queen’s birthday ball

South Korean tour draws to a close

2 June 2011

The Lightyears onstage in South KoreaA few days ago we returned from a tour in Seoul, South Korea, where we were headlining at The Queen’s Birthday Ball – the highlight of the city’s ex-pat social calendar.

This was our sixth year performing at the QBB and, as always, all the stops were pulled out for an evening of fine food, outlandish decor and wild merriment.

2011’s theme was Alice In Wonderland, which very much accounts for why Tony could be found running around Insadong at four o’clock in the morning brandishing an enormous polystyrene mushroom. Actually, having said that, there’s no excuse for behaviour of that sort. But at least now the people of Seoul know why it happened.

Ahoy there matey! It’s those pesky LYs…

9 June 2010

On Saturday night we performed for Her Majesty’s Ambassador and six hundred esteemed guests at The Queen’s BIrthday Ball in Seoul, South Korea. The theme for the evening was classic 1930s cruise ship glamour, and in honour of this
This is definitely the most unusual stage we’ve played on. I mean, we’ve done some bizarre gigs (that crèche we headlined at in Peterborough springs immediately to mind, along with the cow shed in Belgium – complete with massive cow) but emerging from inside a cruise-liner bearing the legend “Queen Elizabeth” definitely takes the biscuit.
After the show I had a chat with the lady behind the idea and she explained she’d had many sleepless nights worrying about how the ship would turn out when it appeared on the day. She said that it had ended up being much bigger than she’d anticipated. I replied that she should thank her lucky stars – at least it didn’t come out unexpectedly tiny. They could have had a serious case of Stonehenge on their hands (a la the famous scene in Spinal Tap in which a mix-up over feet and inches results in the dramatic lowering onto the stage of a model of Stonehenge so small that “it was in danger of being crushed by the dwarves”).
This happened to us once. Years ago we got our first big gig at a festival supporting The Levellers. which had turned out to be just slightly larger than a pair of men’s pants. At least pants could conceivably have been read as an anarchic gesture. This just looked like a failed art A-level project.

Suddenly, the reason we never joined the navy becomes painfully clear.On Saturday night we performed for Her Majesty’s Ambassador and six hundred esteemed guests at The Queen’s Birthday Ball in Seoul, South Korea. The theme for the evening was classic 1930s cruise ship glamour and, in honour of this, we performed our set inside an enormous scale model of  a vintage seafaring vessel, which opened up dramatically to reveal us inside.

This is definitely the most unusual stage we’ve played on. I mean, we’ve done some bizarre gigs (that crèche we headlined at in Peterborough springs immediately to mind, along with the cow shed in Belgium) but emerging from inside a cruise-liner bearing the legend “Queen Elizabeth” definitely takes the biscuit.

After the show I had a chat with the lady behind the idea and she explained she’d had many sleepless nights worrying about how the ship would turn out when it appeared on the day. She said that it had ended up being much bigger than she’d anticipated. I replied that she should thank her lucky stars – at least it didn’t come out unexpectedly tiny. They could have had a serious case of Stonehenge on their hands (for reference, see the famous scene in Spinal Tap in which a mix-up over feet and inches results in the dramatic lowering onto the stage of a model of Stonehenge so small that “it was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf”).

This happened to us once. Years ago we got our first big gig at a festival supporting The Levellers. Keen to make the most of the exposure, we had a banner made bearing our name and website address. In our innocence we decided that three-feet long by one-foot wide would be a sufficient size for the job, although when we picked up the banner from the shop and unwrapped it from its little sheath, it turned out to be only slightly larger than a pair of men’s pants. At least if we’d hung pants on the stage this could conceivably have been read as an anarchic gesture.

Note to self: in rock ‘n’ roll, bigger is always better…

The Things We Do For The Queen

11 June 2009

It's funny how enough crystal-meth can make anybody smileWhen asked to perform an a cappella, barbershop-inspired medley of classic British seaside songs, most indie-rock bands would respond in the following manner: “Are you crazy? Of course not. We are enigmatic, sexual beings. We are totemic idols for the baying masses. We want to be revered the world over for our raw, lithe magnetism. Never would we jeopardise the integrity of our reputation with such foolish and trivial japery.”  

The Lightyears, on the other hand, responded something like this: “YIPPEEEEEE!”

And so it was that, two weeks ago in Seoul, South Korea, we found ourselves performing barbershop versions of “Summer Holiday”, “Beautiful Briny Sea” and “I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside” in front of the British Ambassador and over 500 esteemed guests at The Queen’s Birthday Ball dressed in red and white striped blazers, bow ties and boaters. It was quite a spectacle. Expect it to turn up on YouTube sometime in the coming weeks and possibly threaten our entire future in the fickle arena of rock and roll.

Mind you, Chris Martin once said said that “Rock and roll is doing what you want” – and we certainly wanted to do this. It wasn’t easy, but not even the constant threat of nuclear armageddon could throw us off our course. 

Funnily enough, when we arrived home we discovered that, as is so often his habit, Ben Folds had beaten us to it on this occasion. His recent release, entitled “University A Cappella”, features many of his best-loved songs performed live by college a cappella troupes. Very interesting stuff, especially if you’re already a BF fan. Read about it here

And as for us, prancing about in foreign countries dressed up like a cross between Dick Van Dyke and a stick of rock, well, on that matter I have but one thing left to say… Integrity? Schmintegrity.

Sometimes you’ve just got to slap on a candy-striped boater and make like it’s 1924.

Lightyears hit South Korea

24 May 2009

The LYs chilling outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel, SeoulWe’re heading back East this week for our fourth consecutive year headlining at The Queen’s Birthday Ball in Seoul, South Korea. 

The QBB, which takes place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Mount Namsan, is one of the foremost nights on Seoul’s social calendar and regularly attracts over 500 guests. Last year the event raised in excess of 160 million KRW (over £80,000) for Korean charities.

As usual we’ll be taking Johnny Lightyear with us to fill in on bass duties, along with our trusty sound-engineer Danny Morriss who’ll be working his magic on the mixing desk.

Click here to read up on our 2008 adventures in South Korea’s capital.

See you when we get back! 

“The Lightyears – back by popular demand…”
THE SEOUL TIMES, SOUTH KOREA 

“The Lightyears are a bloody good band! They are excellent ambassadors for Britain…”
SIR WARWICK MORRIS, HIS MAJESTY’S AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA

Lightyears invited back to South Korea

27 March 2009

The LYs in South Korea, June '08Following the news that we’ve been invited back to South Africa next year to headline at the international rugby Tens Tournament in Cape Town, we’ve also been asked out to South Korea this June to perform at The Queen’s Birthday Ball in Seoul. 

The QBB is an annual fund-raising venture that takes place at The Grand Hyatt Hotel and consistently raises huge amounts of money for Korean charities. The theme for the event changes every year, with past themes including the Chelsea Flower Show, Phantom Of The Opera and Harry Potter.   

This will be our fourth consecutive year performing at the QBB and we’re honoured to be invited back. Last year’s trip to Korea figured in my Top 50 Moments Of 2008 so we’re hoping to have an equally successful trip this time round!

Click here to read my Korea 2008 tour diary.

“The Lightyears – back once again by popular demand”
THE SEOUL TIMES, SOUTH KOREA

Chris’ Tour Blog: Korea 2008 – online now!

20 June 2008

This year, for the third year running, The Lightyears were invited to headline at The Queen’s Birthday Ball in Seoul, South Korea. Chris Lightyear has documented the trip in his LYs tour blog – read up on the band’s Korean adventures here.

The LYs played two gigs whilst in Seoul this year, the first at a “Meet The Lightyears” evening in Itaewon and the second at the ball itself. The theme for 2008 was Phantom Of The Opera and the event, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Mount Namsan, raised an incredible 160 Million KRW. 

The QBB is organised annually by the hard-working BASS committee in honour of the Queen’s birthday, which I think we can all agree is a wonderfully British thing to do. In excess of 500 people attend every year.

Danny Lightyear was diligently snapping away all week and you can check out his photos by clicking here.

Lightyears to return to Asia

17 March 2008

The Lightyears will be returning to Seoul, South Korea to play The Queen’s Birthday Ball on Saturday 31 May.

The band will also be performing an acoustic gig at The Bungalow in Seoul on Thursday 29 May.

Listen out for details of more Asian touring later in the year…

Lightyears hit the Far East

27 May 2007



In just a few days The Lightyears go on tour to East Asia to headline The Queen’s Birthday Ball at The Grand Hyatt Hotel on Mount Namsan in Seoul, South Korea.



Expect tales of adventure and intrigue on the band’s return…