The UFO: Which classic bands were launched by the iconic venue?
There’s a special moment in the life of a music fan, when they walk through the doors of what will become a defining location for them. Not special because they knew it right then, but special because of how it serves their memory. Years later, when they experience the smell of dampness or the crumpled rim of a plastic pint glass in their hand, it will instantly take them back a grassroots venue that gave them their greatest musical memories.
For me, that’s Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach. The simple utterance of its name reminds me of a blissful time gone by, when I innocently cut my teeth as a music journalist, interviewing everyone who populated Womanby Street’s outrageously healthy music scene.
As the 2010s crossed over into the 2020s, Cardiff was alive with bands redefining the realms of British indie. On the coattails of Boy Azooga’s standout album 1, 2, Kung Fu, a generation of liberated and nuanced artists offered their contribution to a scene built on healthy competition and collaboration that all coalesced under the dim lights of Clwb Ifor Bach. Whenever I found myself there, rubbing shoulders with my peers, I distinctly felt as though I was in a “scene”.
I had always read about scenes, and I believed that the greatest parts of musical mythology were built on the idea that in one concentrated area, you could walk into a venue on any given day and catch the next big icon playing an intimate show. Because these scenes were always on the cultural verve, whatever show you may catch would be like nothing widely available.
My fascination of this idea is largely built on a collection of genuinely history making musical chapters. New York in the 2000s, Manchester in the 1990s and London, in the 1960s. The latter gave way to a multitude of genres, with its blues scene giving way to some of music’s most legendary musicians and its psychedelic rumblings laying the foundations for innovation.
In the middle of those foundations stood The UFO. Bordering the line between central and north London, it was a safe haven for musicians to explore experimental music. So it must have been fate that intervened when the club’s founders Joe Boyd and John Hopkins ditched the initial name idea of “Nite Tripper” for something that was more conclusive as to what awaited fans inside.
So who got their start in this legendary venue?
Opening in December 1966, it came immediately off the back of The Beatles’ foray into the world of psychedelia with Revolver. Under the umbrella of that album, a host of burgeoning psychedelic rockers were given confidence to explore those esoteric ideas that they had been harbouring. One of which were Pink Floyd, who played on the club’s opening night.
“The UFO was, at any rate, an extraordinary place, a decisive field of experiment to the history of British rock music” Floyd drummer Nick Mason explained. Of course, given the globetrotting success the band when on to endure, it’s much easier for Mason and the band to look back on the venue with such fondness. But what about the other, lesser-known bands who came through?
Well, alongside Pink Floyd were Soft Machine, who went on to become regulars of the venue and eventually garnered increased acclaim with every show they played. Alongside those two heavy hitters, The UFO gave starts to Arthur Brown, Procol Harum, and Tomorrow.
