Gigs & Concerts
- Events
- Gigs & Concerts
Calendar of Events
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Station 18 Festival
Station 18 Festival
Return of this now-annual destination weekender for Welsh lovers of the whole New Wave Of British Hard Rock thing. Fri 3 May is a four-band evening show headlined by King Kraken, while Saturday (featuring The Virginmarys and Sons Of Liberty) and Sunday (featuring South Of Salem and White Raven Down) begin at lunchtime and run …
3 events,
A Celebration Of Welsh Composers
A Celebration Of Welsh Composers
This concert programme is performed by the Rhondda Symphony Orchestra and was devised by its musical director Edward John, who noted the rarity with which Welsh classical performances feature domestic composition in more than token amounts. These two evenings, then, will include renditions of work by composers from the early 20th century – Nocturne by …
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble’s most recent solo album The Bus Routes Of South London was written and partly recorded on the bus routes of south London, with the musician – whose work in Public Image Ltd makes him one of the most influential bassists of the 1970s and 80s – composing dubby ambient instrumentals on an iPad …
4 events,
Fam Jam: Lamache
Fam Jam: Lamache
This is a twin-segmented bank holiday party, starting in Jacob’s car park at lunchtime and ending up in the basement at 4am – gird your loins! Headliner Lamache moved from Toulouse to Paris before chasing the rave rainbow to L*nd*n, then B*rl*n. Also DJing: Lewy, Murder, Hywel & Elis, Knoll Beach, Corey & Deena and …
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Buzz’s John-Paul Davies spoke fervently of Bruce, and his “half a century of uncompromising songwriting,” that has led him up to his third ever show in Wales’ national stadium – and, with advancing years a reality in spite of renowned in-concert stamina fuelling sets of three hours or longer, potentially his last.
2 events,
Fam Jam: Lamache
Johnny Flynn & Robert McFarlane
Johnny Flynn & Robert McFarlane
Music and storytelling intertwine onstage, as British actor and singer-songwriter Johnny Flynn joins forces with the acclaimed writer Robert Macfarlane for a sold-out Tramshed show. Where Flynn has starred in a sequence of acclaimed movies, including The Outfit, Emma. and The Dig, writer Macfarlane has published books on landscape, nature, place, people and language, which …
1 event,
Lady Maisery
Lady Maisery
An esteemed name on the ‘provincial town arts centre’ folk music circuit, Lady Maisery are an all-female trio whose number includes Rowan Rheingans, also of the Rheingans Sisters. Their latest album Tender – eight Maisery originals plus covers of Björk, Tracy Chapman and Lal Waterson – is now some 18 months old but a widespread …
2 events,
Keane
Keane
Keane are one of many British bands who emerged in the 00s and, following a few years of popularity, were diagnosed with terminal uncoolness – before a revival that found them playing bigger venues than at their supposed peak. This tour’s toasting 20 years since debut album {Hopes And Fears}, which definitely wasn’t an arena-filler …
The Mingus Project
The Mingus Project
Swansea Jazz, in their current weekly home at this Mumbles bar, entice a young Cardiff-based octet to Swansea for the purpose of honouring the great Charles Mingus. The Mingus Project have come together while studying at the Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama and are headed by bassist Cameron Saint.
6 events,
Jam Baxter
Jam Baxter
Jam Baxter is a London MC associated with labels like Blah (owned by Lee Scott, also on tonight’s bill) and High Focus, and deals in the kind of dense, boom-bappy, quasi-psychedelic UK hip-hop which ticks along nicely without being much fussed if outsiders are paying it attention. Sammy B-Side, another High Focus alum, opens the …
BBC NOW: Bartók’s Concerto For Orchestra
BBC NOW: Bartók’s Concerto For Orchestra
May’s edition of BBC NOW’s now-regular WMC-Brangwyn hop’n’skip finds Giancarlo Guerrero of Costa Rica conducting a programme headed up by the orchestra’s rendition of this WWII-era Béla Bartók work. Sergio Tiempo is at the keys for Ravel’s Piano Concerto In G Major and there’s a UK premiere for The Observatory, by Caroline Shaw. Tickets: £5-£12. …
Boss Cass
Boss Cass
Last I checked, Boss Cass was billed by the venue under his old artist name, Fluff, but appears to have changed it in recent months. Either way he is a solo act from Exeter who plays guitar and sings to a backing track, and has been described as “punk music for people who don’t like …
6 events,
BBC NOW: Bartók’s Concerto For Orchestra
BBC NOW: Bartók’s Concerto For Orchestra
May’s edition of BBC NOW’s now-regular WMC-Brangwyn hop’n’skip finds Giancarlo Guerrero of Costa Rica conducting a programme headed up by the orchestra’s rendition of this WWII-era Béla Bartók work. Sergio Tiempo is at the keys for Ravel’s Piano Concerto In G Major and there’s a UK premiere for The Observatory, by Caroline Shaw. Tickets: £5-£12.
GirlBand!
GirlBand!
Described as “the new alternative three-piece from Nottingham,” GirlBand! have existed for about two years and are on their first UK tour this month. Not to be confused with the all-male Irish group formerly known as Girl Band until the ethical vapours overcame them, you have to hand it to GirlBand! for their opportunism here.
Derbyshire folk guitarist NICK JONAH DAVIS visits Rhayader for an alluring instrumental session
Derbyshire folk guitarist NICK JONAH DAVIS visits Rhayader for an alluring instrumental session
The UK has, from at least Davy Graham onwards, produced a powerful flow of folk guitarists who experiment with the form in attractive ways – many would say the very best came from this isle. A lot of them have been demure types, rarely seeking attention: an endearing trait, yet you kinda wish they were …
6 events,
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones
Eight live shows – two per evening, with a day off on Sun 12 – for Jones, stepping away temporarily from the Stereophonics to release Inevitable Incredible, his first solo studio album since 2007. Buzz’s review this month says it’s “too polished to truly convince”, but whether this will cause a spate of returned tickets …
Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons
Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons
The Campbell clan, headed by former Motörhead guitarist Phil and joined by three of his offspring plus unrelated vocalist Joel Peters, pop out for three quick domestic dates they’ve dubbed the Kings Of Wales Weekender – referencing latest album Kings Of The Asylum, anointed with a five-star review from Buzz on release.
Jon Langford & His Men Of Gwent
Jon Langford & His Men Of Gwent
Jon Langford – a Newport boy by upbringing, though one whose 45-year musical career was launched in Leeds before he settled in Chicago – records intermittently with some buddies from back home as the Men Of Gwent. Their Lost On Land & Sea came out in late 2023 but is having a launch show this …
Viper Club
Viper Club
This band trade in 1930s-style American swing jazz and are led by Tcha Limberger – a Belgian musician who’s visited these parts before – on vocals and violin, the latter instrument central to this particular jazz style. Viper Club’s name references a composition by Stuff Smith, a jazz violinist who made his name in the …
1 event,
1 event,
Kelly Jones
1 event,
3 events,
Sick Of It All
Sick Of It All
Wouldn’t bet the house on it, but I think this might be New York hardcore veterans Sick Of It All’s first Welsh date since 2006, when they played Newport TJ’s. With the Corn Exchange going some way to filling the long-term gap left by that venue’s closure, it’s no shock this one’s sold out in …
Amer-Imeri
Amer-Imeri
Learn Georgian song through the teachings of three-part harmonies, and accompanying dance and rituals, taught by Georgian ensemble Amer-Imeri. No experience is required for the workshop, which will be followed by a performance later in the evening, with Amer-Imeri and fellow group Mtiebi performing traditional polyphonic material.
1 event,
Granny’s Attic
Granny’s Attic
Not to be confused with sprightly young indie band Grandma’s House, this trio have 15 years of gigging on the UK folk scene under their belts, and purport to blend the trad and the innovative via guitar, violin, melodeon and concertina. Their most recent album is instrumental but they do vocal turns too.
2 events,
Wel-Fest
Wel-Fest
They’re calling this the “first annual music festival” in The Welfare, nestled in Powys’ most southwesterly point – and stating a pledge to feature some of “Swansea Valley’s finest bands” on the Saturday, to underline this county border-themed quirk. That day will also feature performers from the venue’s regular open mic nights, with an evening …
Locally Sauced
Locally Sauced
This is a night devised and promoted by Elliot Brussalis, once of Welsh rap-rockers Astroid Boys and now making UK garage kinda stuff as Douvelle19. It’s intended as a showcase for local producers’ new tracks, which normally amounts to a bunch of people playing to themselves but in Locally Sauced’s case seems a popular draw.
6 events,
Unhinged: Yasmin Gardezi
Unhinged: Yasmin Gardezi
Unhinged’s mission statement is to “cultivate rising artists and bringing established talent to Welsh audiences,” and Yasmin Gardezi could be seen as fitting either or both of those categories. The Cork-based DJ has earned a rep in Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe and Canada with trancey industrial techno sets; this is her Cardiff bow.
A Celebration Of Welsh Composers
A Celebration Of Welsh Composers
This concert programme is performed by the Rhondda Symphony Orchestra and was devised by its musical director Edward John, who noted the rarity with which Welsh classical performances feature domestic composition in more than token amounts. These two evenings, then, will include renditions of work by composers from the early 20th century – Nocturne by …
The Hackles
The Hackles
Another churchbound show booked by Roots N All, in conjunction with Barry Arts Festival – which despite its name is basically a company which promotes one-off events every few months. The Hackles are a three-piece from Astoria, Oregon who peddle quirky banjoed-up Americana and have formed a friendship with Michael Hurley, once of the Holy …
Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson was on the downlow one of the most successful {X Factor} contestants, both in terms of initial album sales and what happened later – songwriting for other artists, mainly. Her fifth album came out just before Christmas, this is the tour for it, and assuming she holds to a tweet made around the …
2 events,
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Following a show in Cardiff Castle circa summer 2022, in which Buzz’s John-Paul Davies reported a hit-packed set interspersed with observations about how big the seagulls are here, Bryan Adams is back in town, this time with a roof to raise – and not long after a Cardiff showing for {Pretty Woman}, the musical he …
2 events,
Sage Todz + Morgan Elwy
Sage Todz + Morgan Elwy
Sage Todz, north Walian drill MC living down south, returns back up this way for a Monday night show promoted by Focus Wales and Theatr Clwyd. He’ll be joined on the bill by Morgan Elwy, who like Sage is notable for being almost alone in his genre – in Elwy’s case, roots reggae – as …
Prowl
Prowl
This band, from Montreal, play crossover thrash/beatdown kinda gear a la Power Trip and use a slightly unflattering photo on their Bandcamp which shows a room full of people looking really bored while they play. I don’t reckon that’ll happen here, though, because they sound gnarly and mosh-ready on latest album {The Forgotten Realms}.
0 events,
1 event,
Richard Hawley
Richard Hawley
Having first found mid-90s success in Britpop band Longpigs, Richard Hawley is something of an elder statesman of Sheffield music – he even spent a brief period on guitar for Pulp – and drops his ninth solo album, {In This City They Call You Love}, the week after this unusually intimate north Wales gig.
0 events,
2 events,
MG Boulter
MG Boulter
The weather is getting nicer (disclaimer – it’s been pure shite while I’ve actually been gathering these listings) so it’s time for this west Wales brewery to start putting on gigs in a marquee again. This one’s on a folky tip, with Southend-based Boulter having amassed a solid body of releases over the last decade …
Porridge Radio
Porridge Radio
Brighton’s Porridge Radio are your classic ‘bedroom solo project that turned into a full band over time’ kinda deal, so in touring this month with nowt but herself and a guitar (and a support act, Naima Bock), Dana Margolin returns to her musical roots, seemingly on a quest to challenge herself in the process.
5 events,
Fishguard Folk Festival
Fishguard Folk Festival
Mostly free folk festival held over Spring Bank Holiday weekend in Pembrokeshire, also featuring workshops, sessions and walks. This year’s lineup features Lancastrian folk-rock octet Merry Hell and Scotland’s Breabach in the two headline slots, with the likes of Baggyrinkle, Facing The Ocean and Julie Murphy & Ceri Rhys Matthews also in town. Tickets: Merry …
Celebrate This Place
Celebrate This Place
For its second year, Celebrate This Place is coming to Cardiff. Devised by Clwb Ifor Bach and with a celebratory lineup to match its name, 2024 sees mask-donning rapper Casisdead headline his first Cardiff gig, whilst the following day Warmduscher finish off the late-bank holiday shindig at Tramshed. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, …
CYNT: DJ Heartstring
CYNT: DJ Heartstring
This bank holiday jamboree is described in promoters CYNT’s blurb as “ biggest booking to date,” which seems implausible given their 15-year-plus history in the Cardiff club scene – but maybe far less so when the dust settles, who knows. Berlin’s DJ Heartstring are certainly getting talked about, with Polydor picking up a late 2023 …
Lamerica: Jamie 3:26
Lamerica: Jamie 3:26
The latest DJ from the Defected stable to make it to Cardiff under the longrunning Lamerica promo banner, Chicago’s Jamie ‘3:26’ Watson favours more discofied, soulful and vocal house-y sounds, as has been Lamerica’s bread and butter over the years. Talking of house, there are posters for this daytime party around Cardiff that are about …
0 events,
1 event,
Big Chimney
Big Chimney
You can call this music old-timey, but good-timey is likely as appropriate when a top quality stringband get going – and Big Chimney, who hail from the Alaskan mountains, have earned themselves a strong rep through years of global touring. Fiddle, banjo, standup bass and guitar combine in the time-honoured Appalachian style.
1 event,
Girli
Girli
According to Buzz’s review archives, Amelia Toomey aka Girli played Cardiff six years to the day (as I write), prompting Jasper Wilkins to muse: “If she keeps up her current trajectory, Girli may well be the future.” The ascendency from Clwb Ifor Bach to the Globe is fairly minor, size-wise, so this maybe didn’t quite …
3 events,
Sonny Tenet
Sonny Tenet
Every UK city now either has a singer-songwriter guy who tries to go viral and/or get sports broadcast theme music placement by singing about their locale, or is going to have one soon. Sam Fender arguably does this for Newcastle already, but a challenger has appeared in Sonny Tenet, who just released inspiringly titled single …
Toby Lee
Toby Lee
Blues-rock fans seem to love it when a young guitarist appears and plays some ‘licks’. Toby Lee, now 19, has been doing this for nearly a decade and is no stranger to stages much bigger than this one: after starring in {School Of Rock} at the West End back in 2016, he’ll be supporting Jools …
Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy
Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy
Empathy is the third and final touring project devised by Welsh jazz trumpeter Tomos Williams, and for this observer’s money the most impressive musical assembly of all three. The first Cwmwl Tystion lineup, in 2019, drew from the Welsh jazz landscape, the second expanding into England; this time, Williams has pulled off two coups by …
6 events,
Brujeria
Brujeria
Longrunning concept-metal extremists play what I think is their first ever Swansea show. With grindcore-y songs in Spanish about drug lords, serial killers etc Brujeria have featured several household names (by metal standards) over the years though Shane Embury of Napalm Death seems to be the only really head-turning one now.
The Anchoress
The Anchoress
Catherine Anne Davies was born in Wales before moving to Australia aged 10 weeks, but despite this early exit has generally worn her Welsh identity on her sleeve in her musical guise, The Anchoress. This has included various with the Manics and a regular place for, most often, Cardiff in her tour schedules, with Newport …
Nubiyan Twist
Nubiyan Twist
Big band – described as a 12-piece in some places, with a mere nine people in the photo I’m currently perusing – from the UK bohemian jazzy dance scene that spans several different genres and is perhaps most at home playing at 4pm at a mid-sized festival with exhorting a slightly baked audience to get …
1 event,
Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy
Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy
Empathy is the third and final touring project devised by Welsh jazz trumpeter Tomos Williams, and for this observer’s money the most impressive musical assembly of all three. The first Cwmwl Tystion lineup, in 2019, drew from the Welsh jazz landscape, the second expanding into England; this time, Williams has pulled off two coups by …
0 events,
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