london road stadium

Buy your tickets for LYs at Wembley Stadium

We are playing Wembley Stadium this Saturday 12 September. Also appearing are Diversity, winners of Britain’s Got Talent. Tickets are just £10 – buy yours now by clicking here!

**THE LIGHTYEARS ARE ONSTAGE AT 1.30PM**. Gates open at 12.30pm.  Make sure you get there nice and early because Wembley’s a very tight ship and will definitely run on time.

For this criminally small investment you will also get top-class rugby in the form of a Guinness Premiership rugby match (Saracens Vs Northampton Saints), a tug of war, camel racing and all kinds of shenanigans. What a bargain.

Click here to read about our last stadium gig, performing for Manchester United at London Road Stadium.

See you there!

Stadium gig this Saturday

We’ve just been invited back to London Road Stadium to play in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,000 people this Saturday afternoon before the Peterborough United Vs Swindon match. 

Peterborough United, who were promoted last May from League Two, have just achieved a consecutive promotion and so next season will be playing in the Championship. They wanted a party atmosphere and so they called on us! And we shall deliver.

We have an interesting history with PUFC, A.K.A. “The Posh”, with whom we released a charity single last year in aid of local organisation Free Kicks, which sets up days out in sport for sick and disadvantaged the children. The single raised a ton of cash and even reached #45 in the iTunes Plus Top 100. We were then invited to perform at the closing match of the season and, subsequently, at a pre-season friendly against Manchester United a few months later. Click here to read up on our adventures at Posh on the Tour Diary page.

We are already in talks with the club with regard to playing in the stadium more regularly during the ’09-’10 season. Watch this space for updates…

And congratulations to the Posh for a second promotion in a row!

Our Top 20 Moments Of 2008

So, as 2008 draws to a close, I thought I’d send out a festive greeting to all our fans. Y’know, kinda like The Queen’s Speech.

2008 has been an unpredictable year. We’ve never known quite where we’re gonna end up from one month to another but it’s been a pretty exciting ride all told. 

We have big plans for 2009. Our new album “London, England” is coming out in the New Year and we have a feeling you’re gonna like it! Plus next year is gonna be all about you – the fans – and we’ll be spending our time creating music, media and all manner of delectable treats intended for your voracious consumption. More about that after Christmas… 

In the meantime, we’d like to thank Lightyears fans everywhere for your continuing support of the band. Wherever you are and whoever you’re with, have a disgracefully Merry Christmas and a calamitous New Year.

In the meantime, here are our Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Of 2008:

1. Performing at London Road stadium to thousands of people (twice!)
    
2. Being played on XFM
3. Being name-checked in The Guardian newspaper
4. Selling out The Troubadour
5. Performing in front of Barry Fry and the Mayor of Peterborough
6. Reaching #45 in the iTunes Plus Top 100 with charity single “Posh We Are”
7. Touring to Ireland to play at the launch of national music magazine State
8. Making the short-list for Best Pop Act at the INDY Awards
    
9. Presenting the award for Best Female Solo Act at the INDYs alongside Feargal Sharkey and Mike Rutherford
10. Playing London Astoria 2
11. Drinking a toast in a Korean jacuzzi at 7am after one of the best gigs of our lives
    
    
12. Performing twice at Glastonbury Festival
13. Supporting the Mystery Jets at a packed Barfly
     
14. Fans at Brightlingsea Festival singing all our lyrics back to us on a hot August evening
     
15. Flying Business Class to New York!
16. Headlining the Time Out Festival in Union Square, Manhattan
     
17. Releasing our EP “At Midnight” in the USA and being nominated as “Single Of The Day” at Amie Street
18. Filming a music video for “Obama Republic“
19. Recording our new album “London, England”
20. Buying a bitchin’ new van!

Here’s to 2009!

Chris Lightyear

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 can most effectively prevent clover from colonising one’s lawn.

Each to their own, I suppose.

***************************

So, the stage was set, we’d assembled all our gear on the centre-circle and kick-off was due in just under two hours. The match was a pre-season friendly between the newly promoted Peterborough United and European Champions Manchester United.

We were keeping our instrument cases in the bowels of the stadium and, as we carried them through the labyrinthine corridors beneath the terraces, we passed a familiar-looking figure deep in conversation on his mobile.

It was Man United boss Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in English football history. Alex Ferguson! Using a mobile phone! Like a normal person! Unbelievable. I wonder who he was on the phone to? Probably the Queen, or Steven Spielberg. People often claim that well-known celebrities look smaller when you meet them in real life, although in this case I felt the opposite was true. He’s a big man, is Fergie. Quite an imposing presence. I briefly considered trying to engage him in conversation about St Mirren (St Mirren are the football team I support – a not-particularly-successful Scottish outfit with the dubious claim-to-fame of being the only club ever to have sacked Ferguson) but, as he seemed busy, I decided against it.

In the Peterborough FC office we checked the stadium’s computer system, which keeps a running count of exactly how many people have come through the turnstiles. The gates had only been open a few minutes but there was already a steady trickle of fans starting to fill the terraces. The tally was growing speedily and during the latter part of our set we would be playing to a near sell-out crowd.

When it hit 6.30 and the place was starting to fill up a bit, we took to the stage (well, I say “stage” – it’s not often that our stage has turf) and busted out She’s The One, This House Will Burn and Beat Alive. The set seemed to be going down really well and the stadium was getting busier by the minute. We were playing Sleepless as the Peterborough team emerged from the tunnel and we followed this with a couple of stirring, high-energy covers – Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now and Jerry Lee’s Great Balls Of Fire. 

Man Utd appeared next and, I have to say, I found it a bit depressing that the cheer they elicited from the crowd entirely dwarfed the one we’d just heard for the home side. Such is the nature of United’s monopoly over world football, they can visit pretty much any town in the UK and outnumber the home fans. Rooney was ill and Ronaldo injured (for “injured” read “sunning himself up in St Tropez in a pair of tiny silver pants”) but otherwise Fergie was fielding virtually his first team. So, as we unleashed a hearty rendition of our penultimate song, Emily, the world’s most famous football team trained beside us. Rio Ferdinand was on the pitch, along with Carlos Tevez, and Dutch keeper Van Der Saar was waiting on the sidelines. Funnily enough this was not the first time we had crossed paths with Van Der Saar, as around this time last year we found ourselves eating breakfast next to him and the rest of the Dutch international team when we shared a hotel with them during the Korean tour [n.b. one day I hope to be able to name-drop people who aren’t football players – you know, Sting perhaps, or Alice Cooper – but, until then, Van Der Saar will have to do].

We finished on a cover of The Fratellis’ Chelsea Dagger, which got everyone going, and left the pitch to resounding applause from a 12,000-strong crowd. This, let me tell you, is quite a feeling. Backstage we were paid a quick visit by Barry Fry, Director Of Football at Peterborough FC and one of Tony’s personal heroes. The kick-off had been delayed by quarter of an hour and Barry explained that this was due to a few thousand fans who were still piling over the bridge on their way into the stadium. “They heard you boys playing and ran like billy-o to get inside and ‘ave a listen” he chuckled. Good old Bazza. 

Anyway, despite putting up an admirable fight, underdogs Peterborough eventually lost 2-0 to the Reds. Not too shabby, since many people were expecting a thrashing. 

So, with stadiums out the way, there’s only one direction to go in – amphitheatres. I’m thinking the Colesseum, perhaps, or the Hollywood Bowl. No point in doing things by halves.   

Chris Lightyear

London Road Stadium – Peterborough, Cambridgeshire – 04/08/08

How was it for us?

Our second stadium gig – and it was a cracker!

We met Alex Ferguson and played Emily as Rio Ferdinand and the rest of the Man Utd team trained around us. Bizarre – but brilliant.

We played for about 45 minutes and by the time we finished there were nearly 12,000 people watching us. Which is a few more than you can fit in The Troubadour. 

For the big picture, check out my stadium blog and Episode #4 of LY-TV. 

Chris Lightyear

How was it for you?

Were you there? Got an opinion? Want to write a review? Hit the comments box at the foot of the page.

Gig Details

Tickets are no longer on sale for this event.

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 here.

The Lightyears have a long-standing relationship with Peterborough United following their collaboration with the club on the charity single release of Posh We Are (the PUFC anthem) back in May. The song reached #45 in the iTunes Plus Top 100 Chart.

The Posh were promoted at the end of the 07/08 season and the buzz this created has enabled them to schedule in pre-season friendlies with some of the country’s top clubs including West Ham and, of course, Man Utd.

This is an opportunity for LYs fans to hear a half-hour set of the band’s most familiar tunes played in a stadium setting to a crowd of approaching 10,000 people – surrounded by some of the most famous footballers in the world!

If you’re planning to come along, be aware that this match will sell out quickly. Tickets are on sale now from www.ThePosh.com.

Go on. Come and see Ronaldo kick a football at Tony’s head. Priceless.

Lightyears to play to stadium crowd

This week The Lightyears have released a charity single with Peterborough United – and the band will be promoting the release with a gig in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,000 people at London Road Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Charity record “Posh We Are” is a re-working of the club’s 1973 anthem and is available now on download from iTunes and Napster. All proceeds from the song will go to sports charity Free Kicks.

To purchase the song visit www.PoshWeAre.co.uk or download it directly from iTunes here.

The song is currently charting in The iTunes Plus Top 100 at Number 45.

Lightyears to release charity record

At the end of April The Lightyears are releasing a charity record in collaboration with Peterborough United (A.K.A. “The Posh”). The single is a re-working of the team’s anthem Posh We Are and all profits will go to the Free Kicks Foundation, which organises days out in sport for sick and disadvantaged children.



The new version of Posh We Are, written by Peterborough fans Brian Paine and Tony Pickering in 1973, has been arranged and performed by The Lightyears and also features hundreds of voices from the local community – including Peterborough United players, Posh fans, The Voyager School choir and the Voyager U14 football team. The Posh are currently top of League 2 and if the team win this Saturday then promotion is guaranteed. Local press have shown huge interest in the project and this has created a city-wide buzz.

The Lightyears and 250 students from The Voyager School will be performing the song in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,000 people at London Road Stadium on the last day of the season (Saturday 3 May).



This release represents the pilot project for a brand-new initiative called Sparks. Sparks is a collaboration between professional musicians, education and local communities that is responding directly to recent changes in both the music industry and the education system. The project has been making waves in government, education and media circles for several months now and an article in The Guardian, covering The Lightyears’ work with Sparks, is due for publication within the coming fortnight. Details to follow.



Find out more at www.TheSparksProject.com. 



Posh We Are will be available for download from numerous major digital outlets from Monday 28 April. Watch this space for updates.