what’s on NATALIE IMBRUGLIA
Cardigan Castle, Fri 21 July Tickets: £35. Info:
mwldan.co.uk. Enduring mum-rocker Imbruglia is one of a clutch of concerts at this castle in July and August, with the Bootleg Beatles, Catrin Finch, Only Men Aloud and some tribute bands comprising the others. Her burst of pop success some 25 years ago came off the back of an acting role in Aussie soap Neighbours, whose recent swansong featured a cameo by Nat – the long 90s is everywhere you look…
ASH COOKE, MAGGIE NICOLS & CHRIS PARFITT
TAFWYL
Bute Park, Cardiff, Sat 15 + Sun 16 July Admission: FREE. Info:
tafwyl.org
Moving its operation the short distance from Cardiff Castle, Welsh- language cultural festival Tafwyl otherwise continues on its shining path with two gratis days (no tickets needed, just show up) of live music and DJs. Highlights include the brassy Band Pres Llareggub, twangy Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, football anthem writer and sometime political firebrand Dafydd Iwan and similarly venerable singer-songwriter Tecwyn Ifan. Further treats from leftfield, or at least outwith the more standard notions of what Welsh-language music sounds like, include harp manipulator Cerys Hafana [pictured], synthpop perennial Ani Glass, fiery sound collagist Sachasom and north Wales drill MC Sage Todz, here performing with three fellows names Lloyd, Dom and Don.
paint chucked on them. Not sure if they still do that. Either way the main stage has Bugzy Malone, Chip, Yung Filly and Juice Menace; Ben Nicky, Darren Styles and Billy Gillies rave it up at the Misfit Arena; Artful Dodger and So Solid feature on the Rewind Stage.
FIXATE SUMMER SESSIONS
Lo Lounge, Cardiff Bay, Sat 15 July Tickets: £15. Info:
facebook.com/fixatenpt. Doughty south Walian house-into-techno pushers Fixate return with a day party by the water. Drax Nelson, a Yorkshire DJ and producer with releases on the Toolroom and Tidy labels, headlines with what one anticipates being a robust set; Londoner Steve John, HollyMack b2b Madame Twisted, Dan Waite and J-Tech also feature.
LO EGIN
Shift, Cardiff, Sat 15 July Tickets: £8/£5. Info:
linktr.ee/shiftcardiff. Skronky experimental rock-not-rock is on the menu here, with Leeds-based headliners Lo Egin offering discordant guitar parts abetted with similarly gnarly brass. In support are two new names, Shimmering Tomb and The Panama Papers, though comprising performers with some experience in the field.
MR SCRUFF
Llangollen Town Hall, Sat 15 July Tickets: £20. Info:
llangollenfringe.co.uk. Finishing a nine-day run of live events here under the banner of the Llangollen Fringe, irrepressible Mancunian Mr Scruff will be the sole soundtrack provider for another of his epic DJ sets. Renowned since at least the late 90s for his ability to join the dots between disparate danceable styles, you won’t know exactly what to expect but it’ll likely prove what you wanted.
THE UNDERTONES
Tivoli, Buckley, Sun 16 July Tickets: £25. Info:
tivolivenue.com. With Paul McLoone remaining in place of founding vocalist Feargal Sharkey, whose
58 Lo Egin WESTIVAL
Shipping Hill Farm, nr Tenby, Thurs 20-Sun 23 July Tickets: £169. Info:
westival.wales. This Pembrokeshire-based long weekend of dance has really secured its place on the ravey festival circuit, and may well have benefitted in 2023 from there being no Freerotation this year, although potential lineup crossover is likely minimal. Highlights from 100 or so billed names include Interplanetary Criminal, Voigtmann, Tristan Da Cunha, Mariiin and Aloka.
JAMES AND THE COLD GUN
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Fri 21 July Tickets: £12.50. Info:
clwb.net. This South Wales unit, a two-piece at their core but embiggened for live purposes, are named after a Kate Bush song and sound nothing at all like Kate Bush. In fact, on their self-titled debut album (released on the same day as this gig) they lean into a sort of garage-alt- punk sound that recalls early-00s MTV2.
public pronouncements have latterly been about water companies dumping sewage in rivers, Derry pop-punk progenitors The Undertones crack on with their latest tour. Save for McLoone, the rest of the band are the lineup which debuted with Teenage Kicks in 1978.
Galeri, Caernarfon, Sat 22 July Admission: free. Info: galericaernarfon. com. Late afternoon/early evening event doubling up as a launch for Ash Cooke’s new visual art exhibition, Safle Celf. Cooke, also a member of fuzzy indie rockers Derrero, is a tireless organiser of a small improvised music scene in north Wales, and here will perform with vocal improv legend Maggie Nicols and south Wales-based free jazzer Chris Parfitt.
The annual Gregynog Festival of classical performances in these stately surroundings doesn’t appear to be taking place this year, but the nearby Theatr Hafren are arranging a concert in its garden – unless it rains, in which case it’ll be indoors. Co-presented by Friends Of Mid Wales Opera, the performance will be led by pianist Charlotte Forrest.
RAG’N’BONE MAN
Stadiwm CSM, Colwyn Bay, Sun 23 July Tickets: £42.50-£59.50; £100 hospitality. Info:
venuecymru.co.uk. Gravel-voiced blues’n’soul’n’pop ballad-slinger heads up one of Orchard Live’s big outdoor gigs in Colwyn Bay this summer, on a weekend that also sees Ministry Of Sound Classical (Fri 21) and N-Dubz (Sat 22). Expect an evening peppered with singalong moments.
TOM GRENNAN
Singleton Park, Swansea, Sun 23 July Tickets: £45. Info:
visitswanseabay.com. Orchard Live are handling this Swansea show on the same evening, and moptopped crossover hit-haver Tom Grennan will surely have the Sunday evening crowd down this way belting ‘em out vociferously too. Making his name on tracks by dance giants like Chase & Status and Calvin Harris, Tom visits south-west Wales with his third album just a few weeks old.
MONDO GENERATOR Mondo Generator
Bunkhouse, Swansea, Tue 25 July Tickets: £17. Info: thebunkhouseswansea. com. AKA the punky project fronted by former Queens Of The Stone Age member Nick Oliveri, whose debut album came out in 2000 when he was a current QOTSA member. Fixated on the seedier side of life, Mondo Generator live shows aim to please by including songs from Nick’s time in QOTSA and Kyuss in their setlists.
DEVILMAN
The Vaults, Cardiff, Sat 22 July Tickets: £15. Info:
vaultspresents.com. This one brings back Brummie MC Devilman, a firm favourite in these parts whether the night be grime or, as is this case here, drum’n’bass; the promoters Motive specialise in club nights for people aged between 16 and 18, if you answer to that description and can navigate the long list of rules laid out to any prospective attendees.
MITHRAS
Hangar 18 Music Venue, Swansea, Sat 22 July Tickets: £18. Info: hangar18musicvenue.
co.uk. Solid bill here for Swansea-region death metal heads, who aren’t exactly showered in gifts gigwise: Mithras, a spacey tech-death outfit from the Midlands, headline over Brummies Absolution, who date back to the early 90s, and grotty Leeds punx-gone-DM Mortuary Spawn.
JEANINES + THE SCHOOL
The Moon, Cardiff, Sun 23 July Tickets: £10. Info: themooncardiff. com. The indietastic Wales Goes Pop weekender took a raincheck this year but is represented in this all-ages half-dayer’s six-act lineup. Headliners Jeanines, from Brooklyn, are on the Slumberland label and their punky approach to jangle-pop shares sonic hallmarks of much of its roster. WGP’s in-house band (of sorts) The School and Glasgow postpunkers Current Affairs precede them on the day.
MID WALES OPERA GARDEN CONCERT
Gregynog Hall, Powys, Sun 23 July Tickets: £18/£5 kids. Info:
thehafren.co.uk.
Tom Grennan
ALABAMA 3
Tivoli, Buckley, Wed 26 July Tickets: £25. Info:
tivolivenue.com. Absurdist, notoriously dishevelled many- membered club-blues combo, active since the late 90s and still on song despite the death of one of their two founder members, Jake Black, in 2019. His initial cohort, Rob Spragg, is a Merthyr boy, not that that would have any great currency here in Flintshire I don’t suppose.
GLASTONBARRY
Romilly Park, Barry, Sat 29 + Sun 30 July Tickets: £55 weekend/£40 per day. Info:
glastonbarry.com. Toasting its 10-year anniversary for 2023, tribute act fest Glastonbarry holds fast in its traditional end- of-July slot and is expected to attract some 7,000 punters a day to this public park in the Vale. Twenty-two acts are billed across the weekend, with homages to Oasis, The Killers and Tom Jones featuring on Sat 29; Queen, Madness and Coldplay on Sun 30.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
