News

First Glastonbury slot confirmed

The Lightyears’ first Glastonbury slot has been confirmed as Friday 27 June at 10.30pm on the Small World Stage. The band will also be appearing on the Green Fuse Stage – date and time T.B.C.

The LYs first played Glastonbury Festival back in 2005, turning up at the gates with instruments on their backs and the intention of blagging a gig wherever they could find one. This cavalier approach turned into a 3-gig residency at The Strange Fruit Cafe, where the band played to packed houses and filled up enthusiastically on chickpea curry.

The following year saw The Lightyears’ first appearance in the official Glastonbury Festival programme ahead of a gig on the Small World Stage in the Greenfields. This year, the Small World Stage have asked them back and Green Fuse, a stage that is in fact run by the original team behind the Strange Fruit Cafe, are hosting the band’s opening show at Glasto 2008.

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.

The Lightyears featured in today’s Guardian newspaper

The Lightyears are featured in The Guardian today following their recent collaboration with The Voyager School in Peterborough on building links between professional musicians and arts education.

A few months ago, the LYs were invited to become artists-in-residence at the Voyager, and this partnership has since seen them working closely with the school choir, the local primary choirs and also members of the wider Peterborough community.

This collaboration has led to the release in two weeks’ time of a charity single for Peterborough United Football Club, raising money for the Free Kicks Foundation.



See page 27 in the education section of today’s Guardian or click here for the online version.

Lightyears to play Glastonbury Festival 2008



The Lightyears have just been booked to play Glastonbury Festival 2008. The band will be appearing on the Small World Stage – exact date and time T.B.C.

The Small World Stage is situated in the Greenfields – the area known as “the soul of Glastonbury Festival – where traditional skills and new ways of thinking combine in an explosion of creativity”. The Greenfields also represents the original site of the Pilton Festival, from whence came the mighty musical spectacular we all know today as Glastonbury.

Small World is eco-friendly and powered by the sun – check out the website here. 

Lightyears make INDY Awards short-list



Thanks to your support in the recent public vote, The Lightyears have been selected as one of four finalists in the BEST POP ACT category at the 2008 INDY Awards.



Winners will be announced at the gala ceremony at The Forum in Kentish Town on Friday 25 April. The band will be in attendance and it’d be great to get as many LYs fans along as possible for moral support! Tickets cost £10 and are available from the INDY Awards website (includes award presentation, performances from short-listed acts and after-show party).



For a full list of finalists in all 24 categories, visit www.IndyAwards.co.uk.


New album underway

Over the past fortnight, the LYs have been beavering away in the studio recording a new album, due for release later this year.

Following their collaboration with the state-of-the-art Voyager School in Peterborough, The Lightyears have been lucky enough to gain access to The Voyager Recording Studio in order to record a full-length album for release later this year. Shelve all your pre-conceptions of school studios – this place is fully equipped and designed for professional usage, on top of its function as a teaching resource.  

This has allowed the band the freedom to experiment extensively and work closely on getting the right studio sound whilst retaining a flavour of the energy of Lightyears live shows. The album will contain a mix of new, unheard tracks and familiar LYs tunes.

Catch up on the news in Chris’ studio tour blog. Studio photos coming soon to the Lightyears Gallery.

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.



Lightyears to play Astoria 2



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…


Lightyears to return to Asia

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 return to Dublin


The Lightyears are playing at the launch for new Irish music magazine STATE at the Old Jameson Brewery in Dublin next Tuesday 4 March.



You can check out the State website here. The first issue is out this month with REM’s Michael Stipe looking resplendent on the front cover.



This event is by invite only.


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