More about: Rachel ChinouririPanic ShackLet's Eat GrandmaGreta IsaacStella DonnellyGroveMedicine CabinetHeadboyMax PopeWillow Kayne

Day two of The Great Escape is all about the fish and chips (shout out RYBKA on Meeting House Lane), though the best in new music is a fantastic side order. More established artists collided with brand new 'uns in a colourful display of half-an-hour sets.

Here are the artists we saw on Day Two of The Great Escape: 

Medicine Cabinet

Despite some quite debilitating audio blips, it’s very hard to imagine someone exceeding the quality of songwriting and showmanship displayed by Medicine Cabinet at their 1pm Scottish Showcase gig at One Church on Friday afternoon. Just days after releasing their “official” debut single (they already have some well-loved tunes available on YouTube) and a couple of years after debuting as a live staple on the Glasgow scene, they prove that an arsenal of top drawer singles await us. Vocalist Anna Acquroff is — simply — a rockstar with a spectacular voice, while bassist Cal Mingus provides equally impressive vox. The rest of the band — Joshua Chakir on guitar, Eilidh O’Brien on rhythm guitar and keys plus Tom Lawrence on drums — contribute to a run of catchy, well thought-out, and unique bangers whose release days are eagerly awaited. (JA)

Stella Donnelly

Aussie singer Stella Donnelly somehow managed to bring some sunshine into Chalk’s dark venue. With a cheery disposition, the audience is jelly in her hand, swaying respectfully through new tracks, singing along when requested and going crazy for old favourites. The choreo that goes along with ‘Die’ sums it all up, having everyone giggling as Stella and her band have more fun than anyone else, celebrating their return to the UK. Flying through the set, we're treated to a bonus acoustic rendition of ‘Beware Of The Dogs’, hammering home the takeaway that not only can Stella write incredible lyrics that balance vulnerability, power and humour perfectly, but God can she sing.  (LH)

Grove

With their popping cover of Biggie’s ‘Big Poppa’, alt-electronic magician Grove commences a set of 2step UKG and alternately nostalgic and futuristic beats at beachside venue Coalition. They’re on a row of venues that have a majestic run of shows on Friday afternoon: PROJECTOR precede them at next door’s The Tempest Inn while Witch Fever play just down the seafront at Volks and Indigo De Souza and Miso Extra take to The Arch. All of these artists present different genres, with Grove showing several within one set, creating a blend of hip-hop, garage, rap, dance and alternative that confounds categorisation and awaits the big time. (JA)

Headboy

Opening up a day of music at the Black Lion pub for the Alt Escape (a line-up of free shows running alongside the main festival), North London three-piece headboy shake off the cobwebs. With a sizeable crowd considering the early start, their post-punk sound comes complete with poetic lyricism that switches between silliness and politics in a slip second. Held down by funky drum beats that love a good cymbal and catching guitar riffs, we’ll be keeping an eye on these when we head back to town. (LH)

Rachel Chinouriri

If you want to hear the voice of an angel, it’s a no brainer to take yourself to a Rachel Chinouriri set. With a swift five-song show, the singer performs to a bustling crowd in TGE’s Amazon New Music marquee. Between her introspective songs, Rachel shares funny anecdotes... like being robbed of marriage by a break-up despite only being 23, to using her friend’s breakup for lyrical content on her viral ‘All I Ever Asked’. Towards the end of her set, Rachel declares the ever-important mantra that " you can never tell someone you love them too much" paired with a heart-wrenching performance of ‘So My Darling’, keeping the crowd hooked on every word. Sure to keep growing as the next big thing in indie-pop, we’re keeping our eye on Rachel. (MO)

Greta Isaac

I have no doubt that in a couple of years we’ll be seeing Greta as a headliner. PYou’d think she was in a strobe-filled club with the level of energy her and her band put into their lunchtime set at Brighthelm. Bouncing around the stage like her own biggest fan, the audience have no choice but to bounce too. Building a huge sound from only a drum pad, keys and guitar, the instrumentation is sharper than anything I’ve seen here yet. Playing through old tracks along with picks from her EP I Think You’d Hate It Here — released today and getting a celebratory spin — the half-hour set didn’t seem long enough. With stunning vocals and fun lyrics, hearing tracks like ‘Nuh Uh’ and ‘Pessimist’ will definitely be a highlight of my weekend. (LH)

Panic Shack

Cardiff band Panic Shack have found quite a few ways to tell people how to fuck off. Luckily for us, all of them are extremely entertaining. “Well it was one of yers!” vocalist Sarah Harvey screeches on the self-explanatory ‘Who’s Got My Lighter?’. On ‘The Ick’, they rail against a date who puts (God forbid) the milk in first while brewing a cup of char, and on ‘Jiu Jits You’ they recruit simple but effective wordplay to smite an overly-familiar male admirer. Some of these moments are a little close to (obvious inspiration) Amyl & The Sniffers to be fully thrilling, but the overall thrust of Panic Shack — garage rock stoked with some cutesy charm and girl band choreo — is a winner. (JA)

Max Pope

In the basement of Brighton’s Queen’s Hotel, the one-man band and Brighton-raised Max Pope sung and strummed his soulful tunes, teasing new tracks and playing previous popular releases like ‘Man On The Wire’ and ‘Sunflower’. With speakers so loud that it felt as though he was singing directly in your ears (not complaining) and with a heckler that wouldn’t settle down, Max tells stories from his life — from the way a man looked at him wrong on the train on ‘No Love’ to a dedication to growing up with his brother in the crowd on ‘Counting Sheep’. Not to mention his incredible cover of Etta James ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. The set felt like a warm hug to ease us into a new day. (MO)

Willow Kayne

Name a more vibrant set at TGE this year...I’ll wait. Willow Kayne burst on to the Coalition stage with buckets of energy and buckets of attitude. Launching into bolshy tunes like ‘Opinion’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ off her latest EP Playground Antics, it's clear that she uses any hate thrown at her online to her advantage as fuel for more bangers. Her set was just fun: with a vibrant LED screen of Willow Kayne graphics, she performs her tracks (consisting of beats that are all a colourful blend refusing to stick to one genre and laced with witty take-no-shit lyrics. With a final closer of the song that gave the singer her first dose of viral success, ‘Two Seater’, I think it was clear to everyone that Willow Kayne was the coolest person in the room. (MO)

Let’s Eat Grandma

I highly doubt anyone at The Great Escape put on a set as technically impressive as Let’s Eat Grandma. Between the duo, they manned three keyboards, an electric guitar, a saxophone and a recorder — with insane levels of skill and co-ordination on each. Taking it in turns to dance around with the mic before sometimes even running over to take control of a note on a keyboard, the pair’s tight friendship translates into an even tighter set. Complete with a drummer and bassist, the sound is huge as they move between big dancey numbers and their Kate Bush-esque avant-indie stuff. Managing to balance precision with showmanship, the whole audience is moving along with them for the prime 10:15pm slot on the beach. (LH)

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More about: Rachel ChinouririPanic ShackLet's Eat GrandmaGreta IsaacStella DonnellyGroveMedicine CabinetHeadboyMax PopeWillow Kayne