03
GRiP Popstars: The Rivals tour @ Cardiff International Arena 7.30pm Or not, as this extravaganza of awfulness appears to have been cancelled owing to lack of ticket sales. Praise the lord!
Union nights and special events.
Mondays
Saturday 08/03
Fun Factory @ Solus 9pm-1am, free before 11, £1 after Fun Factory is a Cardiff institution. Officially billed as ‘the beginning of the weekend’, it’s a chance for those of you who like alternative music to take over Solus from the Jive regulars. All music types are catered for, from Blink 182 to Blur, making Fun Factory an essential Monday night venue. Particularly essential, of course, on March 17, when the Kerrang Tour 2003 sweeps in to provide you with fun and mayhem in true metal style. DJ sets will come courtesy of Ace, ex of Skunk Anansie, and Kerrang! editor Ashley, while live music will be provided by emo rocker types This Girl.
Rocketgoldstar + guests @ Clwb Ifor Bach 8pm, £tbc Stars of FFvinyl unveil a new selection of thoroughly warped pop music. Like Queen if they lived in rented accommodation. Monsters Of Rock Tribute featuring Bootleg Zep (Led Zeppelin) & Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabbath) + local support + classic rock DJs @ MS1 Club 8pm, £10 adv, £12 door Simply mega. (Does anyone still use that word or have I captured the 70s/80s feel perfectly?) Corrigan + Strawberry Blondes + Fatwax @ Barfly 7.30pm, £4 Spare Rib @ Toucan Club £6 Original funk direct from Leeds.
Tuesdays
Live Music Monday 03/03 Oblivion + The Preferred Method Of Movement @ Barfly 7.30pm, £4
Tuesday 04/03
Lashtastic @ Solus 9pm-1am, £3.00 Chart hits and popular classics reign supreme in this immensely popular night. Look out for future performances from similarly kitsch entertainment, in the same vein as the recent Cheeky Girls.
Descent @ Seren Las 9pm, £3/4/5 For all who want that little something different. Go early, as, doors are at 9pm. Said before, but will say it again, Descent is always a good night out and definitely worth trying. Especially as it plans to take you to the harder side of trance on March 12, with a veritable value pack of five superstar DJs: M-Zone and Vortex will headline, and are ably supported by Nick The Kid, Beanie and MC Insanity. Go on. Get there!
Wednesday 05/03 Richard Hawley @ Bristol Fleece and Firkin 7.30pm, £8 Former Pulp guitarist who’s really rather good in a sensitive, mellifluous singer-songwriter type style. Since there’s nothing going on in Cardiff, England calls loud and clear. Maybe Steve Lamacq will be begging on the door. Will you pay his admission for him? Lear + Ayra @ MS1 Club 8pm, £4, £15 (with free food and drink) One of MS1 Club’s Drunk As A Skunk nights where they put on free food and drink for the greedy amongst you. Sadly it seems that Lear are playing just about every other week until Christmas. Ayra, on the other hand, used to be part of Esther. In case anyone had forgotten, they were terrible.
Thursday 06/03 Figure Of 8 + Disraeli Gears @ Clwb Ifor Bach 9pm, £3 More local bands at Clwb. The future starts here. Perhaps. Biffy Clyro @ Newport TJs 7.30pm, £tbc Indie rock also-rans just keep on plodding along.
Saturdays Normally: Come Play @ Solus 9pm - 2am, £3 One of the UK’s top student nights arrives at our very own Union featuring funky pop and guest DJs. Double vodka and Redbull at a mere £2.
Sunday Taf Quiz Usual format. Even the BBC’s autumn TV schedule doesn’t beat this! And Sunday nights do tend to really drag on. Don’t be forced to watch Heartbeat. Go out , do the quiz and have a drink.
Friday 07/03
Athlete + Longview + Repairman@ Barfly 7.30pm, £7 Longview’s lives will never be the same. Months of constant touring has probably left them feeling drained, but still Get There can’t find a good word for them. Your life will be no different after watching them. Athlete, on the other hand, raise a smile and make you wish you really were watching the Stone Roses or The Beta Band. Dynamite MC @ Clwb Ifor Bach 9pm, £8 Featuring full live band for the first time in Cardiff. Skindred, Husk and Kennedy Soundtrack @ MS1 Club, Cardiff Bay 8pm, £8door, £7adv Nu-metal for the kids. Expect new material to be premièred by Newport’s favourite school leavers. Dirty Vegas @ Bristol Academy 7pm, £8 Terminally bland dance gubbins masquerading under the label of ‘laid-back’. Limehouse Lizzy + Stormcrow @ Point 8pm, £7 Hmm. Am literally lost for words at this point.
Sunday 09/03 Farse + Schism@ Barfly 3pm, £5 The ‘most happening ska-punk band in the West Midlands’ catch the coach down to Cardiff. They’ll be home in time for supper too. Aim @ Clwb Ifor Bach 8pm, £8 Rather excellent chilled trip-hop nights choose a laid back Sunday slot to bring their live show to Cardiff.
Monday 10/03
No, there’s really nothing happening. I tried, I really did.
Tuesday 11/03
Ooberman + guests @ Barfly 7.30pm, £7 Yes, they really are still going after all these years. Best forgotten heroes of indie-schmindie. Stiff Little Fingers @ MS1 Club, Cardiff Bay 8pm, £15adv, £18(door) They’ll have to have a lock in to merit an admission price that steep. Liberty X @ Cardiff International Arena Don’t come begging us for free tickets. (That’ll be because we’re hoarding them for ourselves to see the greatest British pop group around. Even though one of them looks like a mule - Ed.)
Wednesday 12/03
Buffseeds + Debauchee + The Next Nine Years @ Barfly 7.30pm, £5 Falsetto-tinged choirboys light up Barfly. You really should check them out. See album of the fortnight in Music. Roostar @ MS1 Club £4adv, £15(with free food and drink) The latest installment of Drunk As A Skunk.
Johnny B & Keltech + The Green Giants @ Barfly 7.30pm, £5 Hip-hop at Barfly. Lear @ Clwb Ifor Bach 8pm, £3 A Dreamhouse production, apparently. ISIS @ MS1 Club 8pm, £8 Lighthouse Family @ Cardiff International Arena 7.30pm Rearranged date. Why weren’t we this lucky when At The Drive-In cancelled two years ago?
Friday 14/03 The Kills + guests @ Barfly 7.30pm, £6 See left. Gilles Peterson@ Clwb Ifor Bach 9pm, £11 See left.
Saturday 15/03
Cardiff Cougars Scooter Club Party @ MS1 Club 8pm, £4 Great! Stag + Appaloosa @ Barfly 7.30pm, £5 The Mountaineers @ Clwb Ifor Bach 7.30pm, £tbc Nik Turner’s Cubano Kickasso @ Toucan Club £6 The saxophonist from Hawkwind. Guaranteed to get those feet tapping. Donny Osmond @ Cardiff International Arena 7.30pm Yes, it just gets worse. Now you see why we forget the CIA most weeks.
Sunday 16/03 Thinktank + support @ Clwb Ifor Bach 8pm, £5
Coming Up Sunday 23rd March David Holmes presents The Free Association £8 Marvellous chance to see Holmes in full band mode. Saturday 12th April The Coral + The Basement @ Great Hall £9.50 Overrated yet nevertheless sold out. Tuesday 8th May The Wildhearts + Amen £12.50 Just in case you missed Amen at Newport TJs. Monday 12th May Mogwai @ Solus £10 Need I say more? What a wonderful way to start the examination season!
Films on release in Cardiff... The Hours Starring: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore Much nominated drama, charting a crucial day in the lives of three women living at different stages of history.
Jackass: The Movie Starring: Johnny Knoxville and friends
Spider Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson
Far From Heaven Starring: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid
The Kid Stays In the Picture Starring: Robert Evans
This feature length Jackass extravaganza pulls out all the stops with completely hilarious and ridiculous stunts. You will not be disappointed.
A schizophrenic (Fiennes) released early from a mental institution attempts to put his life together agian and to understand his past.
A 1950s housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world. Beautifully directed with fantastic performances.
Documentary following the life of legendary Hollywood actorturned-producer Robert Evans (responsible for The Godfather). Superbly interesting stuff.
Get There
Martini Henry Rifles + The Black Madonnas + The Roger Sisters + guests @ Barfly 7.30pm, £4 Another Sonic Mook Experiment extravaganza comes to Barfly. By the now you should all know about the headliners, Cardiff’s answer to ...Trail Of Dead. Expect similar histrionics from the other bands on the bill and a series of great tunes from Sean McLusky on the decks. A great night out! Lemon Jelly + guests @ Bristol Academy 7pm, £13.50 THE dance act of the moment thanks to excessive airplay and some rather snazzy art work around the streets of London. Promoting their fabulously chilled, Lost Horizons LP this should be well worth the trip. Something a little different, but extremely enjoyable. Watch the tickets fly out, and try and grab one.
Fridays
Jive Hive @ Solus 9pm-1am, £3.00. If you are clever enough to get yourself involved with a sports club during your time in Cardiff then Wednesday nights will only mean one thing – Jive Hive. Playing all the greatest hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s, karaoke classics and all the cheese you can handle.
Thursday 13/03
Cardiff’s listings in full
Comedy Club @ Seren Las 8pm, £3.50 Fancy a night off from loud bands and clubs? Try out this weekly night of much hilarity and wine. Your guest comedians on March 4 will be Markus Birdman - who has received plaudits from a host of people from the Observer to Jack Dee - and Nick Doody, while Martin Bigpig - who, incidentally, is the owner of the best beard since W ill Oldham - drops by the following week on March 11.
Wednesdays
Nicklecreek @ Bristol Fleece and Firkin 7.30pm, £11