Stereophonics - Cardiff International Arena 20.11.07

I've somehow managed to see Stereophonics play live four times. Not bad for a band I'm not that bothered about. It's quite sad really when you consider there are probably fanatical Stereophonic fans out there who haven't seen them as many times as me. I'm not sure where my indifference stems from. It's not that I dislike them, I've just never felt like buying one of their albums. When they first arrived on the scene I was pretty interested in them. I saw them at V97 in Leeds, bottom of the bill but newly signed to the V2 record label. Off the back of the performance I bought 'More Life in a Tramps Vest' and then 'Traffic' on CD single. I didn't go on to buy anything else, I think the reason purely being because there was so much else going on in music at the time. Heavyweight releases like 'Urban Hymns', 'The Fat of the Land' and 'OK Computer' all came out within a couple of months of their debut album 'Word Gets Around'. You also need to remember they released it the week after the monstrously over hyped but lovably flawed Oasis album 'Be Here Now'. Anyone who can remember the coverage of that album release will understand how the Stereophonics could have been overlooked by myself during the summer of 97. It was crazy, everyone bought a copy of 'Be Here Now'. Had Princess Di died a week earlier it would have been the second story on the news after the release of 'Be Here Now'. It was HUGE!!!

Anyway I'm wandering off the subject. I think they're a far better band since getting rid of drummer Stuart Cable. It was a cruel thing to do to the guy but a shrewd move nonetheless. I'm sure Cable is a good guy, I'm positive he is, but when he started doing the presenting on BBC 2W the band undeniably lost credibility. You could imagine lead singer Kelly Jones sat at home watching Stuart Cable interviewing Max Boyce and thinking "He's got to go". Replacement Javier Weyler has done a good job since coming in. He seems a better drummer and he gives the band a different sexed up image. During the gig last night he whipped off his top much to the approval of the female members of the audience. Compare that to the curly mop hair do and googly eyes combo of Cable.

The gig was really enjoyable. The didn't shy away from playing their singles like some more pretentious act do. There isn't really anything pretentious about them at all and this accessibility attracts a wide audience. There were people of all ages, shapes and sizes in the crowd last night. Noticeably a lot of children which is great for them. This is one of the perks of living in a city. Growing up in North Wales meant we'd have to go off to Manchester or Liverpool if we wanted to see a gig and then we'd have to sleep in Manchester Piccadilly or Lime Street after missing the last train home. It was the third night in a row at the CIA so I was impressed to see the amount of effort the band put into the gig. Highlight of the night for me was 'Roll Up and Shine', my favourite track from 'Performance and Cocktails'. In fact I was quite surprised at how many albums tracks I recognised. With CDs being so cheap at the moment maybe it's time I bought their albums.

The only downside of last night was the £3.70 fee for a can of Carlsberg and the fact I missed the Under 21s game between Wales and France at Ninian Park. A magnificent 4-2 victory puts Wales on course for qualifying for the tournament in Sweden in 2009. Fair play lads, keep it up and I might be heading to Scandinavia in the summer of 2009!