News
Chris Lightyear to star in Body Gossip premiere
25 March 2009
I have been asked to star alongside a cast of celebrities in the world premiere of revolutionary theatre event Body Gossip this Sunday 29 March at The Hub in King’s Cross.
The Lightyears will be performing after the show – including a batch of new songs not yet heard live – but in addition to this I will be donning my theatre hat to join Anne Diamond, Big Brother’s Nikki Grahame, Mikyla Dodd (A.K.A. “The Fat Girl From Hollyoaks”) and more besides in dramatising monologues written by real people about their thoughts on, and experiences with, body image.
This Sunday’s launch event sold out several weeks ago; however, if you missed out this time, never fear – plans are afoot for repeat events in the future.
Visit the Body Gossip website for more information.
It’s rather important at this stage that I point out at that, yes, this does technically make me a celebrity now. However, I won’t let my new status as disgustingly famous affect me as a person. Please, if you see me in the street, don’t shy away. Don’t feel intimidated by my presence. Come and ask for an autograph. Yes, there is a chance I will strike you down for wasting my time, but imagine if I don’t! What a thrill that would be for you.
Lightyears invited back to Cape Town
4 March 2009
We’ve just heard that the organisers of the Cape Town Tens Rugby Tournament we headlined in February would like to us to return to South Africa in February 2010 to play at next year’s event.
The South African tour was one of our best yet and we completely fell for the place. Cape Town’s a beautiful city and the crowds really knew how to party!
This year marked the first-ever Cape Town Tens tournament and the weekend was a roaring success. Plans are afoot for an even bigger event next year.
To catch up on what we got up to in South Africa, click here to read Part One of my South African tour diary. Part Two coming soon…
Part One of South African tour diary now online
2 March 2009
We returned home from our first-ever tour to South Africa a couple of weeks ago, tanned, refreshed and feeling ever-so-slightly pleased with ourselves. If you fancy finding out what we got up to out there, click here to visit the Tour Diary page and read Part One of my South African memoirs.
It’s all there – tales of hire-car high jinks, unruly Norwegian bikers and livin’ it up Cape Town style.
For the media’s thoughts and opinions on our performances in Cape Town, click here to visit our “Quotes & Press” page.
Keep your eyes peeled on the LYs site over the coming week for Parts Two and Three!
LYs to headline at world premiere of “Body Gossip”
23 February 2009
On Sunday 29 March we’re returning to the London scene for a headline performance at the launch of Body Gossip, a celebrity-endorsed theatre event examining the effects of the “size zero” phenomenon on the nation’s sense of body image.
The show is taking place at The Hub in King’s Cross – an exciting new venue which describes itself as “a global community of people from every profession, background and culture working at ‘new frontiers’ to tackle the world’s most pressing social, cultural and environmental challenges”.
The brainchild of actress and BBC presenter Ruth Rogers, Body Gossip will comprise 15 real life stories, gathered together from the winning entries of a national writing competition, performed for one night only by a celebrity cast that includes Anne Diamond, Big Brother’s Nikki Grahame and supermodel Jen Hunter. We’ll be hitting the stage once the theatre is finished.
Body Gossip kicks off at 7pm; tickets cost £20. Buy yours soon as this event will sell out!
Click here for full details – timings, maps etc.
Click here to find out more about Body Gossip.
South African media praises The Lightyears
18 February 2009
Our recent tour to South Africa was one of the highlights of our careers so far. The gigs were superb, the crowds were incredibly receptive and, most importantly, the food blew my mind. 😉
Due to the interest surrounding our release of the song “Johannesburg”, as well as our status as INDY Award winners and our previous international touring adventures worldwide, we attracted quite a bit of press attention whilst we were out there. Follow the links below to read more:
“The Lightyears have crafted a moving indie-pop slow song in Johannesburg…” (read more)
THE ARGUS, CAPE TOWN
“Johannesburg, with it’s strummed acoustic guitars and surprisingly uplifting chorus, appears to be hitting the right notes with locals…” (read more)
iAFRICA.COM
“The real stars of day one, though, are English band The Lightyears, who’ve flown in from London to play the tournament, and blow the marquee apart with a roaring display that sees four encores, and has the police sent to check noise levels dancing in the crowd…” (read more)
RUGBY365.COM
“When The Lightyears hit the stage after Saturday’s rugby and played that first song, I thought the roof of the beer tent was going to fly off! It was without doubt the best party I have ever been to in my life…” (read more)
ROBBIE FLECK, FORMER SA INTERNATIONAL, INTERVIEWED AT CAPETOWNTENS.COM
“The Lightyears are an internationally-renowned pop-rock band…”
PEOPLE’S POST, CAPE TOWN
“The best band in the world!”
BOBBY SKINSTAD, FORMER SPRINGBOK CAPTAIN
Lightyears rock Cape Town
13 February 2009
We arrived back in the UK a few days ago after one of our most successful tours yet – South Africa ’09.
All the usual adventures were had, stages were rocked, mountains were climbed (literally) and beaches were stormed. We headlined at the first-ever Cape Town Tens Rugby Tournament on 7 and 8 February in front of a crowd of thousands, and the gigs were definitely amongst the best we’ve ever done. Tournament host Robbie Fleck – a man who has won 31 caps for the South African rugby team – commented: “When The Lightyears hit the stage after Saturday’s rugby and played that first song, I thought the roof of the beer tent was going to fly off! It was without doubt the best party I have ever been to in my life.”
Click here to read the rest of Robbie’s reactions to the 2009 CT Tens.
Fleck’s co-host Bobby Skinstad, former national rugby captain and all-round sporting legend, described us as “the best band in the world”, which I guess is about as high an accolade as you can get!
We’ll be posting all kinds of media from the tour on the site over the coming weeks – press articles, photos, blogs and so on – so watch this space for updates.
And thanks to everyone who made this tour possible – we had the time of our lives.
Download new LYs song “Johannesburg” – for free
29 January 2009
Ahead of our upcoming tour to South Africa, we’ve just recorded a new song entitled “Johannesburg” – and it can be yours, right now, for free.
All you need to do is sign up to The Lightyears mailing list and we’ll give you a copy of the song for nothing. Free music! It’s crazy-bonkers!
You can get your free copy by adding your email address to the box on the right.
You know us, we like to make a fuss when we visit a new country and we’re particularly excited about the South African tour. The serendipity of having just written a new song named after the country’s capital seemed too good to ignore and so we knew we had to get into the studio and lay it down as soon as the trip was confirmed.
Click here to read my blog about the story behind “Johannesburg”.
LYs to play to thousands in Cape Town
28 January 2009
We’ve just got the finer details through about our upcoming gigs in Cape Town, South Africa – and it looks like we’ll be playing to a crowd of thousands!
We’re headlining at the after-parties for the Cape Town Tens Rugby Tournament and the organisers expect 2000+ people to turn up for the festivities.
The events are taking place at Hamilton RFC, South Africa’s oldest rugby club – situated, fittingly, in the shadow of Green Point Stadium, a brand new complex currently being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Full details can be found at the Cape Town Tens website.
Oh, and the team at CT Tens are very kindly putting us up in the magnificent Table Bay Hotel, which I’m personally very excited about. Table Bay Hotel is, unsurprisingly, in Table Bay – overlooked by the world-famous Table Mountain. Marvellous.
Lightyears to tour to South Africa
21 January 2009
Get ready for the latest instalment in our grand plan to conquer the world – next week we are leaving British soil for Cape Town, South Africa.
We’ve been booked to headline at the Cape Town Tens Rugby Tournament on 7 and 8 February and we’re mighty excited about it.
Click here to read the Cape Town Tens’ article on the band.
This is our first trip to SA and also represents the fourth continent ticked off our To-Do list – Europe, Asia, North America and Africa down, just South America, Australasia and Antarctica still to go. You can read up on our global adventures thus far by visiting my Tour Diary page.
We’re heading off next Thursday for a few days on the beach before the “work” side of things kicks in, so we’ll be sure to keep in touch with you guys whenever we can with news of our various adventures. Whilst we’re out there promoting our own songs we’ll be throwing some old favourites into the mix too for singalong value and so we’re taking little Johnny Owens along with us to fill in on bass duties. Even Danny Lightyear, our mohican-ed soundman, will be leaving the confines of Watlington, Oxfordshire, and beasting up Cape Town like there’s no tomorrow.
Watch this space for news from SA!
nb. LYs trivia moment – we make reference to a South African friend of ours in the first verse of Emily: “Oh, today I got a man from SA – he’s got a lot to learn and I’ve got plenty to say”. In fact we’ll be hooking up with him in Cape Town. That’s poetry for ya.
First reviews of “London, England”
19 January 2009
The first reviews of the new album are beginning to trickle in from various sources.
Irish national music magazine State gave it four out of five stars, proclaiming that “in a world of passing fashion, fake credibility and media hype, The Lightyears are able to stand out for all the right reasons”.
Click here to read State’s review of London, England.
Following the publicity in State, the Dublin-based radio station Phantom FM reviewed the album on air on Friday afternoon. Phil Udell described the band as “Babyshambles without the drugs – and with better manners”.
Click here to listen to Phantom FM’s review of London, England.
The all-powerful blogging scene is also beginning to pick up on the release and early reviews have recently come in from the Canada-based blog BestInBritishMusic and dualling indie critics Monkton Vs Plankton.
“London, England is a great upbeat album – and a surefire way to beat those winter blues…” BESTINBRITISHMUSIC, CANADA
Click here to read BestInBritishMusic’s review of London, England.
“2009 has been generous to us so far, with great new albums from Animal Collective and Franz Ferdinand. London, England is further proof that this might just be the year that keeps on giving…” MONKTON VS PLANKTON
Click here to read Monkton Vs Plankton’s review of London, England.
