
words RHIANON HOLLEY
Jon Gomm
Taking to the small stage of an unlikely venue, Jon Gomm called the chair-loving crowds forward to have an audience that he could see and feel in front of him. He is a performer who needs that connection, who goes on stage to move his audience and, knowing the power of proximity, takes every opportunity to get up close to those who have made the effort to get closer to him.
And effort matters, attention matters. Silence matters. If Jon Gomm can stand on stage for 80 minutes, and more, beating the hell out of his guitar, pulling the highest notes out of his voice and digging deep into his life to bring forth his music, you can stand and be quiet. “Shhh. Shut up mate,” mid-song to a noisy exchange at the bar. But the seriousness, the talent, and yes, the level of effort undertaken is undercut by brilliant wit and dry humour throughout.
Read the full review here.
Sin City, Swansea, Sat 16 Oct
words and photos JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith greeted us dressed head to toe in silver sequins, looking like a glitter ball, and I understood why the set was so minimalist. Her presence, due to her costume, was amplified, though her songs and personality can fill a stage and entrance a room. Standing – she told us – at five feet four, her stature arguably adds to her energy and charisma. When Faith namechecked Prince, a mentor to her, it made sense – there was a similar ‘pocket rocket’ element to that diminutive diva.
The songs themselves were just great, but more than this, Faith is a funny and intelligent raconteur between songs. I’ve seen stand-up comedians who weren’t half as good. Charisma, charm and wit were unexpected elements of the event, and it made the evening a standout performance for me.
Read the full review here.
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Mon 18 Oct
words MAB JONES photos KEVIN PICK
Newton Faulkner
Amidst a buzz of excitement at Cardiff’s Tramshed, Newton Faulkner takes to the stage: smiling, comfortable and relaxed, being just halfway through his long-delayed tour. The UK folk-rocker seems thrilled to leave the past 18 months behind him – excited to be back on the road, entertaining an eager crowd of fans, both young and old.
With crowd participation throughout the evening – singalongs for each song – the atmosphere in the room is amazing, everyone feeling the love and enjoying every moment.
Read the full review here.
Tramshed, Cardiff, Sat 23 Oct
words and photos ANTHONY CONWAY
Holding Absence
It’s always a joyous occasion when a local band break through the barrier from local scene heroes to bonafide rock stars and play a homecoming headline gig. Over the last few years, that’s exactly what has happened to South Wales boys Holding Absence. Their latest album The Greatest Mistake Of My Life has catapulted the band onto magazine covers and festival headlining slots and tonight sees them return home for a headline gig at Y Plas in Cardiff University.
It’s quite an emotional night all around: the atmosphere is palpable, and the crowd seems absolutely stuffed with people who’ve taken every step of this journey with Holding Absence and are genuinely overwhelmed at seeing their favourites take the stage.
Read the full review here.
Y Plas, Cardiff University Students Union, Thurs 28 Oct
words CHRIS ANDREWS
Marillion
Marillion’s Light At The End Of The Tunnel tour almost didn’t happen. Having a problem getting cancellation insurance due to COVID, the prog veterans turned to crowdfunding and, thankfully, fans – now called Light Savers – pitched in. The rest, as they say, is history – or it will be.
The evening in Cardiff began with a short set from duo Antimatter, whose tone and vibe was so relaxing I forgave them for using a backing track. Shame they played to such a small audience – though, by the time Marillion strolled on stage, St David’s Hall had filled up. The venue was half-seated, half-standing; the show felt like half pub gig, half musical theatre. There wasn’t a dull moment.
Read the full review here.
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Wed 17 Nov
words LYNDA NASH photos JONATHAN HERRON
Breichiau Hir
Launching their new LP Hir Oes I’r Cof, there is a lot of love in the room for Breichiau Hir tonight. Singer Steffan Dafydd is a magnetic personality and greets the capacity crowd enthusiastically, at one point flapping a rose around like a (presumably) less objectionable Morrisey. Sonically, these long arms pack a punch: like openers Patryma, the six-piece stand out amongst Welsh-language acts for being so thoroughly enthusiastic about making a bit of a racket.
Read the full review here.
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Sat 20 Nov
words HUGH RUSSELL photos GARETH BULL
Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble
The whole idea of Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble conjures up a romantic vision of the past setting the tone for the future. An idea channelling the energy of Wendy Carlos’ Switched On Bach – a statement that synthesisers were real musical instruments and not just science fiction B-movie sound FX machines. Looking back through our nostalgic lens, this was a time of great innovation and creativity; but also a time when the new sound of the synthesiser was increasingly seen as a threat to more ‘traditional’ musicians and their acoustic instruments.
Even the great Bob Moog had to intervene saying you had to be a real musician to play one. We’ve moved on. And Moog the company continues to innovate and produce electronic instruments of the highest quality.
Read the full review here.
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Fri 26 Nov
words ADAM WILLIAMS
The Darkness
The Darkness opened with Welcome To Glasgae, from their new album Motorheart, and my first thought was “why?” The band aren’t Scottish, and we’re in Wales – but the crowd didn’t seem to mind. Neither did they mind when, two songs in, frontman Justin Hawkins took off his top and played bare-chested. A few songs later he changed into a pink fringed catsuit and, in the spirit of 70s rock, played the audience against each other in a mock singing competition. Hawkins is an amiable frontman, and an agile one – at one point he did a handstand on the drum platform – but the real star of the show was the music.
Read the live review here.
Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Sat 27 Nov
words LYNDA NASH photos TIM ALBAN
