CATE LE BON
Millennium Centre, Cardiff - 9th October 2025
Support: Kate NV
This was the first of three gigs in a week. Oh my poor aching body... At least it was a seated one.
Our return to Llais was to see the wonderful Cate Le Bon for the first time. She's been making the best music of her career of late so there was little surprise that the Donald Gordon Theatre in Cardiff's Millenniumm Centre was very busy.
Kicking things off was Kate NV, a Russian electronic artist, who started off sounding interesting but as her unecessarily-long 45 minute (!) slot went on, I became progressively bored and a bit annoyed. There were quite a few restless bums around us by the half hour mark so I think it's fair to say I wasn't the only one.
Cate with a C, on the other hand, was incredible. With a set comprising mostly of material from her two most recent albums, she somehow managed to replicate the sounds and dense, somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere of the songs in the live setting to startling effect.
Not only did her band include the legendary (around these parts) Stephen Black aka Sweet Baboo, but she also brought the legendary (everywhere) Gruff Rhys on to sing the vocal part on Ride that the legendary (everywhere and then some) John Cale performed on the record.
It all felt rather intimate and warm. Despite the size of the venue, the number of people in attendance, and the fact Cate spoke to us almost exclusively in Welsh, there were times it felt as if she was playing just to MrsRobster and I. She has that effect. Undoubtedly one of our top three shows of the year.
One from the night itself, featuring a very super furry animal...
I couldn't find a video of this one from the Llais show. It's not only the best song from Cate's most recent album 'Michaelangelo Dying', but one of the best of her entire career. And that is high praise. It's devastating, haunting and darkly beautiful. So here's a performance from a couple weeks earlier. Oh, and for the record, it's called Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?.
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