Saturday marked the third and final day of the 10th annual The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, England. Larry Heath was on ground at the event to discover new talent and witness some of Australia’s finest bands in a unique setting. It is with this in mind that the day started at The Aussie BBQ, held along Brighton’s beach at Concorde 2.
Saskwatch (pictured above) brought the good vibes early at the BBQ, getting the crowd moving with their soulful jams, while Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems (below) brought the rock n’ roll with killer tracks like “Dumb Ideas”.
Remi (below) went on to prove why he is the leading voice in Australian hip hop right now, getting the crowd doing the two step and playing tracks like “Sangria” and “XTC Party”.
Tkay Maidza (below), another Adelaide artist representing at the festival, was on fire with an energetic performance that showed her at the top of her game. She closed out the BBQ with “U-Huh”.
Washington Irving (below), meanwhile, were playing one of the Alternative Escape parties not far away, and impressed with expansive compositions, solid riffs, excellent vocals and great feels. They call themselves “electric folk”, which isn’t far off the mark, and they hail from Glasgow.
The day parties continued with a special M for Montreal 10th Anniversary party, during which Montreal group Groenland – who we met last year – played three tracks unplugged and acoustic, delivering some unique arrangements of their impressive music.
Easily the most original band at the festival were Girl Band (pictured below), from Dublin. The group had substantial buzz about them on the festival and packed the NME party at the massive Corn Exchange to capacity. It seems they already have a pretty solid following, too, with plenty in the room singing along. From the minute they took the stage, you were hearing interesting arrangements with a unique vocal approach. At once their music is layered, at another minimalist – at times it even borders on noise rock, as the guitar pushes loud and proud, while their drummer impressed behind it. “Lawman” was a highlight of the set. Possibly the most interesting band to burst into the rock scene since Sleigh Bells. Definitely keep your eyes on them.
All I can say about Irish artist Ciaran Lavery is that his vocals are incredible, as I only caught him perform one song – vocals only, free of his guitar. And it was spellbinding.
We first met White (below) on the AU last year, and were immediately impressed by their sound, which is drenched in 80s synth and flavour. The five piece from Scotland are terrific live and their music is as fun as it gets, with tracks like “Living Fiction” proving of particular mention. Also a shout out must be made to their excellent drummer, who simultaneously brings us electronic and physical drum beats. What a machine!
Keston Cobblers Club were one of the bands we listed as a must see last week on the AU, and they did not disappoint. Starting out acapella with a million instruments laying around them, the five piece eventually added in guitar, trumpet, trombone, accordion, keys, drums and more to create a huge sound. They got the crowd dancing as they switched instruments and gave us a taste of their upcoming record Wildfire, amongst some old favourites like “Dun Dun Dun”, which closed the set. A band everyone should listen to.
I ended my festival witnessing one of the most talked about bands of the event, Slaves (not to be confused with the Jonny Craig project of the same name). This two piece deliver classic UK punk with HUGE energy, hilarious banter and were easily the most entertaining band I’d see all weekend. A spectacular note to end it on, with tracks like “Cheer Up London” and “Where’s Your Car Debbie?” proving particularly fun on the VEVO stage, and “Feed The Mantaray” seeing a Manatray crowd surf (see picture below) – before the band joined in themselves. It was so much fun that I want to experience it all over again.
Stay tuned to the AU for more from The Great Escape in Brighton, England!
