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Lightyears on tour in USA

We’re leaving for the United States today for a run of dates in the New York and Philadelphia area. See details below…

THURSDAY 30 JULY: Union Square, Manhattan NY (with Jukebox The Ghost)
– Free Entry. LYs onstage 6pm.

FRIDAY 31 JULY: Chaplin’s, Spring City PA (with Brooke Shive & The 45s)
– Doors 7pm. LYs onstage 8pm. BYOB. Buy tickets here.

SATURDAY 1 AUGUST: Milkboy, Ardmore PA (with Vantine/Amadio)
– Doors 8pm. Buy tickets here.

SUNDAY 2 AUGUST: Burlington Amphitheatre, Westampton NJ (with Jon Clifton)
– Free entry. LYs onstage 3pm.

See you guys there!

New date added to US tour

On 31 July this year we’ll be playing a stage in Pennsylvania once graced by Charlie Chaplin! The aptly-named Chaplin’s in Spring City, PA, is the latest addition to our 2009 USA Tour, joining dates in Burlington, Ardmore and New York City.

Chaplin’s Music Cafe is just a few miles from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The venue is famous for playing host to the big-trousered movie legend as part of a travelling revue in 1916 and these days features performances from national and international recording artists every Friday and Saturday night.

For full details, click here to visit the GIGS page.

To read about our last tour to the USA, click here to visit the TOUR DIARY page. 

To see photos from the last tour, click here to visit the GALLERY page.

LYs to tour East Coast USA

This summer we will be returning to America to play three states – New York City, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

On Thursday 30 July we’ll be playing the “Summer In The Square” series in Union Square, Manhattan. This will be followed on Saturday 1 August by a headline show at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and an afternoon performance at Burlington Amphitheatre in New Jersey on Sunday 2 August. For full details visit the GIGS page.

Whilst in the USA we are also hoping to secure a slot on WXPN radio’s legendary “Free At Noon” broadcast at the World Cafe in Philadelphia. This is an incredibly prestigious show – recent performers include Gomez, Damien Rice and Adele and the broadcast goes out to a national audience of several million people. We performed live on Matt Reilly’s WXPN show back in 2007 and so the next step up is to be part of the station’s weekly live concert. Here’s the fun though – YOU can help us secure the slot by visiting the WXPN website and requesting our track “Sleepless” for airplay on the station. Click here to visit the WXPN website and request “Sleepless”! It’ll totally rock our world if you do, we promise.

This will be our fourth visit to the USA and we’re excited to be seeing our US fans again. Click here to read my tour diary from our last Stateside visit.

Rare LYs track used on Philadelphia compilation

An extremely rare live version of Lightyears track “Inside Job” has been included on a compilation album released this week in Philadelphia, USA.

The album is called “Milkboy Live Vol. 1” and comprises eleven live tracks recorded over the last two years at the Milkboy Coffee venue in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Milkboy was one of the first venues we sold out on the East Coast and has featured in every single one of our American tours since. Click here to visit my USA tour diaries and read up on our past adventures at Milkboy.

The release also feaures The Brakes, Jim Boggia and the late Robert Hazard, the Philadelphia legend who wrote Cyndi Lauper’s hit single “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, in one of his last recorded live performances.

The Milkboy website says of The Lightyears involvement in the project: “We were glad to include these British lads. They came to us all the way from England, where they were voted best pop/rock band at the first ever UK INDY Awards in 2007. They have great elements of pop in their quirky style of rock and roll. They come complete with 3-part harmonies and a drummer that stands up to play. What’s great about this tune is that you won’t catch them playing this anywhere else. After selecting the song, we found out from the band that this is an early version of a song that went on to become something completely different. The Lightyears agreed after a listen that the tune was rocking. Thanks to the guys for giving us the exclusive track, ‘Inside Job’.”

In fact, “Inside Job” was a re-working of “We Keep The Beat Alive” from our 2005 album Mission Creep. It eventually became the track “That Was Us”, which features on our 2009 album London, England (click here to visit the LYs shop where both albums are available now priced £4 and £5 respectively).

“Milkboy Live Vol. 1” is available now for $7 (around £4.80) from the Milkboy website – click here to visit the store. You can also purchase it as a download from iTunes.

Blog and pictures now online from American Tour

Last week The Lightyears returned from a week-long tour in the USA. To find out more about what the boys got up to on the East Coast, visit the BLOG page for the first instalment of Chris Lightyear’s USA Tour Diary. An album of photos has also been published in the LYs Gallery.  

The band were based in New York where they performed at the Time Out “Back To School Blowout” in Union Square, at Pianos on the Lower East Side and at the McKibbin Lofts in Brooklyn. The band also made a trip out to Philadelphia mid-way through to headline at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. 

Keep your eyes peeled for more USA content on its way soon, including an LY-TV “New York Special” and a guest blog charting the band’s adventures from an American’s perspective.

Plans are already afoot to return to the United States within the next few months. Watch this space for updates!

Milkboy Coffee – Ardmore, PA – 17/09/08

The LYs return to their favourite venue on the East Coast – the legendary Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore. The band’s previous shows here have all sold out – so grab your tickets now while you still can! Follow ticket link below.

Tickets on sale for Pennsylvania show

Tickets have just gone on sale for The Lightyears’ headline show at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday 17 September.

The band’s previous gigs at Milkboy have all sold out so you’d be advised to get your tickets early – visit the Milkboy website to grab yours whilst they’re hot…

And, just because we’re feeling charitable, the LYs’ shows in New York this September are all totally free to attend. The Time Out Back To School Blowout, presented in association with Virgin, is a four-hour event in Union Square with bands a-plenty and all kinds of wacky shenanigans going on, including live comedy from the Gotham Comedy Club. If you’re a student you can also take advantage of a bucket-load of free giveaways from participating vendors. Check the Back To School Blowout website for more info.

You can also catch the band for free at Pianos, Lower East Side, on Tuesday 16 September. The LYs will be forming one half of the venue’s legendary Cross-Pollination night, where two acts (who have, in many cases, never met) collaborate in a one-off jamming session. Joining the boys on the night will be California’s Chris & Thomas.

This autumn’s tour represents the band’s third visit to the United States. Read up on The Lightyears’ 2006/07 American adventures in Chris Lightyear’s International Tour Blog.