Stereophonics rock Cardiff City Stadium
IT was an emotional weekend for Kelly Jones.
On Saturday, the Cwmaman rocker took to the stage with his band Stereophonics in front of tens of thousands of fans at Cardiff City Stadium, almost six years to the day since he last played there.
However, back in 2010, the gig had been bookended by tragedy for the singer.
Not only had his beloved war hero great-uncle Rees passed away a week before – indeed, Kelly ended up dedicating the sold-out show to his memory – but just two days later the news broke that the band’s former drummer, larger-than-life Stuart Cable, had been found dead at his home in Llwydcoed, mere miles from the small ex-mining village where he and Kelly had grown up together.
To top it all, Kelly is still in the celebratory throes of becoming a dad for the third time in March – a buzz only tempered by the recent shock announcement that his friend Gordon Downie (frontman for The Tragically Hip, the Canadian group who massively influenced the ‘Phonics) is battling inoperable brain cancer.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s City Stadium gig, Kelly, 42, said: “I’ve really been looking forward to doing this gig all year because we had a blast last time – there’s something about that size of stadium that’s a lot more conducive to rock and roll than, say, the Principality Stadium. But, yeah, I know that the minute we get out on stage it’s going to bring a lot of memories flooding back.
“It’s impossible to forget the fact that last time we played City Stadium was an incredible night, and all the boys in the band had a huge party the next day – but then, the following morning, we heard Stuart had gone.
“It was a terrible thing but the plan this time round is to make it as much of a celebration as possible. So we’re going to play as much as we can off Word Gets Around [the ‘Phonics’ ’ 97 calling-card album] – a nod to him and all that energy we had back at the beginning. It’s also to mark just how far we’ve come as an outfit.”
Indeed, Kelly admits that Cable is never really far from the band’s thoughts.
“It’s funny, we were out in Portugal last month supporting Bruce Springsteen on tour and one of the shows fell on the date of Stu’s birthday so we dedicated the night to him.
“What made it extra-poign- ant, though, was the fact that Springsteen has taken to screening montage clips of Clarence Clemons [the E-Street Band’s long-term saxophonist who died from a stroke-related illness back in 2011] during his own gigs. It was quite touching and it makes you realise the show must go on – besides, Stu will always be alive in our music, no matter what.”
And the platinum-selling quartet (also made up of fellow Cynon Valley native Richard Jones on bass, drummer Jamie Morrison and guitarist Adam Zindani) found that a shared working-class background – albeit one separated by thousands of miles and an entire Atlantic Ocean – helped them form a bond with The Boss.
“Springsteen turned out to be a great bloke and it was quite surreal looking across into the wings and seeing him standing there watching us play and nodding his head in appreciation,” smiles Kelly.
“He came backstage after the show and knocked on our dressing room door, telling us he enjoyed our set and to ask how we were doing.
“He knew we were from Wales and a lot of other stuff too, which is a bit surreal. So, while I was never a massive fan as a kid, I’ve got such respect and admiration for the bloke.
“He was totally down to earth and very approachable – no big entourage, no nonsense and really hardworking – I saw the set-list for the night before we joined him
and it was about 36 songs long. And the drummer, who must have been about 70, didn’t so much stop for a drink of water all night. Crazy!”
The Cardiff show also marked Kelly’s official return to the day job, the guitar having been left resting in its case for several weeks while he performed dad duties to his latest child – baby girl Riley, his first with wife Jakki Healey.
“I’ve been pottering about at home on and off since January,” says Kelly, who’ll be travelling to such far-flung places as Japan, Korea, Italy and – just when you though the itinerary couldn’t get any more exotic – Wrexham over the coming months to promote the band’s latest number one album Keep The Village Alive.
“Having Riley’s been a shock to the system, I can tell you, not least because I now live in a house full of women. I’m seriously outnumbered! It’s never boring, though, because there’s a different emotion going on in every room all the time,” he laughs.
“And my other two girls are great – a bit crazy maybe, but their hearts are in the right place.
“Bootsy is 11 and, in September, starts going to comprehensive school by herself, while Misty is nine.
“But those teenage years aren’t far off now – so come back and ask me the same question then and I might have a very different answer for you.”