The Great Escape Festival - Brighton - 10th 11th & 12th May 2012 (Live Review)
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Written by Adam Holden
Brighton’s Great Escape Festival has more than excelled itself over the last six years, destroying the Camden Crawl and is now being spoke about in the same circles as America’s South by South West festival.
With over 300 artists playing over 30 different venues, the musical city is true to its word, and with every step you take and different back lane you walk, music can be heard from one place or another.
With the festival going from strength to strength, and the popularity positively correlating with it, the only real problem is the queues for bands and the occasional wait for a one in one out policy. Yes this can be frustrating at times, and virgin festival-goers to The Great Escape (TGE) may get annoyed with the lack of bands they actually got to see on their wish list.
The Alabama Shakes seemed to cause the most uproar over the weekend, with queues stretching around the corner of the street nearly two hours before the show started at a venue that holds about 600.
TGE need’s more preparation than most festivals, due to the fact most of the 30 venues hold very small insufficient capacities. However, with all that aside, TGE is still winning.
After a miserable wind and rain swept Thursday, the festival basked in sunshine for the rest of the weekend, with many hitting to the beach for some tea time beverages. The festival is spread out across the city with venues varying from pubs, clubs, bars, arenas, street corners, parks and even churches.
The headline acts over the weekend were as good as expected, with performances from Maximo Park, Mystery Jets, The African Express Sound System and the Temper Trap; who’s emotional and beautiful ‘Sweet Disposition’ was worth the wait.
Sonic Boom Six were on form, but as the festival’s ethos is all about unsigned and breakthrough acts, we must talk about them.
North London’s Hatty brought his contemporary mix up of reggae, hip hop and electronic dance to the Coalition, a venue that sits sweetly on the seafront. With a stunning voice and a dexterity that personified charm, Hatty more than pleased the crowd before walking off stage to let his band rock out for the finale – or should I say jam out.
And talking of personifying charm, the Unitarian Church hosted a Canadian folk group whose lead singer Ben Caplan personified greatness and wit. A truly excellent performer. The group, entitled, Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers had the church stood to their feet and revelling in the madness that he had created through his set. This may not sound like much of a folk set, but it was, and the band was excellent, carried by Caplan’s incredible loud, husky smoking voice.
One of Columbia Record’s latest additions, Peace, played three times over the three days and killed all their sets with their contemporary electronic-techno-fused indie, whilst German’s Booka Shade finished off one of the festivals bigger venues, the Corn Exchange, with their electronic house.
With conferences in PR and network sessions for bands with studio executives, agents and managers, TGE has more on offer than just music, but obviously it is the music that carries the festival forward and into the future.
As it grows more in popularity, the festival organisers may face some tough questions on capacity, as venues are small. However, this is what makes part of the festival, and walking around the city, getting lost and stumbling into news bars and discovering a new act is what the ethos behind this festival is all about.
An excellent way to kick start the festival season.
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North London’s Hatty brought his contemporary mix up of reggae, hip hop and electronic dance to the Coalition, a venue that sits sweetly on the seafront. With a stunning voice and a dexterity that personified charm, Hatty more than pleased the crowd before walking off stage to let his band rock out for the finale – or should I say jam out.
