Andrew Phillips

A band from Lincoln will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall on 10 November as part of the Schools Proms 2014.

Local pop/folk band The Pylons is made up of five talented young musicians aged 16 to 18, all studying at William Farr School.

They were first discovered by BBC Introducing, and as a result have played a number of festivals this summer including Beat Herder Festival, Y Not Festival and Galtres Parklands Festival.

Lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Barney Alexander said: “We’ve been a band for about a year and we’ve had a very exciting summer going to loads of festivals.

“We played the BBC Introducing stage, Beat Herder Festival, Y Not Festival and Galtres Parklands Festival. We’ve been trying to do as many festivals as we can to gain more experience.

“We have also produced our first EP and we have another one coming out soon”

The band have had a fantastic summer, even rubbing shoulders with top musicians including solo artist Newton Faulkner.

Trumpet and backing vocalist Joe Davies said: “We chilled out with Newton Faulkner who was just sat outside his tour bus; he even watched us perform. We also played football with a band called Amber Run and we got chatting to many inspiring musicians.”

Despite these highlights, their biggest gig is yet to come: they will be performing at the Albert Hall this November. Barney explained how they got such a incredible opportunity:

“It’s with an event called Music for Youth; we did the regional festival in Boston and it went down really well. Then we got asked to do the National festival in Birmingham but we weren’t too thrilled with our performance. 

“We knew the Albert Hall was the next step but we didn’t expect to get that far. Then we got a call to say we were playing at the Albert Hall, it was a brilliant moment and we can’t wait.”

The local band are enjoying great success and have even racked up 100,000 views on Youtube for their songs Shadows and The Race.  

The band say they are looking forward to next summers’ festivals, and the new challenges next year brings.

Their next gig is at The West End Tap in Lincoln on September 13 for people who want to see them live before they go to the Albert Hall.

The Pylons’ EP, Sun, is available to download from iTunes now.

To find out more about the band visit their Facebook and Twitter pages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5SN7ov22a8

The popular Lincoln BIG Ice Rink will return to City Square this winter, and will welcome skaters from November 29 until December 31.

Last year, the Lincoln BIG Ice Rink proved to be a great success with thousands showing off their skating skills, including professional skaters Kelly Hemingway and Neil Chilcott, who opened rink.

The ice rink, which is closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day, will otherwise operate from 10am to 9pm daily – with the last skating session starting at 8pm.

The penguin skating supports will also be returning with specialised sessions for the younger members of the family – although older siblings, parents and grandparents can all join in the fun.

The 25m by 15m rink will be staging events where local businesses, community groups and clubs can hire the space at a reduced rate and re-sell tickets for their sessions.

Lincoln Ice Rink ticket prices

This year, ticket prices for the rink will remain the same as in 2013.

At peak periods, child/concessions are £5.50, adults are £7.50 and group tickets are also available. Off peak prices will be a discount of a pound.

Lincoln Ice Rink by the numbers

• Around 20,000 people come to skate at the Lincoln ice rink each year
• It takes 10 days to build the ice rink so it’s ready to skate on
• This will be the seventh time the ice rink has been in Lincoln over Christmas
• The first Lincoln ice rink was held in 2005
• In 2010 Lincoln was affected by a snow storm, but that didn’t keep people from skating on the ice rink
• One hour skating burns around 500 calories, so it’s not a bad way to help with the Christmas indulgence!