Just as glorious as I remember…

Wednesday 3 February, 11.30am (Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa): We landed in South Africa this morning to embark on our 2010 Cape Town tour and the place is just as glorious as I remember. Ten minutes ago we checked into our hotel rooms at the Table Bay, Cape Town's swishest hotel, and whilst the rooms are being prepared we stroll out onto the Waterfront, bathed in sunshine, to have a little shufty at the famous Golden Seal statue. The Seal statue is the hotel's ...

“Hello Wembley!!”

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, 9.30am (Wembley Stadium, London): This is it. The big one. The motherload. Wembley. Flipping. Stadium. Today we are performing on the pitch at Wembley in front of an estimated crowd of around 45,000 people. Once we're done, Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity will take to the stage and, shortly afterwards, Saracens and Northampton Saints will kick off what is likely to be one of this season's best-attended rugby union matches. So no pressure then. On entering the mighty bowels of the UK's most iconic venue, we are led ...

Blue Moons and seven-foot transvestites…

WEDNESDAY 29 JULY, 8.30pm (Business Class Cabin, British Airways Flight 183, Heathrow): The last time we toured to America, we flew Business Class. It turned out that Tony had a "contact" who was able to pull some strings for us at British Airways (I didn't ask exactly what this meant - Tony has East End gangster blood in his family and I generally find it's best not to enquire about his methods) and we had our tickets upgraded. Sadly, this time round, on account of the flight being absolutely packed, ...

“We’ll always have Cape Town, boys…”

SATURDAY 7 MARCH, 9.30am (Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa): It's the morning of the gig. The moment this whole week has been building up to. Last night we spent a few nerve-wracking hours getting to know the rugby players who will constitute a large proportion of our audience tonight and, whilst we escaped without any broken bones, we all remain a little nervous about whether or not we'll win them over at the gig.  On the way to breakfast in the hotel I ...

We are staying in JACK BAUER’S hotel…

TUESDAY 3 MARCH, 3pm (Brass Bell Restaurant, False Bay, South Africa): I am dressed in shades, boardies and flip-flops. I am starting to look quite tanned, having spent a decent amount of time on the beach over the past few days. I am exhuding an easy, care-free demeanour on account of the sunny weather and the leisurely pace of the Cape Town lifestyle. I am drinking a crisp gin and bitter lemon. The afternoon waves of the Indian Ocean lap hungrily at the walls ...

The tour has begun…

FRIDAY 30 JANUARY, 2.30am (International Airspace, somewhere over Africa): This is one of my favourite parts of any tour. I am on the plane, 40,000 feet above the ground, cruising at speeds of 600 mph. I am approximately four gin and tonics into an evening of steady boozing, courtesy of British Airways. Our hot-off-the-press recording of "Johannesburg", finished only yesterday in Tony's home studio, is playing in my ears. In a few hours we will land in Cape Town, South Africa, ...

“You’re ‘avin a giraffe mate!”

WEDNESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 1.30pm (Time Square, New York, USA): "I'm driving a van! Through Time Square! I'm James Bond!" Tony is driving a van. Through Time Square. In doing so he is fulfilling a lifelong ambition and is having an absolute ball in the process. A cab driver tries cutting us up and soon regrets it. Within seconds Tony's head is out of the window unleashing a patter of mockney road-rage. "Oi! Watchit mate! [pause] Nah mate, I ain't moving. C'mon, you could get a bus through there! [another pause] Wot?! You're ...

Guest Blog: How many Lightyears does it take to change a lightbulb?

During the band's recent American Tour, New Yorker Ashley Stubblefield boldly stepped up to the task of tour-managing the boys through their many adventures. To help exorcise her trauma, she wrote a blog about her experiences... How many Lightyears does it take to change a lightbulb? by Ashley Stubblefield To kick things off, let me just say that I spent several hours cleaning my flat last Sunday. Dusting, sweeping, doing dishes and picking up the piles of laundry from my floor. I seeeeeeeriously shouldn't ...

In The Lightyears, we like to eat.

Part Two of my American Tour Blog... SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER, 3.30pm (Union Square, New York, USA): Let me bring you up-to-speed. Less than twenty hours ago we were playing a gig in Southampton, England. Now we are standing onstage in the sweltering Manhattan heat performing to a crowd of thousands at Union Square in New York, USA. I am sweating like a TROOPER. I may never have been this hot.  My internal clock has given up the ghost and checked out. It simply has no idea what time it's ...

Two shows, two continents… one day.

A few days ago we returned from a whirlwind tour of New York. I kept a diary - and here's Part 1... SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER, 4.40am (Tony's house, Twyford, England): Most parts of me hurt. The sofa I slept on last night was just slightly shorter than me, and the number of hours for which I slept on it were just slightly shorter than I consider acceptable. Two, to be precise.  Roughly four hours ago I was still onstage at a gig in Southampton, UK. This afternoon I ...

250 people squeezed into the Barfly…

On Thursday night we supported the Mystery Jets at a sold-out Camden Barfly. It was a hot August evening and the punters were packed into the Barfly's intimate dimensions like moist sardines. The Jets had been forced to cancel a few weeks' worth of festivals due to lead singer Blaine being in hospital and Thursday represented the band's comeback gig, as well as a warm-up for their impending main stage performances at Reading and Leeds Festivals. Anticipation was high and Jets fans were clearly excited ...

It’s not often that our stage has turf…

On Monday evening we played at London Road Football Stadium in front of Manchester United and around 12,000 people.  For George and I this was a chance to perform to our biggest ever crowd, to mingle with some of the most famous sporting celebrities in the world and take a few more steps on the path to becoming a fully-fledged stadium rock band. For Tony, however, it was an unrivalled opportunity to pick up some handy gardening tips from the groundsman concerning how ...

One of the highlights of my summer…

I am writing this from an idyllic rural paradise in the South of France. Herman & The Hermits are on the stereo, the sun is beating down from high in the blue sky and I am sipping from a glistening, chilled bottle of The Greatest Beer On The Planet - Desperados, a terrific French lager flavoured with tequila. Things are, I think it is safe to say, going pretty well. However, I digress. I'm not just writing to you to show off about how sweet my holiday ...

Legendary people, legendary night…

I woke up this morning to a scene of quite riveting oddness. First of all, I was slumped unceremoniously on a couch upon which I had never slept before. Secondly, the person curled up next to me was not the person who had been curled up next to me when I cascaded inevitably into slumber at (I can only guess) around 8am this morning. Thirdly, I could see a miniature motorbike and sidecar in the adjoining room. There were dogs everywhere. Finally though, and perhaps most importantly, ...

LYs on the Beeb

We just got back from an interview and live session on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. The station picked up on us a couple of months ago, around the time of the release of the Peterborough United song, and asked us into the studio to see if we had anything up our sleeves other than football songs. Which, thankfully, we do.  The Audio Files is BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's weekly live music show. It's hosted by Jeremy Sallis who, as it ...

Life should always be exactly like this

Last night at 4.30am we arrived back in London at the end of a serious contender for the best weekend of our lives. Glastonbury Festival 2008. Two Lightyears gigs, glorious sunshine, a shedload of bands, more strawberry cider than you can shake a stick at and a breathtaking sunset over the Stone Circle. What a weekend. Here are my June 2008 Glastonbury Memoirs... THURSDAY The sun is shining. I am at Glastonbury Festival, the greatest musical extravaganza in the world. I am drinking hot spiced cider. George ...

12 hours ’till Glastonbury…

I am writing this on the tube, which is a first for a Lightyears blog. It's like being a proper Londoner. Except, if I was a proper Londoner, I guess I'd be wearing a pearly suit and carrying a banana. But in lieu of those things, a MacBook and a hoodie will have to do. Just been listening to the recordings from a rehearsal we had yesterday at Lightyears HQ in Clapham. Tony came up for the afternoon and we blitzed some new material - 11 songs between us. I had ...

Everybody. Hates. Keyboard players.

So, Turnkey - London's biggest music store and most evil all-powerful industry dominator (kinda like the IKEA of music shops) - is shutting down. It's gone into receivership. Which means they're selling all their gear off at ludicrously low prices. And the capital's enormous army of musicians are flocking to Tottenham Court Road to snatch their piece of sweet Turnkey pie before the magical gate of opportunity slams shut forever. George and John spent quite some time this morning trying to persuade me to pop into town with ...

Dubai. Apparently not just one huge airport.

We are at Dubai airport, waiting for our connecting flight to Gatwick. I appear to have lost the rest of the band. There are rather a lot of people here, most of them sleeping. It is 4am. Technically speaking. Danny has gone to buy a shisha pipe. My eyebrows feel weird.  I am experiencing that disarmingly euphoric jetlag hangover that you get when you fly long-haul and end up spending a string of lost hours in some distant airport waiting for a connecting flight. I have no idea whether I ...

I’m in Seoul but I’m not a soldier

I have just woken up. It is 4.30pm. Last night was a good night. A very good night indeed.  It began onstage at 8pm and ended in a jacuzzi at 8am. Just as all great nights out should.  Let me talk you through it step-by-step...... 8pm, Grand Hyatt Hotel I am onstage, sat at a grand piano. The enormous stage has been immaculately set to emulate the opening scene from Phantom Of The Opera. The MC, dressed in trilby, half-mask, cloak and tails, stands behind me. Seunghee Park, one of Asia's foremost opera ...

Next Page »