Cast In Concert – 1996 – BBC Radio In Concert Series – BBC Radio 1 –
Cast in Concert tonight. One of the bands considered highly influential in the Brit-Pop movement during the early 90s. Cast formed in Liverpool in 1992 by John Power (vocals, guitar) and Peter Wilkinson (backing vocals, bass) after Power left The La’s and Wilkinson’s former band Shack had split. Following early line-ups with different guitarists and drummers, Liam “Skin” Tyson (guitar) and Keith O’Neill (drums) joined Cast in 1993.
Cast signed to Polydor Records and their debut album All Change (1995) became the highest selling debut album for the label. Further commercial success continued with the albums Mother Nature Calls (1997) and Magic Hour (1999), however a departure in sound on the band’s fourth album Beetroot (2001) was met by a poor critical and commercial reaction and contributed to the band’s split two weeks after its release.
The band re-formed in November 2010 and released their fifth album Troubled Times in November 2011. Bassist Peter Wilkinson confirmed his departure from the band in March 2015, after abruptly leaving a previous tour in December 2014. He was replaced on that tour and in the band by Power’s frequent collaborator Jay Lewis, who would also feature on their sixth album Kicking Up the Dust, which was released on 21 April 2017.
Noel Gallagher of Oasis described watching the band live as being like a “religious experience” and they were labelled “The Who of the 90’s”. It has been suggested that the name “Cast” was taken from the final word on The La’s eponymous album (the song “Looking Glass” ends with the repeated line “The change is cast”); John Power has since confirmed this to be true, despite previously playing the link down to coincidence.
So to get an idea of what Cast were up to during their peak period of the 90s, here is a concert that spells it out in big black letters. As always, more popular in the UK than the US, they still got a reputation over here from positive word-of-mouth. If you aren’t already familiar, you will be in a few seconds.
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