We’ve really enjoyed seeing lots of different photographers’ images lately through In Focus features and the Summertime gallery. If you’re off on a summer trip we’d love to showcase the best of your holiday destination, or if you just want to show us round the place where you live we’d be up for a tour! More details for our new feature This Must Be The Place here.
Not a photographer but love music – why not talk us through the 10 songs that changed your world? More infohereon what’s needed to have your very own Vinyl Countdown, and other ways to contribute.
Here comes the summer… and with it a gallery of your favourite summertime images. While some of us do indeed like to be beside the seaside, there are also plenty of opportunities to get along to festivals and events, or just sit back and watch the world go by. Grab a cold drink and take a break to check out our gallery below – as always, in no particular order other than to mix by subject and style…
A big thank you to all the talented photographers who have shared their work – you can find more brilliant shots from each of them via the links shown to their websites/socials.
All pictures are copyrighted by the photographer credited; please do not use without gaining their permission first.
Pet Shop Boys at The Brighton Centre, 26th June 2923
The last time I saw a queue like that at The Brighton Centre, it was being used as a vaccination station – this time was a lot more fun. With a back catalogue bursting at the seams with hits from the 80s onwards, there would never be room for everything, but a two hour set full of one massive track after another kept the crowd singing and bouncing along from start to finish. The staging was perfectly executed, Tenant and Lowe ably backed by an accomplished backline and an ever moving pair of lamp-posts to lean on and spin around. There is sometimes debate about whether live performances should be called gigs or shows. This was undoubtedly a show but equally one of the best gigs I’ve seen. Pet Shop Boys are celebrating their greatest hits and it’s a party not to be missed.
Colours Festival, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, 24th June 2023
Sunshine, an excellent line-up and an impressive backdrop all combined to make the first Colours Festival a huge success. Bexhill’s iconic De La Warr Pavilion played host to a mix of talented bands and artists yesterday, treating the crowd to a day filled with great music and performances from UK and international acts, with a nod to showcasing some of the vast local talent on offer.
Mike Burnell caught every set; check out our gallery below.
One of Australia’s most celebrated indie artists, Dope Lemon, is out on tour ahead of the release of his fourth album, Kimosabè, on 1st September. Ali Painter was at the London show on Monday to capture the night in images – gallery below.
The Hives at Emirates Stadium, London, 17th June 2023
Since rising to prominence in the early 2000s, The Hives have maintained a reputation as one of the best live bands around. Adam Hampton-Matthews caught them giving another great performance supporting Arctic Monkeys at The Emirates on Saturday night – gallery below.
Arctic Monkeys at Emirates Stadium, London, 17th June 2023
From their early days playing pubs in Sheffield 20 years ago to the release of their most recent critically acclaimed album The Car last October, Arctic Monkeys have cemented themselves a place in the annals of music history.
The band are currently on a sold out tour of Ireland and the UK. Adam Hampton-Matthews was at The Emirates last night to capture the second show of a 3 night run at the venue for us, gallery here…
Colours Festival, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, 24th June 2023
While many bigger events still struggle to veer away from predominantly male line-ups, Colours Festival sets out ‘to celebrate and elevate female talent across a whole day of live music’. And the list of artists performing is impressive, with the ethereal sounds of singer-songwriter Weyes Blood taking the headline slot.
Also on the main stage, Mercury nominees Porridge Radio and The Big Moon make appearances, alongside Katy J Pearson fresh from international dates supporting Yard Act and shows at SXSW, and respected musician and composer Emily Barker.
The De La Warr Pavilion is fast expanding its musical profile with some great new events this year to compliment the high profile names showcased throughout the year. It’s a stunning setting for a day out on the coast, and the Music’s Not Dead stage will showcase some favourite local acts in the shape of Hot Wax, CIEL and Bellza, with DJ sets from Brighton’s award winning record shop Resident.
The weather’s looking good for a day on the beachside lawns, so why not join the inaugural Colours Festival by grabbingremaining tickets here.
Capturing her love of music on camera, we’re delighted to introduce you to photographer Chloe Savannah’s work. In today’s feature, Chloe tells us about her photography journey so far and shares some images from the world of music and elsewhere…
Hey, I’m Chlo. I’m a live music photographer based in Wales.
I come from a very music loving family, my mum and my grandad both having been in bands. I’ve always enjoyed photography and wanted to try live music photography so, when I bought my first camera and started taking photography at A-Levels, my mum’s band was a huge starting point into live music photography.
Live music has always been something I’ve loved. I’ve been going to concerts since I was about 14, I’ve probably been to over 300 of them in total since. Being able to photograph artists that I love is really cool. One of the people I’ve photographed most is Bronnie and her band, they always put on a great show! I’ve also photographed people such as Yungblud, Paul Chuckle (Chuckle Brothers), Dick & Dom, Jedward and Wagner (X Factor).
I was recently a finalist in So.Co’s Music Photographer Of The Year 2023Awards in London. Dougie from McFly was a judge and I slid him a business card, so hopefully I can tick McFly off the bucket list one day!
Feel free to follow me on socials and keep an eye on my website to see what I’m up to next! I’m hoping to get a few official shoots for more of my favourite artists later this year. The top 3 artists/bands I’d love to photograph are probably the likes of McFly, Lewis Capaldi or any of One Direction. One day hopefully!!
Fantastic Negrito at Chalk, Brighton, 31st May 2023
Wednesday evening saw multi Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Fantastic Negrito bring his vibrant blend of blues, R&B and roots music to Chalk in Brighton. Photo gallery below from Mike Burnell…
Hope everyone’s doing well out there. We’ve had a wave of new photographer features lately and it’s great to see the range of talent and images being produced. So, it feels like a good time to put together another photo gallery and, reflecting the run of warm weather while it lasts, let’s get a Summertime gallery together.
You can interpret this fairly freely – maybe you’ve been down to the beach or at a festival, did a seagull steal your ice cream or has your cat been napping in the sun? Images can be recent or from a previous year. Happy to include music related shots but if you’re going down the festival route please give us something that reflects the theme, not just something that happened in the summer – people in the crowd, vendor stands, sunsets, etc. are going to fit the bill better for this one rather than stage shots, and there are/will be plenty of opportunities to have your music photos featured other times.
Here’s how to submit: – Breaking Glass is not a profit-making publication; we can’t pay for contributions nor do we charge for submissions as some sites do
– Everyone is welcome to join in; professional or amateur, camera or phone, film or digital photographer – Copyright remains with the photographer; by submitting your photos you grant us permission to include them on the website and our social media with credit – You may submit 1 or 2 images per person – Please include a title for each image (no additional text needed), your name, how you would like to be credited and links you would like us to include to your work, e.g. website / socials – Photos should be sent as jpg files – portrait / landscape / square / colour / black & white are all fine, any style, you can send with or without watermark – email to breakingglassmag@gmail.com – Please ensure there is no offensive content and that you have permission to share images of people not taken in a public place or including minors – Submissions open 1st – 18th June 2023
Incorporating music and portrait photography into their portfolio, we’re pleased to introduce photographer Kyle Burgess. With a creative approach to producing thought-provoking visuals, Kyle talks us through their journey behind the lens so far…
My two big passions are photography and music, and the creation of both. I am a semi-professional photographer working in Glasgow, Scotland. I moved to Scotland in 2014 and began to get a bit more serious about my hobby, I reached out to small bands and publications with access to photo passes to shoot live, and very quickly I was shooting bands like Belle and Sebastian and The Gaslight Anthem.
I took some time to pursue this, as I’m sure any photographer who’s done it will agree, live music is super fun and addictive! I enjoyed it a lot but wanted to be better.
In 2016 I got the chance to get onto a two year HND photography course that led to a degree course at Edinburgh Napier Uni.
Laura
Scotland is an amazing place for music and just the place to be if like me your life is driven and inspired by the music scene, so it has felt really natural to pursue the idea of working with bands and solo artists to create photography intended for the release of a single/EP/album. I am currently working with a Scottish singer/songwriter called Alannah Moar, she approached me last year to work with her on artwork and promo photography for her recent single About the Boy. She really liked my style showcased on my Instagram, so we got together and created some great stuff.
Alannah Moar
Recently, Edinburgh band Toy Hospital reached out to work with me too and we worked together during a practice session. I really enjoyed it and captured some really cool shots.
Toy Hospital
My style leans more towards the abstract side of things, I like multiple exposures, distortion and I like the imperfect. For me I find that really interesting to look at, when I first saw Charles Peterson’s live stuff with Nirvana it left a big impression on me and it had an impact on how I visualise music through my camera.
My goal is to find more creative people who dig my style to work together with. I love creating a look for a sound, music creation is really exciting to be around and I want to be around it more.
M(h)aol at The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 26th May 2023
With their debut album Attachment Styles drawing together an unapologetic collection of hefty subject matters and genre-crossing musical modes, Dubliners M(h)aol have been out on a headline tour of the UK. Friday night was the turn of Brighton, and a packed crowd at The Hope & Ruin were treated to the band’s animated performance on stage and, before long, on the floor.
Kicking off with the heady trio of Kinder Bueno, Therapy, and Laundries, no time was wasted in warming things up. With lots of crowd engagement from the start, there’s clearly a lot of love for this band and it’s not hard to see why. Even if you didn’t care for the music, they seem like the loveliest bunch of people but honestly, what’s not to love about the music? Bringing back the time-honoured punk tradition of short, spiky tunes and throwing in some spoken word for good measure, the pace never lets up but keeps on surprising.
So we have big ticks for songwriting, production and performance but beyond this, what beats some of the too cool for school herd is that they look like they’re enjoying themselves, proving that you can make a statement and have fun at the same time.
Interspersed with tracks from the new album, the evening closes with Bored of Men and Jack Douglas, and it seems that M(h)aol have pulled off the magic combination of an intriguing collection of songs and a dynamic live show. Finding either one of these is a treat, both together takes things to a different level. Highly recommended.
A Place To Bury Strangers at Patterns, Brighton, 20th May 2023
Rolling into Brighton on a sunny Saturday evening, you get the feeling that summer is finally upon us. The beach is packed with people enjoying the last of the day’s sunshine, drinks in hand and singing at the top of their lungs to cheesy 90’s pop music. The cheery seaside vibe is infectious, however, walking into Patterns the light quickly disappears and any sense of summer is quickly forgotten.
As we enter the venue Camilla Sparksss is nearing the end of her set, with Are You OK? welcoming us to proceedings. Camilla’s music is propulsive, catchy and abrasive in all the right ways. It’s the very antithesis of the experience we were greeted with on our way to Patterns, and it prepares us nicely for what’s up next.
Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers (APTBS) take to the stage with frontman Oliver Ackermann politely introducing the band before kicking things off with new track Disgust. Not long into the song, Oliver is already throwing his guitar around and jabbing the air like a champion fencer defending his title at the Olympics.
Alone is next, and it’s here the rhythm section of bassist John Fedowitz and drummer Sandra Fedowitz come into their own and shine through. Their energy is the backbone of the band, with Oliver wielding crazy levels of fuzz and feedback over the top. You can hear the shoegaze, post-punk and shoegaze influences, but APTBS take that formula and dial it up to 100!
Tonight’s set is only an hour long, but it makes sense when all their songs are played with so much ferocity. We’ve Come so Far is another motorik banger aided nicely by the bands DIY light and visual show. Handheld strobe lights and boxes are thrown around with no concern, and disco balls of light are placed wherever the mood takes them. It all adds to the intensity and theatre, and it’s a perfect fit to APTBS’s artistic aesthetic.
You Are The One is played with a whole new purpose this evening; louder, more aggressive and totally mind blowing as the song builds. As soon as it finishes Sandra jumps over the barrier into the crowd, and from out of nowhere, a distorted drumming can be heard. Before anyone realises, the band members are in the middle of the crowd, and we’re being treated to an impromptu noise rave! It’s like those old Lightning Bolt shows where it felt like everything could fall apart at any moment, yet the band remain in total control of the situation.
Once the electro jam is complete, the band return to the stage and you can feel there’s a different energy in the room. Everyone is totally up for it now, and End of the Night causes the crowd to lose it. Hold On Tight does nothing to calm anyone down, and it really feels like APTBS are hitting their stride.
Closing things off with fan favourite I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart and Have You Ever Been In Love, the strobe lights and volume levels are set to stun. There’s no letting up as the band franticly move around the stage in flipbook blasts surrounded by clouds of smoke. The music seems to be getting louder as we near the end of the show, with instruments and amps being picked up and moved around to create even more chaos on stage.
It’s brilliant to witness and it’s a cathartic experience I didn’t realise I had missed after years away from watching live music. APTBS are an incredible live band so catch them on the Nothing Left To Destroy tour if you can.
Introducing photographer Ali Painter – with an impressive range of live music and portrait shots, Ali’s portfolio is ever expanding. You can check out a selection of images here, follow on the links below, and keep an eye out for some new gig coverage coming soon…
Hey! My name is Ali Painter & I’m a photographer based in London, UK. I first started shooting when I was about 16, pursuing studies at college and then onto university in Falmouth. I moved to London in my early 20s and started working as an in house photographer at Sky where I was granted access to a variety of people and places. I left Sky and went freelance about a year ago shooting mostly TV, music & theatre.
Don Broco
Killer Mike RTJ, Mabel, Hozier
Michael Kiwanuka
I’ve been going to live gigs since I was 10 years old, and music is one of the most important things in my life so being able to photograph artists I love is a real treat for me.
Rudimental
One of the earliest bands I shot was Rudimental at Wildlife Festival in 2016. It was also the biggest crowd I’d experienced as a photographer and I loved being in the mix of it all. Since then I’ve shot The 1975, Little Simz, Years & Years and more.
The 1975
Little Simz
Years & Years
As well as live music, I’ve shot portraits of musicians throughout my career. Meeting Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols and Mike Skinner from The Streets were both highlights for me.
Mention Eastbourne to most people and they’ll instantly picture an image of a sleepy Victorian seaside town. But with the town hosting this year’s Turner Arts Prize, a yearly international tennis tournament and featuring high in many newspapers ‘most underrated town’ lists, it still was a massive shock when it was announced that Blur were playing a warm up show in Eastbourne’s newly refurbished Winter Garden.
Blur – a band who first caught people’s attention in the early nineties with hit single There’s No Other Way and went on to have a career spanning over 30 years and have become a household name worldwide were playing a warm up show here. No wonder tickets sold out within 2 minutes of going on sale.
That anticipation built and on the day they arrived, a long stretch of people outside the venue all looking overjoyed for what was soon going to be witnessed.
Just after 9pm touring musician Mike Smith and the four members of Blur: guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James, drummer Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn amble onto stage to The Ron Grainer Orchestra’s Tales Of The Unexpected (Theme). What followed was a 2 hour set that featured their best known hit singles, fan favourites and new material from their forthcoming album The Ballad of Darren.
And it is from this album that we hear the first song of the evening, St Charles Square, which shows the band’s creative juices are still very much flowing.
From then on in it felt like a Greatest Hits set. Next up was the indie dance floor classic There’s No Other Way, whose familiar guitar riff and chorus was the first to induce mass hysteria from the audience. For some it would have brought back memories of Blur’s first appearance in this grand hall in 1995 as part of their seaside tour.
Both Popscene and Coping would have reinforced any notion of nostalgia – both had the audience pogoing and Damon encouraging the audience to let go and enjoy the moment. The latter even saw his gold tooth fall out and him comedically quipping that he should have used Fixodent pre-gig. He battled on and Chemical World saw the tempo drop and him make his first of many forays down to the crowd barrier.
It was a set list that wouldn’t and couldn’t disappoint, but given they haven’t toured since 2015 there was always going to be a little rough around the edges. Tonight was only the second date of a four gig tour where the main aim is to get them ready for a gruelling worldwide tour schedule later this year. Our first glimpse of this was in Trimm Trabb where the timing was off and forced them to have to restart – but it also served as a further reminder of how lucky we were to see them in such an intimate setting.
The late nineties classic Coffee & TV saw Graham Coxon become the main focus for the first time and for many would have been one of a number of highlights, whilst the very unexpected and much welcome appearance of Phil Daniels for Park Life was another that will be cemented tonight long in the memory of all in attendance.
The riotously natured Song 2 served as the prelude to the slow paced set closer This Is A Low. But with all gigs it’s only right to leave with people wanting more, and it wasn’t long before our collective wishes were granted. With the band coming back on stage to play 5 more songs – starting with the anthemic Boys & Girls where Damon encourages us all to chant along to the chorus.
The Narcissist showed us another glimpse of new material, before they closed the night with three of their most loved songs in Tender, For Tomorrow and The Universal which saw Damon on the barrier in and amongst the fans as the near 2 hour experience came to a close.
St Charles Square There’s No Other Way Popscene Coping Chemical World Young and Lovely Trimm Trabb Villa Rosie Coffee & TV Out Of Time End of a Century Park Life To The End Sunday Sunday Advert Song 2 This is a Low
Girls & Boys The Narcissist Tender For Tomorrow The Universal
Experimental trio Pozi deliver a smorgasbord of delights on new album Smiling Pools. We chatted to them about the making of the record, their desert island discs, and upcoming tour dates.
Hey, how are you all? What can you see from where you are in the world right now and what’s coming up for you?
Rosa: Right now, looking at the wood pigeon outside my window bending a branch with its weight and dominating garden life.
We’re going on a UK tour in 2 weeks, then doing some independent travelling / getting back into the studio in summer to make some big hits, and then a couple of European dates in Autumn. We are ecstatic to have had Help Musicians helping to fund our tour which means we can bring sound engineer Katie Dermody-Palmer with us. This makes everything so much more enjoyable because she’s great at what she does!
Your set at The Great Escape went down really well – did you get to see much of the festival whilst you were in Brighton?
Rosa: Sadly no because of the train strikes! We had to drive there and back the same night. I did stumble into Alice Longyu Gao’s performance of her song Believe The Hype in the Komedia basement just before we performed though – she had a frenetic infectious energy – an exciting new music discovery for me!
If you could curate your own festival – apart from you, who’s on the line up?
Louis Moholo Moholo, Holiday Ghosts, Panic Shack, Alice Longyu Gao, Keg, Derya Yildrim & Grup Şimşek, Kaputt, BEAK>.
Your new album Smiling Pools came out on Friday, it feels like there are lots of different elements in there that cross genres and influences – what have you drawn on to put it all together?
Tom: Quite a few of the songs on Smiling Pools were created very organically from jamming sessions together and to pinpoint our musical influences is kind of tricky. A number of the songs are based around themes and ideas. Sometimes they’re linked to personal situations and sometimes they’re making a comment on an issue we feel strongly about. As a band we all listen to a wide range of music. Obviously Post-Punk is a huge influence on us and our sound. However, it’s not the only genre that we take inspiration from. A lot of the tunes have a slower pace on this album… I think at the time my mate George was playing me a lot of Spiritualised whenever we hung out so maybe that bled into the jams a little bit – who knows!
There have obviously been some big global events since you released your last album, has that impacted on how you make music?
Toby: Fortunately I don’t think our process has been impacted by Covid, we now share a studio we can write and record in which is really helpful.
You’ve covered some pretty big subjects across the new songs like relationships and ageing, alongside musings about the M6 and Edinburgh pubs – tell us the story behind one of the tracks.
Toby: The track Shut Up was written through a jam at PRAH studios in Margate, Rosa decided to lay her violin flat and play it with sticks – we got into a trance and it was very fun to play. The song is about battling with the negative voices in your head.
There are obviously strong production levels on Smiling Pools, when you’re writing are you thinking about how things will sound recorded and/or how you can recreate that live?
Toby: I think when writing, we focus on the songs and core parts, the production usually comes later – in this album, engineer Shuta Shinoda had a big part to play creating lots of the modulated effects. We also did some production after, but it’s nice to start with the core elements and see what’s needed rather than throw too much in from the off.
The last track on the album is a cover – did you purposely place it at the end of the tracklist as a kind of addition, or do you see it very much as part of the whole piece of work?
Rosa: This album is in memory of Tom Prentice, who was my dad’s best friend. He sadly died during lockdown, in the Scottish borders. He was a very talented Edinburgh viola player and an incredible individual with a very dry wit. Tom played in orchestras, as well as punk electric viola under the name Johnny Colon. He wrote Walk in the Park between 1980-81 and I grew up listening to it on cassette, blissfully unaware that the song is actually about suicide. At the end of our cover of it on Smiling Pools, I added a VHS audio recording of Tom playing electric viola at my 5th birthday party. My sister Maddy says, “It’s all finished” at the end of the clip, so it made sense to end the album on that: looking back over several pasts and kind of tying everything up with a cheerful but wistful reminder of mortality. It’s a salute to Tom and his commitment to and love of music.
Who deserves a shout out for helping you get to where you are now as a band?
Tom: There’s so many people who’ve helped us out. We’ll have to cheat a bit on this question and name more than one person! Stephen Bass from PRAH has been a massive help and majorly supportive. Our Manager Caroline has done loads for us as well and we’d like to give her a massive shout out. Also, none of us drive! We’d like to give a huge thank you to all the friends and family who’ve driven us across the country to gigs and festivals over the years.
Mini desert island discs question – one album, one film, one book; what do you choose?
Rosa: Moon Safari by Air, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant by Fassbinder, and The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
Tom: The book I’d take would be White Teeth by Zadie Smith which I’ve revisited on numerous occasions and always love. My film would be The Last Detail which is an underrated classic from the 1970s packed with counter-cultural energy. I think my album would be Rastaman Vibration by Bob Marley and the Wailers. I’ve been listening to it since I was little and I never get tired of it. It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you put it on.
And what’s next, what are your plans for the rest of 2023?
Tom: We’re going on tour at the end of May so that will be fun. Hopefully we’ll play some festivals as well and then work on some new music. We’ve always got lots of ideas.
UK tour dates: 31 May – Hidden Door, Edinburgh June 02 – Hug & Pint, Glasgow 07 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham 08 – Jimmy’s, Liverpool 09 – YES, Manchester 10 – Headrow House, Leeds 14 – 100 Club, London 15 – Lost Horizon, Bristol 16 – The Joiners, Southampton 17 – The Moon, Cardiff
Every May the streets of Brighton are heaving with creativity as the Festival, Fringe and the biggest showcase of new music in The Great Escape all hit the city. With hundreds of artists playing showcase events at venues big and small, this year brought as eclectic as ever a mix of music from across the world.
Hard to know where to start but the first of three shows from Jessica Winter seemed as good a place as any on Thursday. With the crowd singing and dancing along so early in the day, a lasting impression was made that involved catching two more of her sets across the weekend.
Next up, The Umlauts and I swear each time I see them they try to add more band members onto the stage. Given that the stage at Revenge isn’t that big they did well to reach 9 people not to mention multiple instruments – novel to listen to techno at 3.15 in the afternoon rather than 3.15 in the morning, and a fun time for the crowd.
Following a recommendation to catch New York’s cumgirl8, it seemed the hype was widespread as they filled out not just the main room at Volks, but had probably as many people again watching from the bar. A popular choice for sure.
Another recommendation took us to The Paganini Ballroom for some dreamy shoegaze from Whitelands opening the BBC Introducing stage in style. Some strong choices from Steve Lamacq as they were followed by an accomplished set from Nottingham’s rising stars Divorce.
Whitelands
Divorce
The next act on stage was the mighty VLURE – the first of two outstanding sets from them over the weekend. To say all I want to say about them would realistically take over the review, so head on over to our separate feature here for more from Glasgow’s finest.
VLURE
On to Brighthelm for another tightly packed stage with The Joy Hotel and some serious musical talent on display. And for the third Glaswegian act in a row, Dylan John Thomas impressed everyone with some powerful yet understated vocals and melodies to finish the night – definitely one to watch.
The Joy Hotel
Dylan John Thomas
Friday started with a couple of ‘unofficial’ sets, always worth popping into some of the local pubs and breweries to see what’s happening. At Unbarred, Mary of the Junkyard kicked off another busy day with a deft mix of guitar riffs and violin, while The Pipeline opened with the silky vocals of Rosie Alena.
Mary of the Junkyard
Rosie Alena
On to Charles Street Tap and a smoke machine that wouldn’t have been out of place on Stars in Their Eyes. Once the haze cleared, singer-songwriter Childe held a rapt audience, the calm before the inevitable upcoming storm as next up VLURE were back to notch things up several levels with another stand out performance.
Childe
VLURE
Over at Revenge, Jessica Winter finished her excellent run of shows at the Gay Times showcase, GT written on her back in tape in homage. Then over to Komedia Studio for the beautiful soundscape of Pozi, the trio melting together their unique blend of calm and chaos.
Back to the mounds of dried ice at Charles Street Tap for one of the weekend’s most hotly-tipped acts in Heartworms. Some tech issues that seemed to run throughout the set didn’t stop a captivating performance, particularly impressive under the circumstances.
Heartworms
After a full day it’s easy to pack up before the later slots. However, worth the late night, PPJ definitely restarted the party bringing French house (more château than maison), Eurodance and donk to the table; a high energy end to Friday at Komedia.
No let up in the energy stakes on Saturday as Yabba took their hard-hitting, in your face act to the dark sweat box of Volks. Then over at The Hope & Ruin bar, although not technically part of the official TGE line-up, we were introduced to Dutch psych group A Fungus, who warmed things up nicely for the mayhem of Personal Trainer and surely one of the most packed and interactive sets of the day.
A Fungus
Personal Trainer
Continuing the fun at Inn on the Square, bigfatbig’s enthusiasm was infectious and ably backed by the sun streaming through the windows – a sunny day at the seaside finally joining proceedings.
Some much needed relaxation next as Canada’s Ellevator played in the fabulous setting of One Church, delicate tunes sweeping into something bigger and certainly memorable.
bigfatbig
Ellevator
With a list of production credits as long as your arm, it was James Ellis Ford’s time to take the spotlight at Chalk performing his own music with backing band. Everything blended well and the music was cleverly put together with a sense that you couldn’t quite put your finger on what some of the exact sounds were, a sax sounding like a synth just one of the many enigmas.
Staying at Chalk, Flossing offered up a confident stage presence and brooding tunes, while the room was unsurprisingly busy for the ever-popular PVA.
A stroll down the pier saw Holiday Ghosts bring their freshly released new album to their adopted home city in a packed out Horatio’s – a no nonsense fun time for all. And the latest incarnation of near locals Traams followed up, now playing their Krautrock inspired sounds as a five piece.
A strong finish from Nuha Ruby Ra at Revenge brought our Great Escape to a close with her traditional double mic set up, lighting befitting of underground nightclub status and an unexpected bugle – a fairly conclusive way to end proceedings.
Nuha Ruby Ra
Another successful year for Brighton’s annual festivities, another bunch of favourite artists revisited and new ones discovered, and now some sleep…
VLURE, The Great Escape 2023, Brighton (11th May at Paganini Ballroom / 12th May at Charles Street Tap)
One of the joys of a festival is discovering new artists. However, there are times when you know you’ve already discovered the best artist there so why look elsewhere. After stealing the limelight and taking the roof off at Horatio’s in 2022, VLURE were back with two shows this year, once again blowing everything else out of the sea.
First up, at the invitation of Steve Lamacq and BBC Introducing, Paganini Ballroom saw justifiable queues down the street. As always, an intense and beguiling performance – made for the radio but fit for any media channel you’d care to pick. Dating back to the 17th century, Paganini offered a classy venue for a class act.
Over to Pias hosting at Charles Street Tap for show number two, a venue not without its tech issues throughout the day. Whatever problems were flagging up during line check were happily forgotten as another faultless set kicked in. With a multitude of genre-crossing sets happening all across Brighton there was a lot of talent on display at TGE, but the crown remains firmly with VLURE. Those who were there will come back, those who weren’t should make it their mission to be there next time.
Always love to see new faces in the photo pit – today we’re pleased to introduce Kyan Gilfillan taking the early steps in their photography career; we look forward to seeing them progress…
Kyan Gilfillan is an Aberdeenshire-based music and events photographer who specialises in a broad spectrum of musical genres including indie, rock, and pop. Their appreciation of vibrant hues and passion for creative arts contributes to the development of their distinctive style and editing method!
Kyan enjoys adding large splashes of colour throughout his photos to increase contrast and embrace the vibrant hues seen in the natural world. They feel that colour makes the world a better place, so always ensures his images are as bright as possible! At only 17 years old, he has combined his love for music and art together and that’s how this came about.
Kyan explains, “I’ve always been fascinated by music photography and always wondered how people were photographing some of my favourite artists, but little did I know one of them (Joshua Bassett) would be my second ever official shoot! Genuinely never thought I’d see the day I would photograph such a big artist, let alone only a month into my photography journey! So feel free to follow me on socials and keep an eye on my website to see what I’m up to next! Got a few exciting projects I’m working on and hoping to get a few official shoots for more of my favourite artists later this year!”
Breaking Glass Magazine 