Sell-out #2 in Philly

Sunday 20 May, 10.30pm (World Cafe, Philadelphia PA):
After the drama and triumph of last night, none of us are quite sure what to expect of the gig this evening. We are supporting Seth Kallen at WXPN’s World Café Live in Philadelphia, and we’re knackered. It’s the last day of the tour and we have to fly back to London at 5.30am, which means not going to bed at all and driving to Newark Airport in the middle of the night. 

As a result, we are all pretty much bowled over when it turns into a gig to rival Milkboy. Another sell-out! There’s a real buzz amongst the audience, we sell a ton of merchandise and, far from dashing off straight after the gig towards the airport as we had planned, we end up spending nearly two hours signing autographs and talking to an enthusiastic group of Lightyears converts backstage. It’s a great way to end the tour.

On the way to Newark we stop for gas (sorry, petrol) and fall into a conversation with a portly chap in a trilby whilst queueing up to pay for our enormous sandwiches.

“Where you guys from?” he asks. “London,” I reply. “We’re in a band – just finished a tour of the East Coast.”

“Oh, really?” he says. “I’m a musician myself. I’ve played London a couple of times over the years. What kind of band you got?”

I reel off a quick comparison. “The Lightyears. Indie-pop. Y’know, somewhere between Radiohead and The Monkees. So where in London have you played?”

“Albert Hall,” he replies, nonchalantly. “With The Monkees.”