Gathering over 400 up-and-coming artists from around the globe in one coastal city was always an ambitious feat.
Couple that with plenty of eccentricity, torrential rain and our nation’s finely honed penchant for queuing, and the result is what can only be described as the most British festival you could wish for.
Tipped by many as Europe’s answer to Texas’ SXSW (which is complete bullshit if you ask me, given the lack of embarrassing spring breakers and our general knack for shite weather), this year’s Great Escape festival offered up an electric atmosphere and fresh new music by the bucket load.
Featuring a larger number of artists than ever before (brilliant) resulted in stage clashes a-plenty (not so brilliant). Paired with impossibly long queues for hotly tipped acts like Sigrid and Sultan At The Disco, it became increasingly clear that the festival still had a few minor creases to iron out following its 12th successive year.
Needless to say, Brighton knows how to put on a show, and now we’re reluctantly settling back into our 9-5s, we take a nostalgic look back on the best acts from across the festival weekend.
ALMA
It was a neon tinged party over at The Arch as Alma took to the stage for a jam-packed UK performance. Despite a heavy bout of tonsillitis and the fact it was raining cats and dogs outside, Alma brushed off the unpredictable circumstances and entertained like a seasoned professional. Stepping up alongside her neon ‘twin’, this Finnish sensation knows how to put on an electric show. Setting the venue alight with her hit “Dye My Hair” and latest single “Chasing Highs”, her set became a sweltering and unmissable pop-fuelled rave.
Dead Pretties
With frontman Jacob Slater succinctly introducing the band’s latest release “Social Experiment” with shouts of “This is our single…it’s just a fucking song…” these London lads were ready to put on a show. Blending punk angst with surging rock riffs, this band is a force to be reckoned with (despite only having one track available on streaming services). It was gritty, it was raw, and first and foremost, it was a set signed off with attitude.
Youngblood
Hailing from Canada, Youngblood took to a stage hidden away underneath the party hub that was The Queen’s Hotel. With siren-like cries reverberating from front woman Alexis Young, the band describe their sound as “what the ’60s thought the future would sound like”. Blending sultry pop hooks with electric choruses, this four-piece are setting themselves up for big things. Intrigued? You betcha!
COLT SILVERS (Alternative Escape)
Taking the energy level up a notch courtesy of a passing discovery on a damp Brighton side street, French rockers COLT SILVERS won us over with their sublime blend of passion, dancing and grit. Serving up enough entertainment to fuel our rain-ravaged bodies for days, frontman Tristan could be seen swinging from the ceiling one minute and thrashing about like a man possessed the next. As performances go, this was an unbeatable one in the most intimate of venues. Give them a cheeky like, it will be worth your while.
