london

Have we been played?

13 March 2009

 

Last week Michael Jackson came out of hiding to announce that he was playing ten shows at the 02 Arena. These were to be his last ever performances in London. This is it, everybody said.

This is it, at least, aside from the other forty gigs that were later added to meet the enormous demand for tickets.

Even once you set aside the question of whether the lovable old fruitcake will actually make it to show number 50, consider this – have we been played? Surely they knew all along there’d be more than ten concerts. In hindsight, wasn’t the whole “This is it” schtick just a clever ploy to sway the floating voters?

By which I mean that, whilst MJ has a legion of loyal fans over here who would spend their life savings to watch him perform in a swamp, the promoters must have also realised that there was a large portion of the public who might go either way – casual of fans of his music (for who in the WORLD isn’t at the very least a casual fan of Michael Jackson?) who had asked the inevitable question “Will it be any good? Will it not just be a bit like watching a marionette operated by a one-armed stroke victim?”. 

Scarcity, as we know, drives up demand. The dudes sitting on the fence were given a cunning nudge in the right direction: “Well, I wasn’t that bothered about going to see him until I discovered there were only ten shows and he’d never be playing London again. I have to get tickets now. I mean, come on, this is IT! ”

As I write I am currently trying, and failing, to secure my tickets to see the King in the flesh. Maybe it was never meant to be for me.

If only “Jim’ll Fix It” was still around.

Chris Lightyear

News from The Cape…

4 February 2009

Here’s something I’ve discovered about journalists in South Africa – they’re extremely diligent. I’ve been interviewed by a few local writers over the past couple of days and every one of them had done extensive homework on the band. In fact, the guy I spoke to yesterday knew things about us I’d forgotten myself!

On the subject of press attention, iAfrica – the country’s biggest web portal with 5.7 million hits per month – has just run an article on us on the front page of their music section.

Read iAfrica’s article on the band by clicking here.

Tony made it over here against all the odds. With Heathrow at a virtual standstill, 800 flights were cancelled on Monday and only six left the runway. His plane was the sixth. Extraordinary. As a result, he joined us on the beach this morning for a game of Touch Rugby and you couldn’t wipe the grin off his face if you tried.

We’ve got a gig tonight at the Speedway 105 Cafe. This has been attracting a fair bit of press attention and will hopefully get us some reviews over the coming days. We’ve got a feature coming up in The Cape Argus on Saturday, which is great news as it’s one of Cape Town’s most widely-read daily papers. 

Oh, and as for you guys back home, building snowmen and jingling all the way, I have to say that in a way it’s a shame we’ve missed London’s biggest snowstorm in 20 years. Thing is though, we’ve become so accustomed to the sun that I think the extremity of the climate would probably have killed us. The peculiar Snow-Vs-Sand dichotomy that separates our hometown from our current location was underlined for me yesterday when we passed a lamp-post in the street bearing foreign headlines. The sign, framed by a stunning blue sky and a beaming South African sun, bore three simple words: “SNOW SHUTS LONDON”.

Funny old world, eh?!

Chris Lightyear

Lightyears complete new album “London, England”

23 December 2008

Tony turning up for Day One of recording back in March!It’s been nine months since we first set foot in the Voyager Studio to begin work on our second full-length album – and as 2008 draws to a close, we can now announce that the record is finished!  

The ten-track album is called London, England and features familiar tracks “This House Will Burn”, “Filmstar” and “She’s The One” along with lesser-heard material such as “England”, “I’m Not” and “Firefly”. We’re also very excited to reveal that it will include the tracks we recorded last year with Hugh Padgham, “Sleepless” and “Emily”. Hugh has worked with countless great artists such as Sting & The Police, Genesis, Paul McCartney and David Bowie, won four Grammys and sold over 50 million records – so we’re incredibly honoured to have his work on our album.

We’re really proud of the record and can’t wait for you guys to hear it. London, England will be released in the New Year – watch this space for updates!

Our Top 20 Moments Of 2008

23 December 2008

George, Danny, Tony & Chris at the 2008 INDY AwardsSo, 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

Win FREE TICKETS to The Lightyears @ “No One Died”

26 May 2008

The band’s next London show is at the famed No One Died club night at The Enterprise opposite Chalk Farm tube station. The LYs will be headlining and the night also features a live performance from Marcel and DJ sets from The Camden Slags, iRod and Might Marvin Martin.

No One Died has a history of selling out so buying in advance is recommended (tickets are available here). Alternatively, social networking website M3 are giving away 12 pairs of free tickets for the gig. To enter the draw you need to be an M3 user; visit www.m3mob.com for details. Offer ends Wednesday 4 June.   

This will also be The Lightyears’ last club gig in London until the autumn. So don’t miss out…!

Lightyears to play Astoria 2

24 March 2008



The Lightyears are to play their debut at Soho’s world-famous Astoria 2 on Friday 4 April.



LA2 is one of London’s best-loved venues, situated in the heart of London on Charing Cross Road (a one-minute walk from Tottenham Court Road tube). Its illustrious rock ‘n’ roll heritage has included gigs by Iggy Pop, Primal Scream, Moby and Metallica.



Tickets are £6 in advance and available here.

…And thanks to everyone who made it down to the Grand on Friday night! Never has a Lightyears gig been so drenched in confetti…


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