The Great Escape, Alt Escape and Independent Showcases, Brighton, 15th-18th May 2024
To be fair, Brighton is always full of live music. Take your pick of any night of the week, and you won’t have to walk far to find someone playing somewhere. Every May though, this amplifies many times over as The Great Escape, Alt Escape and multiple other shows open up at existing music venues, clubs and pop-up locations across the city. With so much to choose from, it’s never possible to see everyone on your wanted list but, from Wednesday to Saturday last week, we had a good go. Here’s the low down on who we saw, including some established favourites and lots of first time captures…
Wednesday15th May
A wildly strong opener from Baba Ali and a perfect start to the eclectic mix to follow, they command your attention without even trying to grab it. No frills, just an accomplished mix of synth, fuzzy guitars and dance beats, gaining some new fans by the end of their set for sure.
How to follow that? Well, it’s likely that Mickey Callisto could follow anyone and keep the crowd in the palm of his hand. Mickey has the voice, the moves, but seemingly no ego. With songs touching on themes of inclusion, togetherness and unity, and an unabashed rendering of Hey Jude, it was a great showcase for unsigned talent, and he made every stage he played his own (there were two more over the weekend).
Left (and header shot): Baba Ali, Right: Mickey Callisto
Thursday 16th May
Splitting to take in different shows, the first of several sets for Vanity Fairy confirmed a voice on point, and an always eccentric but down to earth stance. Winning over audiences with sheer charm and infectious tunes, this is a feel-good act that never fails to leave the crowd smiling.
Elsewhere, some fine new discoveries with nostalgia-ridden folk from Woody Green, then Twst (think Welsh Grimes meets a hyper-pop Willy Wonka). Serious riffs and moves from New York’s Psymon Spine, and contagious indie-pop from Melbourne’s magnificently named The Belair Lip Bombs, took us deep into the afternoon. Squeezing in to see Bernard Butler (along with many, many other fans), we stumbled into the end of Slate’s lively set – a complete contrast to Bernard’s humble and understated performance, looking like he was loving the opportunity to play to a small crowd rather than impress the industry. An unplanned but fortuitous stroll along the road had the happy consequence of landing in the charmed world of Enjoyable Listens, melancholy and humour in equal measures.
Top: The Belair Lip Bombs
Second Block Left: Psymon Spine, Top Right: Woody Green, Bottom Right: Vanity Fairy
Third Row: Bernard Butler
Bottom Row: Enjoyable Listens
Heading into the evening, Holiday Ghosts shone not only with their songs but also writing different sets to match each venue they played. Delivering the fan favourites, they powered through like seasoned professionals, showing exactly why they’re such a popular local choice. And speaking of popular choices, if you haven’t had the pleasure yet, do get to see Peter Xan if you have the chance – hard to put a finger on the genre as there’s a lovely blend of influences in there, and as their performance evolves there is more and more crowd interaction, forming a definite festival highlight.
Peter Xan
Friday 17th May
Post-punk artist Enola kick-started our Friday, followed by much hyped Cork band Cardinals – a solid set from them which sparked an interest to hear more, and it seems very likely that we will all be hearing more as the buzz around them continues to grow.
Left: ENOLA, Right: Cardinals
Friday night was a must for earplugs, starting with Lipworms – the latest and perhaps most rounded formation of the band’s members providing refreshing Can-influenced krautrock to get lost in. Another band high on a lot of people’s lists, Fcukers sat perfectly in a club setting; NY youth sounding like they maybe listened to a lot of British dance music, acid house and garage. Heavy on the backing track, but still a strong live performance – easy to see why their name came up a lot. Onto a UK band also causing a stir, Ebbb combine their experience in a variety of past collectives to fuse dance beats and relentless rhythms together for an almost tribal sound. Despite their pretty much non-existent online presence, they’re building support steadily and surely.
Left: Lipworms, Right: Ebbb
Saturday 18th May
Last day – still just about standing, and Faux Real managed to pack out their venue early in the day. With much of the singalong performance coming from within the crowd, it felt like a fun karaoke event, and the party atmosphere definitely rubbed off on the crowd. Next up, Dog Race provided some goth influenced riffs with a Lene Lovich-esque vocal. This obviously was to be followed with some Swedish pure pop – historically something that’s fared pretty well in Brighton – and a nice pick me up in the afternoon sunshine from Honey. Over at the Canadian showcase, a lovely vibe and some soulful songs from Witch Prophet and Kuzi Cee.
Top row: Honey, Bottom left: Kuzi Cee, Bottom Right: Witch Prophet
With a cinematic feel and a band who excelled individually and as a whole, Clara Tracey captivated the audience with a strong set. And flying the French flag to finish the festival for one half of us, PPJ were welcomed back with a hi-energy, dance inducing performance that jumped between styles and sounds, drawing people in tighter the more they played, and pushing the limits of what’s achievable live to create a really impressive set.
And for the other half of the team, a brilliant sign-off to complete proceedings from Brighton-based Polite Bureaux – only discovered them last year but already firmly on the favourites list, each live set and those broken beats getting better and better every time. If the show has to be over, this is the way to end it.
Polite Bureaux
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Words / Photos by Callum / Siobhan
Published 24th May 2024
Breaking Glass Magazine 