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 ...

LYs to play in front of European Champions Man Utd

On Monday 4 August The Lightyears will be playing at London Road Stadium for the Manchester United Vs Peterborough United pre-season friendly. The band will be performing in the centre-circle just before kick-off, whilst the two teams train around them.    The band made their debut performance at London Road on Saturday 3 May at the last match of the season against Darlington and have been invited back to Peterborough's ground on the strength of their performance that day. Watch of a clip from the gig ...

Brand new Lightyears website online now

The new-look www.TheLightyears.com is now online with a load of new features aimed at making your Lightyears experience more interactive. The Lightyears are a busy band with a wide range of audio tracks, videos, pictures as well as Chris's near-legendary tour blog. All of this stuff is now much easier to get hold of on the new site. Also new is the ability for users to add their own comments and reviews with the ability to add photos and videos coming soon. If you've been to a Lightyears gig recently, ...

Thailand tour confirmed

The LYs’ return to Phuket in Thailand has now been confirmed for the end of October. Dates will include headlining the P.A.W.S. Charity Gala and a show at The Green Man in Muang. The band made their first trip to Thailand back in October '07. The tour lasted just over a week and, by all accounts, was pretty much a life-changing experience. Read Chris' tour blog here; check out Danny Lightyear's Thailand photo album ...

Lightyears land second gig at Glastonbury Festival

The band have secured a second gig at Glastonbury Festival 2008 and will be performing on both the Green Fuse Stage (Thursday evening 9pm) and the Small World Stage (Friday evening 10.30pm). Plus, if you're shrewd, you might be able to catch them a third time. But keep it under your hat, right...?  The Green Fuse Stage, in the Greenfields, which hosts the band's opening performance at this year's Glastonbury, is windmill-powered - we kid you not. Similarly, the ...

Chris’ Tour Blog: Korea 2008 – online now!

This year, for the third year running, The Lightyears were invited to headline at The Queen's Birthday Ball in Seoul, South Korea. Chris Lightyear has documented the trip in his LYs tour blog - read up on the band's Korean adventures here. The LYs played two gigs whilst in Seoul this year, the first at a "Meet The Lightyears" evening in Itaewon and the second at the ball itself. The theme for 2008 was Phantom Of The Opera and the event, held at ...

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 ...

Glastonbury Festival, 26-29 July 2008, Somerset

On 26 July 2008 The Lightyears mark their third outing to Worthy Farm, Somerset for the world famous festival of music and, more often than not, mud... The band will be playing the Green Fuse stage on Thursday night and the Small World Stage on Friday evening. Look for the band at the Sing Up tent as well during the weekend, as well as in the Guardian Tent for a live webcast. Full details available here.

Del Boy’s Funeral

Today I spent the day as a 'supporting artist' for my good friends Idiots of Ants, who were beginning ten days shooting for a collection of comedy sketches to be shown on E4 this August. Idiots of Ants are Ben Wilson, Elliott Tiney, James Wrighton and Andy Spears - most of whom I went to university with. I remember a conversation I had with James when they first formed about 18 months ago, talking about the parallels between comedy and music. Having spent a number of years working ...

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 ...