Photographer Lorna Cabble headed to the Wales Millennium Centre to catch Casa B-Side – an event celebrating the history of Cardiff’s Casablanca club. Local artists came together for a night of performance covering the rich musical heritage of Tiger Bay, in jazz, funk, hip hop and reggae.

 

Performing were Li Harding with the Gary Phillips Trio, Afro Cluster, Entaya, Messiah Dub Club, and Roots and Branches.

Club regular Keith Murrell reminisced about the club:

“The Casa’s ‘golden years’ began during the 1970s, when High Society Sound System took up residency at the club. Society had come to Cardiff from Ladbroke Grove and the custom-made equipment was a cut above any other local music set-ups at the time. They played mostly new reggae music, including pre-release and dub plate mixes that nobody else was playing.

“Club regulars were mostly our own friends and contemporaries with similar musical tastes. We created our own ‘scene’ from this, which further established the Casa B as an alternative venue for many others from around the city and beyond.”

Read some memories of the Casablanca (Wales Online)

Keith Murrell on the history of the Casablanca (Culture24)

All photographs by Lorna Cabble

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