West Lothian band Mark Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves hand-picked to support Lewis Capaldi at huge London gig
Mark Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves are heading to London’s BST Hyde Park to support chart-topper Lewis Capaldi
A West Lothian band have been hand-picked to join one of the biggest artists in the world for a very special show this summer.
Indie-rock band Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves have been chosen as one of the support artists for Lewis Capaldi, as the self-proclaimed ‘Scottish Beyonce’ takes to the stage in London as part of the BST Hyde Park series of shows in July.
Lewis, who grew up in Whitburn, will be playing two headline shows on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, with Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves joining the singer-songwriter on the second massive date.
Lewis Capaldi made his return to the stage at Glastonbury last year after taking an extended hiatus beginning in 2023 to focus on his physical and mental health.
Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves drummer, James Grant, told the Evening News: “It's good to see him back, he's doing his thing. It looks like he's back and bigger and better than ever.
“I've seen some footage of the gigs, they look just phenomenal.”
He revealed that the band were on tenterhooks waiting to hear if Lewis would give them a nod for the upcoming dates, having previously supported him on his 2023 European tour.
James said: “We were hoping that maybe we could get a wee shout. He was in touch with Mark and gave him a kind of a gentle heads up that it might happen.
“Then about two weeks ago, we got the email to say we were supporting him. We’re totally buzzing with it.”
The band is made up of five members including lead singer-songwriter Mark Sharp, guitarist Cammy McKay, Conor Ward on bass guitar, Darren Moran, and of course James on drums.
Also on the bill includes other up-and-coming Scottish artists including fellow West Lothian musician Luke La Volpe.
James said: “Lewis is good pals with us. Him and Mark grew up together, they're good mates, so they're always in touch.
“He's also good friends with Luke, so it's cool that he's got the both of us to play.”
The drummer added that West Lothian has become a “wee hotspot for music” following the recent success of acts such as Lewis as well as Bathgate band The Snuts and chart-topping electronic duo LF System.
Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves already topped the Scottish Album chart with their debut record ‘Unmask The Circus’ in 2023 and are working on new music.
The band’s newest single ‘This Is Not The End’ will be released on streaming on Friday, May 15 and James hopes that there will be plenty of new material to bring to the BST stage.
Looking ahead to taking the stage in London, James said: “We’ve played London before but nothing like this. It’s a proper bucket list venue.
“We're going to be doing a couple of new tunes and it's just good timing for us to get all this exposure at the right time to kick off with all the new stuff we're bringing out.”