York band Skylights looks back on 'very special' year

Skylights kicked off 2023 with the release of a new tune called 'Enemies' - which peaked at number three in the iTunes charts and featured in the UK top 100 downloads. The song has had more than one million streams on Twitter.

The band played a sell-out show at the legendary King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow in February - the venue made famous as the site that Oasis were signed back in the 1990s.

The band perform at King Tut's in Glasgow (Image: Supplied)

This was followed by another sell-out at the band's "adopted home", Aberdeen.

Guitarist in the band, Turnbull Smith, said: "The people of Aberdeen have really taken to us. We sold 550 tickets in 24 hours.

"What an atmosphere it was - and the venue didn't disappoint."

Moving onto the summer, Skylights performed in front of a 6,000-strong crowd at Millennium Square, supporting fellow York band and some of their heroes, Shed Seven.

Skylights on stage at Millennium Square in Leeds (Image: Andrew Benge)

"With the weather forecast I had feared a wash out, but it turned out to be on our side and the sun shone down on us. Playing to a packed out Millennium Square was without one of the highlights so far to this bands story," Turnbull added.

On a high from Leeds, the band members travelled down to to London for their debut show in the country's capital. Turnbull said they had been asked to play there a lot and the fans didn't disappoint, selling out the show in a few days.

He said: "It was an incredible atmosphere and to top it off we met Alec who worked with Oasis and now works with Noel Gallagher, he was very complimentary and went into detail about how he liked our songs.

Skylights said 2023 has been one of the best years so far for the band (Image: Supplied)

"This was nice to hear because as I'm sure you're all aware trolls are everywhere these days, so to hear such high praise from a legend in the music game was very humbling."

The band then played a had a double header, starting at the Middlesbrough Empire, which Turnbull described as "one of the most underrated venues in England", then onto Leeds.

Mr Smith said: "Leeds, as always, was a special night, a sold-out 1,000 crowd singing every word. That night was special.

"We then went back up to Scotland. Eight months after playing Aberdeen, we returned, this time to play the legendary Beach Ballroom. It's hard to put into words what it's like to travel so far and get such an unbelievable reception.

The band appeared on Radio X to discuss their new music (Image: Supplied)

"As always, Aberdeen delivered, but this time it was on another level. One thousand Aberdonians singing every word and bouncing around, there's no place like the granite city.

"Then it was onto our penultimate show of 2023, Manchester academy, we always get a great reception in Manchester and this was no different, Manchester has a reputation for great venues and this was up there."