Having spent two weeks in the blistering Las Vegas heat it was a pleasant surprise to be welcomed by sunshine when we returned to Cardiff. Let’s hope it’s here to stay, we’ve waited long enough! We got back to Cardiff and the city was buzzing with anticipation for the arrival of Taylor Swift. People were queuing the length of The Principality Stadium to get their hands on merchandise from the Official Merch Stands. Cardiffs Utilita Arena also set up Official Merchandise Stands ensuring fans got all the tour memorabilia they could afford. It’s great to see so much excitement in the city and events like this are great for the local economy. We met fans outside the stadium who had travelled from as far as California to see their idol. With bars and clubs holding pre/post show Taylor Swift themed events, there’s plenty going on if you wasn’t lucky enough to get a ticket.
This month we got to sample the city’s latest hotspot The Cardiff Townhouse, Coppa Club. It’s the newest addition to the great places to eat and drink in The Hayes. Downstairs has a more laid back feel to it and a great place to meet friends, chill or even get the laptop out and do some work. The decor is stylish yet comfortable and if you’re down with the kids you’d describe it very instagramable. Climb its curved staircase and you’ll find a very spacious dining/bar area with rooms for fine dining which would also be great for group bookings. The glass ceiling is amazing and even though the venue oozes sophistication it still remains relaxed and welcoming, probably down to the team that work incredibly hard to make your visit a good one. Needless to say the food, wine & cocktails match the splendour of The Coppa Club. It was all delicious and there will be many more visits planned in the future.
We were side splitting belly laughing when we attended Steve Spiers (The Tuckers) ‘Audience With’ in Rhiwbina recently. A packed Butchers Arms were treated to stories from the funny man’s extensive career. On set tales about co-stars and incidents had us in stitches. Steve spoke fondly about his hit BBC Show The Tuckers and welcomed some of his Co-stars to the event. Nathan finally got to present an art work he created of Steve using coffee. Steve loved it and so did the audience. Hopefully more events like this will be hosted by Steve, he’s certainly not short on material for many more ‘Audience With’ shows.
At the end of May we spent three days singing, dancing and meeting some incredible people at this years ‘In It Together Festival’. What a joy to see such a large scale music festival here in South Wales. For the most part the weather was great, even though it did rain a little but what’s a festival without a little mud right? Acts such as Rag n Bone Man, Sugababes, Gabrielle, Blue and so many more delighted the Port Talbot crowd to four days of top class sets making this festival the biggest yet since it started. Alongside the main stage featuring headline acts there was massive big top tents featuring world famous DJ’s and dance acts, wrestling events, fairground attractions and numerous stalls and vendors. We love that ‘In It Together’ also give opportunities to local acts and performers to be part of the incredible line up. Our friends from New Wave Wrestling got to showcase their wrestling skills and Studio 54 dance school also got to perform. Swansea based Rock/Indie band put in a sensational performance on the main stage, once again proving the incredible talent here in South Wales. Nathan made some unique art presentations to some of the festivals performers, check his Socials to see videos and pictures of the presentations. Early bird tickets are already on sale for next years ‘In It Together’ and we are sure the festival is only going to get bigger and better each year.
We met up with Vicky McClure (Line Of Duty) before she hosted ‘DAY FEVER’ at Depot Cardiff. DAY FEVER is a great way to start the party early with dance tunes and party anthems blasting from 3pm-8pm. You then have the choice of continuing the party and going to town or making a trip to chippy lane and home in time for News At 10. Daytime Clubbing is certainly very popular and tons of fun, more dates have been announced at Depot (22nd June, 20th July). Get your tickets early.
Wayne is now presenting a brand new Radio Cardiff Show every Monday 1-1:30pm called PERFECT PLAYLIST. Each week he will compile a playlist with a special theme. There will be occasional guests on the show too, chatting about their PERFECT PLAYLIST. If you’d like to be a guest drop us a message. We still present our Friday Wyburn & Wayne Show 11-1pm. We welcome requests, news and special mentions from our listeners.
June seen us return to our second favourite City in the world…. VEGAS (Cardiff is first obvs). It was so great to be back in the crazy city and amazing to catch up with friends. It was such a thrill to perform our cabaret show at The Phoenix alongside the Queen Of Las Vegas Shiela Wright. Teaching a venue full of Americans to take part in Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi was so much fun and we’d just like to say thank you for all the support from the staff and customers at The Phoenix. If you are ever in Vegas, go visit them, everything is a fraction of the price compared to The Strip and served with a smile. They may even partake in a little Oggy Oggy Oggy.
Another highlight of our holiday was seeing Christina Aguilera at the Voltaire. What a show! The venue which opened only last year with a residency from Kylie is out of this world and to be fair there isn’t a bad seat in the house. Nathan got to meet Christina before the show, ticking off another icon that he’s met and given artwork too. Tickets for the show are limited and not cheap but it’s an evening of sensational burlesque and an incredible performance from Christina.
The heat reached over 110 degrees while we were in Vegas, fortunately you can get about the city without too much exposure to the sun. We attended a showing of ‘Postard From Earth’ at The Sphere and was genuinely blown away by the incredible production and sheer size of the venue. It’s a case of seeing is believing, our pictures and videos are good but could never capture the magic you feel attending ‘Postcards From Earth’.
Depot Live at Cardiff Castle has kicked off to a great start with gigs from The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. We are very much looking forward to seeing Crowded House this week and over the coming weeks gigs from Avril Lavigne, JLS, Manics, Paul Heaton plus many more. Check out the full listings. http://www.depotlive.co.uk
We have had several of this years acts as guests on our Radio Cardiff Show, some of the interviews can be found on our Spotify channel. https://open.spotify.com/episode/42awggw2kg7Q7F0IzpgCCs?si=p0xas8rmTMWgo24H8ivqPg
DEPOT – Cardiff’s most original venue
June is PRIDE Month and we are very much looking forward to hosting and performing at Pride Cymru this year. We will also be performing at The Golden Cross on the Saturday night. Many venues across Cardiff will be celebrating with live acts and there’s a fantastic line up at the Pride Cymru celebrations in Cardiff Castle. Did you see our earlier blog featuring some well known Cardiff folk talking all things PRIDE?
Check it out…
I’m sure by now most people attending the PRIDE celebrations have already made plans and decided which events and venues to attend. We would like to wish everyone a great weekend and hope they get to enjoy with friends and loved ones wherever they celebrate.
Nathan enjoyed having a PRIDE Exhibition at The Red Dragon Centre throughout the month of June in collaboration with Capital South Wales. The exhibition included portraits of LGBTQ Icons from around the world. Nathan donated two portrait to fundraise for Pride Cymru.
Also this month Nathan was part of a photography exhibition ‘Galvanize’ highlighting men’s mental health with HelpUCymru. It was on display in St David’s Shopping Centre and will soon be exhibited elsewhere. If anyone would like to know more about HelpUCumru visit… https://helpu.org.uk
One of our favourite summer festivals starts on 20th June, Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival. The festival opens with The Tempest and there’s a varied and exciting programme of events/shows that will take place in Sophia Gardens over the next month. It’s always great fun attending the festival and each visit is very different. There’s even a production of SHREK Jnr for the youngsters and young at heart.
Check out the full listings here…
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With summer holidays fast approaching our friends at Kinetic School Of Performing Arts are running summer camps for existing and new members to join.
Last few places!! Summer school (Show in a week)
Email for more info: Admin@kinetictheatrearts.com
Congratulations to Wales Millennium Centre & National Theatre on the triumphant success of NYE. What an exceptional piece of theatre with legend Michael Sheen playing another Welsh Legend Nye Bevan. Let’s hope this masterpiece makes a return to the stage in the future.
That’s it from us this month, we have a busy few weeks ahead. Tune in to The Wyburn & Wayne Show every Friday 11-1pm on Radio Cardiff for interviews, news and reviews.
Wyburn & Wayne 