Swanage band Galaxy Thief are set to cap a whirlwind year with a prestigious support slot opening for singer songwriter Jake Bugg at Lighthouse on Monday 11 December.
The four-piece indie rock outfit have already played alongside chart toppers The Hoosiers, Scouting For Girls and Toploader this year, as well as winning through to open for The Streets and Arlo Parks at the famous Pilton Party, Glastonbury Festival’s annual community ‘thank you’ fundraising gig in front of festival founder Michael Eavis.
But the Jake Bugg show at Lighthouse will be the biggest indoor show of their career to date – appearing in the 1500-capacity Concert Hall in what will be the first standing gig at Lighthouse in five years.
“We’re really excited to play one of the biggest concert venues in the area, so thank you to everyone who helped make it happen,” says lead singer Rhys Messenger.
The gig was offered after Lighthouse was asked to nominate a local support band to join Jake Bugg and his tour support. By coincidence, on the day they found out Galaxy Thief had been booked to play Live and Unheard, the venue’s regular grass roots music night.
‘That was prestigious enough and we loved playing it, but to think that now we’re about to play on the same stage as legends like The Who, U2, Page and Plant, even Michael Jackson, there’s a lot to be excited about.”
Galaxy Thief arrived at their settled line up in April 2021 when singer Rhys was invited to join. He sold up and moved out of his narrowboat in Camden and came to live on guitarist George Bowerman’s family farm near Swanage where – with bassist Jake Trim and drummer Ben Watton – they have a rehearsal room and demo studio.
“The sound is broadly indie rock, but we all come from very different places musically and we’re tight enough to be pretty blunt when we’re working out the songs,” says George.
“Yes, let’s say we discuss with passion,” laughs Rhys. “It’s important for us to be able to recreate our sound live at all times – you can’t hide behind studio tricks.”
With a growing reputation as a live act that has seen them selected as the first ever Yamaha Music London Ambassador band, Galaxy Thief have also released a number of digital singles through online streaming platforms and are continuing to work on new material with a view to collating the singles for future release as EPs or even an album.
“We’d love to do a traditional physical album and we’re always working on new ideas,” adds George, “but our immediate plan is to build a set from the ground up that will work to best effect in a big room like the Concert Hall at Lighthouse.”
“We can’t wait to play there!”
:: Tickets available at Jake Bugg – Lighthouse (lighthousepoole.co.uk)
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