The Great Escape is gearing up again, and it promises to be a good one. From the 10-13th of May, music fans will be treated to live performances from some of the hottest up-and-coming artists from around the world, right on our doorstep.
This year’s line-up includes an impressive mix of genres, and some of the headliners are among the most exciting performers of the moment: Arlo Parks, Maisie Peters, Humour, Katie Gregson-Macleod and Willie J Healey. Somewhat bizarrely, there’s also a spotlight show from The Pretenders.
This week another 140 names have been announced including Yonaka, Moonchild Sanelly, The Goa Express, Coach Party, VLURE, Jazmin Bean, Mac Wetha. See below for the full list so far.
Personally, we’re looking forward to hearing the captivating voice of Billie Marten in a live setting and getting another shot at the mayhem of Amsterdam seven-piece Personal Trainer. We’ll also be looking out for notable local acts such as Lime Garden, Hanya and Lambrini Girls (pictured above at last year’s opening party). However, there’s also a strong presence from emerging international artists this year including the Colombian ensemble, Mestizo Collective, the experimental French pop singer, Aime Simone, and Ghana’s multimedia arts group SuperJazzClub.
The festival is hosted at multiple venues across the city including established venues like Brighton Dome, Concorde2, and Patterns. But one of the treats of the festival is catching bands in the smaller spaces that only seem to open up for this one weekend. All in all it offers fans an immersive experience and the chance to discover new music in unusual and intimate settings.
With a diverse line-up and a reputation for uncovering new talent, Brighton’s Great Escape Festival is the perfect opportunity to see a whole batch of exciting new artists before they hit the big time. Make sure to mark your calendars for an incredible weekend of live music.
ALT / INDIE 7EBRA | Albertine Sarges | Astles | Bedroom High Club | Bingo Fury | Boyish | Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard | Coach Party | Cole Bleu | Dirtsharks | Freak Slug | Gena Rose Bruce | Hanya | Holiday | Ghosts | Jasmine Jethwa | Katie Phelan | KIDS | Lael Neale | Lip Filler | Lucky Iris | Mac Wetha | MF Tomlinson | Midnight Rodeo | Minor Conflict | Modern Woman | modernlove. | OMBIGIIZI | Pacific Avenue | Pale Blue Eyes | Picture Parlour | Sophie Jamieson | Sötnos | Spielmann | St Lundi | SUDS | System Olympia | The Broken Islands | The Foxies | The Goa Express | The Kairos | The Native | The Pretenders | The Umlauts | TTRRUUCES | Wax Works | White Flowers | Whitelands
POP / DANCE Acid Klaus | Anna B Savage | CATBEAR | Charlotte Plank | eee gee | Ellie Moon | Jessie Marcella | Jo Hill | LVRA | Marina Herlop | Memphis LK | MOON MATES | OROVEGA | Petite Noir | Polite Bureaux | Proteins of Magic | Rose Gray | Saloni | Surya Sen | The Rubens | Valencia Grace | Voya | Wallgrin | Whammyboy
FOLK / AMERICANA / COUNTRY Baby Cool | Edie Bens | Núria Graham | rainbow frog biscuits | The Dimpker Brothers
GRIME / RAP / HIP-HOP Abigail Asante | AE | Bricknasty | David GotSound | Debby Friday | Future Utopia | GIRLSofGRIME | HMD | Juice Menace | Lost Girl | Luke RV | Mace the Great | McKinley Dixon | Moonchild Sanelly | NAYANA IZ | REEMUNNII | Songer | YOHVN BLVCK
JAZZ / R&B / SOUL ADMT | Alana Maria | Becky Sikasa | Benny Atlas | Delilah Holliday | Donna Thompson | Ebi Soda | Ella More | Elmiene | Emiko | Fari Chiketa | Flip Top Head| May | Odreii | Sophie Faith | Tay Iwar | TENN | The Joy | The Scorpios | Thumpasaurus | Toni Sancho
PUNK / ROCK / METAL Animal Shithouse | Benefits | Berry Galazka | Butch Kassidy | CRASHFACE | DEADLETTER | HotWax | Jazmin Bean | Junodream | Minas | Nice Biscuit | ORCHARDS | PABST | PEACH | Problem Patterns | Public Body | Rauchen | RVG | Signature Gold | Sprints | Spyres | The Luka State | TRAAMS | Trout | VLURE | WREX | Yonaka
Words by Leo Sartain
Photo by Ashley Laurence
