london games

That’s our bit done – now bring on the sport…

5 July 2012

Peterborough's moment to shine. Unfortunately the sun reneged on its end of the deal.Yesterday afternoon I arrived back in London after our trilogy of Olympic Torch Relay concerts, exceptionally tired but incredibly proud of what everyone has achieved over the last few days.

Tuesday evening kicked off with a rendition of our Olypmic anthem “There With You” to a crowd of thousands on Peterborough Embankment (see photo on the right). We then dashed around to Peterborough Cathedral to perform for the BBC cameras while the torch itself passed by (check out a video by clicking here). Finally, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 5am yesterday to once again serenade the Olympic Torch from the Town Square, and I got a chance to chat live with DJ Paul Stainton from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (click here and scroll through to 25mins 30secs to listen).

All in all, an incredible three days. And certainly the largest unicorn count of any gigs we’ve ever played. Thanks to the many hundreds of children and adults who spent months learning and practising the piece, and then sung their hearts out time after time. You were awesome.

Chris Lightyear

ps. The only slight dampener – other than the rain of course – was that the BBC, despite sending cameras down specifically to film us, decided against screening the performances in the end (apologies to anyone who sat in front of the telly waiting for us!) and word is we were bumped from the One Show by footage of a lost cat in a church. I was a little disappointed about this at first but, on reflection, TV companies do have to make sure they point the media spotlight on the stuff that matters. I mean, how often do the great British public get a chance to look at cats? Exactly – almost never. It’s not like you can just ‘load up YouTube’ and expect cats at the touch of a button.

Lightyears write song for 2012 Olympics

28 March 2012

'Yes! Our tickets for the Women's Competitive Dog Shearing have arrived!'At the end of last year The Lightyears were commissioned to write a song for the London Olympics – and we have penned a track called There With You, due to be performed at the Peterborough leg of the Olympic Torch Relay on Tuesday 3 July.

Peterborough has big plans for its Olympic Torch celebrations, and the performance of There With You promises to be nothing short of spectacular. In addition to The Lightyears, the concert will feature nearly 700 voices, along with 50 drummers to reflect the cultural diversity of the region. More details to come nearer the time!

Visit the Voyager School website to find out more.

Many of you will remember that we have a long-standing relationship with the city of Peterborough, having released charity football single Posh We Are with Peterborough FC and the Voyager School back in 2008. Read more here.