Photo: Richard Gray
The Great Escape Festival is the UK equivalent of SXSW, a brief, beer-soaked blast of new music, giving fans and music industry professionals the opportunity to enjoy some of the most exciting and promising new acts on the scene prove their worth. But there is an awful lot to take in...
With hundreds of bands and artists performing across this year's three-day event, we managed to whittle down what our correspondents saw across TGE 2014 to just 13 highlights. Here are the best new bands and artists we saw at this year's Great Escape Festival.
Phoria
Expanding ghostly, embryonic elements into an epic and celestial universe of atmosphere, scope and soaring potential, there could be no more perfect a venue for Phoria than the gothic and majestic St Mary's Church. With a sound that falls somewhere between post-rock, trip-hop, Sigur Ros, Polica and King Of Limbs-era Radiohead, Phoria manage to hold the pews full of newcomers entirely enthralled throughout. All were stunned, all were converted.
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Phoria - photo by Richard Gray
Royal Blood
The Corn Exchange was absolutely rammed to the rafters when local noise-rock duo Royal Blood take to the stage. No other band name was overheard in conversation during The Great Escape moreso than these guys - the Brighton breeze practically howled 'ROYAL BLOOD', and rightly so. Their succinct but brutal set sparked a feral reaction among the boozed up, tightly-packed masses. With constant comparisons to Death From Above 1979 and Queens Of The Stone Age, expect their debut to lead the way in bringing rock back to the masses in the year ahead.
Royal Blood - photo by Richard Gray
Solomon Grey
With a modern and techno-tinged approach to soul, Grey uses Johnny Greenwood-esque guitar lines, subtle beats and vocals that drip with aching romance to weave a web of sound that's danceable, infectious and yet oh-so-easy to get lost in. This is the type of sophisticated pop that demands to be heard and deserves to be huge.
Courtney Barnett
Her Sea Of Split Peas double EP was one of the 2013's finest releases, and as a result it's absolutely impossible to get into any of her multiple gigs throughout the weekend. However, it's ace to see such a deserving talent with so much buzz. The lucky few who managed to catch a glimpse of the Aussie eccentric caught a glimpse of a star in the making: a nature talent with an incredible way with words, a wicked sense of humour and she knows her way around a guitar. We can't wait to see what she does next.
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Courtney Barnett - photo by Richard Gray
Tove Lo
As if there were any more reasons needed to completely adore Tove Lo, her show at Komedia on Thursday night proved to be one of the dreamiest sets of the weekend. Playing heavily off her outstanding Truth Serum EP, it was of course hit single ‘Habits’ that gauged the wildest response, but the Scandinavian alternative pop princess also showed she has some tricks up her sleeve. Just give us an album already!
Future Islands
Future Islands’ show at Digital was one of the last of the weekend and unsurprisingly one of the busiest. When seeing the trio’s incredible performance though we pretty much forgot losing the feeling in your fingers queuing on the beach, with Singles, their long awaited fourth album seeing them become the band they were always destined to be. Plus, no one has moves like Samuel T Herring. No one.
George Ezra
Attending a secret show at The Great Escape is more about luck than anything else, so needless to say you can imagine our joy when we found out George Ezra was playing in the pub down the road from where we were on Friday. Playing a short set in the room above Fitzherberts to no more than 30 people, Ezra’s performance was an incredibly basic affair that saw tracks aired from both his two EP’s to date and forthcoming debut album. Nothing like being in the right place at the right time huh?
Norma Jean Martine
This sweet, gentle American beauty brought some glamour to what she described as a 'sewer smelling' venue, and despite the stink, her elegance was endearing. Martine created a calm vibe for those who had been rushing off their feet earlier in the day with a stunning, mellow show.
Claire
If you haven't seen these guys yet find out where they are playing RIGHT NOW. Forgive their awful name as their music makes up for this ungoogleable oversight. Flawless synthpop with a spectacular frontwoman, and despite their early afternoon slot, were one of the most impressive performances of the weekend.
Ezra Vine
As well as setting many a female heart fluttering (he could pass as Rob Lowes younger twin), Vine has it all - the talent, the atmosphere and the songs. Every track tells a story above and beyond the usual relationship tales, and that is an unusual thing to hear these days. Plus, the guitar shredding interlude was jaw-dropping.
Gorgon City
A great way to end the first day of Great Escape, with a late night slot packed with brilliant dance beats and, of course, guest vocalists - with MNEK whipping the crowd into a frenzy when he took to the stage to perform their hit, 'Ready For Your Love'. Forget about candy floss or fish and chips - GC made Brighton all about dancing. A shame for anyone who missed out.
Gorgon City - photo by Richard Gray
Will Carl Jr
This newcomer performed a secret gig, and sadly the venue was empty, but boy did people miss out on this dude. He didn't let that slow him, down and he and put everything he had into a show for such a tiny crowd, and his late night show was reportedly much more appropriately attended. His brass section really made this performance something special.
Bokka
When they walked on stage wearing swimming goggles, holding signs telling us they don't speak we had no idea what we had let ourselves into, but we had faith because the crowd was huge - and no surprise, they were epic. A fresh, modern version of The Knife and they make the perfect festival band. Don't be freaked out by their attire, these guys will surprise you.
Kit
Bringing the carnival vibes, the sun from outside was shining in on this dark underground venue allowing us to see even those at the back getting their dance on. Kit took control of the audience and their dance moves, and would make for a perfect band to see at Bestival. A perfect crowd pleaser.
