The Great Escape provides a 4-day showcase for the best of the music scene up and comers featuring spellbinding performances from the likes of Madra Salach, Jamie Lenman and Gurriers

Words by Miles Milton Jeffries

It becomes immediately clear when you get to The Great Escape that plans don’t survive contact with the sprawling multi-venue industry festival that makes use of pretty much everywhere big enough to fit at least two people and a guitar; there are hot-ticket acts and they will go fast. 

Gurriers photo by Foxtrotter

Due to their nature of being early in the day and on the way to the beach where the buzziest of buzzy acts; Angine de Poitrine are playing, it is too packed to catch rocky outfit EMNW on the Daltons Kerrang curated Download stage, which drifts towards heavier for the evening – but thankfully; a quick walk up the coast to Volks takes us to Big Long Sun who get the festival started in style – having fulfilled much the same way they did at likeminded tastemaker festival Outer Town; warming the crowd up in alt-escape; which runs very much alongside the main festival for the locals – you don’t need a ticket; you can just wander straight in. The atmosphere from the packed out room is electric and Big Long Sun treat us to a chorus of “I Want to Escape” for a line-check before getting stuck into their own set-list proper, who succeed in making their music as much a visual language as it is a sonic one – art-pop compositions that lend themselves to the structure of an eight piece band who are doing well to fit all in on the Volks stage. It’s an insight into those with hopes and dreams and where better to premiere their new album than the festival for hopes and dreamers? ‘Call It Like A Voice’ still hits; and the experimental atmosphere really adds to the whole thing; and it doesn’t take an expert to see the indoors atmosphere suits them better than the outside at Trinity Church in miserable weather; much more finely tuned to fitting with their psychedelic approach that creates a dreamy overcast spell. 

Next up is a quick trip along the Beach to the Deep End for Girl in the Year Above; a Cornish/Irish band who are aware that this is a big stage and they are opening for Angine de Poitrine later; which several people here are camped out to see – even though the whole point of Great Escape is to wonder around and they aren’t on for another three hours (which I ended up doing; given Angine’s later appearances at End of the Road and at Troxy in October). Girl in the Year Above cast a spell on the crowd both there to see them and there to see the later act anyway; they’re that good – opening with the happier; more-go-lucky but still no less heartbreaking ‘Mama, My Heart is Achin’ before descending into a deeper set with ‘Ode to the Glory Days’, a single that comes to terms with alcohol addiction and sobriety and the loss of impact on one's life; and touching additions to the set that give a background in sense of character to Girl in the Year Above – unreleased songs ‘Wet Paint’, touch on consent in a way that will make the right person cry; and ‘Territorial’, are capable of creating whole worlds within themselves – mythmaking and drawing from their Celtic roots to create one of the highlights of the weekend. Journeying over to One Church to catch them in a spellbinding presence of a Church – further aiding their own mythology on Thursday, they were the only band I saw twice. 

After that; the weather has thankfully improved from the torrential downpour it was earlier in the day; (is it really Brighton if you don’t get off the train down and are immediately drenched in rain?) we are given a double whammy of heavy music to end the shorter Wednesday night. Frozemode are up first and we have our first mosh pit – intense; brief; chaotic; sprawling – the hardworking alt-rap trio make the most out of hard-hitting bars that really establish themselves as a unique outfit – there’s grime here, there’s trap and drill – back again from five sets in 2023 they still find a way to pack out a crowd with an attitude that screams out with rage; a rage against the machine and society that exists as it is today. High-energy is the tempo that the band brings to the table and the way the songs build and build practically command the chaos to form. The set is short; it’s sharp; it’s sweaty – but also incredibly explosive and really ramps up the energy in the room. As a crowd warmer-upper you couldn’t have asked for much better. ‘Looking at Us’ just builds and builds in particular – an emphasis on Frozemode’s ability to never stay idle and always get out there and work. The energy is raucous and the outro is sprawlingly chaotic – it feels like a dare; built for those who like to think they’re making eye-contact with the band; and daring on who to blink first.

Daltons Stage Headliner Native James has just come off a tour with Bob Vylan at the end of last year and has the energy to match. He commands the pit with ease – walls of deaths; circle pits, he has the crowd dancing on his thumb, and he appreciates how eager they are – almost a bit too keen – to let off some steam. If Korn got really into rap music; this would be the energy that you’d get; ‘You’re Nothing’ comes for a fiercely charged; anti-hate movement – and is explosively triumphant like the best kind: think a heavier Skindred; capable of exploding in the chorus with chants of “Be Aggressive”, allowing any form of expression against a system that has let you down; an abuser that has wronged you, a hater or a perpetrator. 

They aren’t a waste of your energy; time or space – they are aware that the people think that they are worthless but ‘You’re Nothing’ is very much not: they mean more than that. Native James is aware that there are industry people in the room but that doesn’t stop him from going all out in an uncompromising vision; using Great Escape as a nice warm-up tour ahead of the likes of Download itself proper and punk favourite festival 2,000 Trees this summer; as well as a tour supporting heavier outfit unpeople. In terms of opening festival days: you couldn’t have asked for much better. Trains mean acts like Lemonsuckr and Lonnie Gunn go missed; but there are other opportunities to see them throughout the weekend and it rapidly becomes apparent that if you want to do the whole thing properly; you gotta stay in Brighton as long as you can.

That’s why the next two days are so full; unabridged chaos in terms of venue tracking – the step count came in on the Thursday at 21,000+ and there was more well into the early hours of the Friday.

Thursday was the big day: 11 bands, one afternoon. We started early with checking out the Japanese rock outfit The Cabs who have touches of the mathier side and pack out Dust, filling it to capacity early on. They grew up playing covers of English bands and now they’re in the UK so it feels like a dream come true to them; awed but capable of stepping up to the occasion. They’re math rock with heavier edges and an emo tendency, which makes them perfect for venues like New Cross Inn. They’ve reformed, come back and disbanded a few times – 2013 was meant to be their last outing as an outfit; and their so-called final show happened in 2025 at a sold-out Tokyo’s Toyosu PIT which held 3,000. Their presence then; in the Japanese underground is something of a staple – and their energy is electric live – humorous; funny and with a strong stage presence. It’s rare that you get an act as good as the cabs on before 1PM at a festival; yet they’re able to make their presence felt – not as abrasive as say, other math rock bands like Love Rarely, but there’s a ready-laid out path of them that will hopefully see them at festivals like Arctangent in 2027.

Next was off to Alphabet for my first encounter with Alt-Escape; a free festival that gets a lot of locals that runs in venues that aren’t linked to the main festival. Alphabet’s entrance is nondescript and tiny; you wouldn’t think it was an entrance to a gig venue at first thought. They’re having a mixer downstairs but the main attraction; as it is with Great Escape; is always the bands, and Orchards are upstairs in a packed out room sporting a pride flag and wearing their heart on their sleeve. It’s a free festival; so it’s pretty much all locals and all here on their lunch breaks, no industry types in the room. They continue the mathy feel mixed in with pop this time and a twang of loveable indie; showing the range of the genre on its head – we’ve had emo math just before and now the switch to pop gives Orchards distinctive; upbeat vision that echoes the likes of Delta Sleep and Exploder. They get a new single ‘Bicker’, out of the way, Lucy Vickers’ voice transcendent as ever; and the summer vibes the group have is felt down to the ground making the perfect late-afternoon set – “it’s time to break routine, create a new beginning, I’m scared of now,” she sings; exploring the painful feeling of love and loss and moving on after be it friends or lovers leave. There’s also room for the more up-beat ‘Say It’, on the poppier side with its hooks catching you in from the start.

Immediately following Orchards is Jamie Lenman. Any attempt at describing Jamie Lenman’s genre does not fall into words – he can go to metal or spoken word poetry depending on what he feels like at the time.  So naturally he jokes that he’s nervous and spends half his time as a comedian; with gloriously funny bits about Oasis that give added brevity to his already singular unique set. He’s not part of any one genre – HE IS THE GENRE – ‘All of England is a City’, is one of the tracks deployed early on at a fan’s request, and it’s something that he wrote a while back before the increased division in politics in the current timeframe. He explains a bit about his background with a band and why he believed going solo was the best course for him; and instantly comes across as loveable and charming. The atmosphere; from those there; is excellent and instantly compelling: he’s gearing up for a supporting tour with Texas is the Reason and then a stop at Arctangent in the summer; and you can bet I’ll be there for both times. Jamie at Arctangent is the kind of stuff that legends are made of; and I’m sure he’ll only go down well there with that crowd. 

Jamie Lenman Photo by  Anne Berentsen

Then a quick sprint over to Envy to see Casual Smart; a band from Wales who have attracted a significant crowd this early in the day. Their style is different to the first of three sets they are doing throughout the weekend – and it’s immediately apparent as to just how young they are when they say they are down a member – Emily Beal; because she’s back in Cardiff studying for an exam which gets laughter from the audience when they say she’ll end up making more money than everyone in this room. Both Peter Martin and Brooke Thomas’ shared vocals more than make up for it and it is a unique set that shows their range; not just working with the limitations of being down a band member but thriving in them – post rock that feels deeply joyous in spirit and captures the audience here to have a good time. The band have humour too: Oliver Goddard on drums gets the brunt of it; but if this band are already this self-assured and this confident this early on, they’ll go far. I adore ‘Cranes’ in particular – a spirited touch of authenticity that wears the band on their sleeve; capturing influences of the likes of Black Country, New Road and a mix of post-punk with bedroom pop; about a love of a person associated with a place. 

After Casual Smart; and another helping of Girl in the Year Above that are worth standing out in the rain for at One Church; it’s a sizable gap to have some downtime and come up to breathe from all the chaotic walking around. It rapidly becomes apparent how big The Great Escape festival is as a venue that everywhere not involved wants to get in; I’m staying above a lovely, boat-themed pub called The Admiral that have a tiny music stage and tell me that they’d love to get involved with it next year and did try this year: so hopefully it works out for them. It’s back down after that for a trip over to Chalk; one of Brighton’s biggest venues; where we assemble towards the barricade for a quartet of Sylvie’s Head, Little Grandad, Madra Salach and Westside Cowboy that attract a packed out crowd long before Little Grandad come on stage; who I’ve seen at the Windmill and it’s fun to see them growing a bit more confident with their kit the more shows they have under their belt. They succeed in getting the crowd warmed up for Madra Salach along with Sylvie’s Head; who drift into electronic territory with effortless groove – and all eyes are on the latest Irish outfit to explode; following in on the likes of The Scratch, Gurriers, Kneecap and more. 

Madra Salach is one of the rare bands that can make a venue as big as Chalk go UTTERLY silent and it pulls in the crowd from the off. They’re deafeningly loud and drift into heavier; moshy-potential (it’s main stage at Great Escape, of course there’s no moshing here) at times with some of their unreleased songs – opening with ‘Blue & Gold’, they know how to show up. I haven’t seen an act as good as them in a long time – spellbindingly so. They have the trad elements of The Scratch but are more in Mary Wallopers territory – raw; emotive – and full of old Irish folk. It’s a draw from their EP ‘It’s A Hell of an Age’, and they are just off-the-charts good. You can see yourself stumbling across these guys just playing in a local Irish bar removed from the tourist cities in a real local pub; getting out of the rain and walking in and being met with a life-changing moment by chance but could also pack out a traditional theatre-type venue ala Lankum or Lisa O’Neill – this is pub music being given the spotlight of explosive venues like Chalk. The opening song taps into a bidding for the lottery and the hopes and dreams of chasing something that their lover worries about and faces an uneasy reassurance: “we will not be going cold / don’t worry my dear. Look at what I have here: a ticket of blue and gold.” They are unquestionably the best band of the entire festival that I saw – and when you see them it’s hard not to be cast under their spell.

Headliners Westside Cowboy I saw back at the Electric Ballroom supporting Blondshell and they had been talking about how they got the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury on at the same time as the same time a small indie band called Pulp did a secret set. That’s a tough nut to crack: and always a dilemma. You can only imagine how that agent call went. “So, hey, we’ve got you booked to play Glastonbury, but it’s on at the same time as Pulp. You still keen? Hello? Hello?” Fair credit to Westside Cowboy; they went ahead and played and used that experience ramping up gigs as a prolific outfit and honed their craft so are a lot more refined and have a lot more material to draw from now; which gives them plenty of room to work with. Their origin story of coming from a band honing their craft by playing Hank Williams and Lonnie Donegan covers gives them a sense of familiarity with the country-genre but they’ve Britain-ified it, turning it into its own “Britainicana” genre. My favourite track is EP opener ‘Strange Taxidermy’, psychedelic crescendos of Spiritualized that just groove and move. They also owe a lot to Sonic Youth (who doesn’t?); something that’s not unnoticed by people around us – an audience member observes this only to be asked by his mate “that’s a band as well, yeah?” which should be a requirement to get booted out of the venue on the spot. They make the journey, along with a few bands playing at this festival, to places like Rock Werchter in the summer – a famously mental hotbed for new talent as well that has seen bands like Gurriers have upwards of 250 crowd surfers in one short set. 

Keeping up the Irish theme of the evening, we get another look at Theatre; who have built up a buzz simply by turning up without any music released and just building new material as they go. Their first EP, ‘Incarnate’, hasn’t even come out yet; but now we have two songs off it ‘You Are’ and ‘The Fall’, to give fans a better idea of their sound and as a result the bedroom art-rock kind of feels like its own kind of groove. We came to have our shoes gazed and were delivered; they cast a trance-like spell over the room and people are bobbing, grooving along, having a year to work on their live set and that hard work and structuring their EP around that, rather than being designed to be listened to on a streaming service – this is a band that needs to be experienced live. 

A different, rowdier band of Irish indie comes next, Bleech 9:3; who have quickly grown almost overnight to a summer including supporting for Wunderhorse and they are very Wunderhorse coded in style and fanbase; with the pit that rapidly forms to pack out Komedia’s Basement. Their self-titled EP came out on Friday and there’s touches of a rawer; early Kneecap in here that take the audience a while to get warmed up. Once frontman Barry ‘Baz’ Quinlan launches into the pit and divides the crowd; things kick-off and pints are thrown. Rowdy, lively, raw – Bleech have tipped to play festivals like 2,000 Trees this summer and you can instantly feel they’ll be in their wheelhouse there. It’s properly unhinged, madhouse stuff, Irish harp pendants adorning the set that turn Komedia into a sweatbox. When Bleech wades into the pit it’s like chucking a live grenade into the crowd and watching them explode: everybody is moving, everybody is throwing hands – folklore in the making here; and they’ll go far. ‘Jackie’ has touches of Fontaines DC at times – and the London-based Dubliners reference their potential with ‘Underrated’. They may not be at the level of Madra or The Scratch yet - but it’s only a matter of time. 

The final day of Great Escape for myself (though; it goes on for another day), dawns for Friday and once again we are lured to the promise of the rowdier alt shows, taking us down to the Tide Beach Nightclub which on this occasion has been adorned with signs all over the city promoting Gurriers’ new tracks. It can only mean one thing: album number two is coming – and you are not ready. After all: NOBODY’S COMING TO SAVE YOU. It’s clever marketing tactics to get people down to TIDE: imprinted in the pavement on the Brighton beach; adorned, with presumably, the lead single; a testament of the range that Play it Again Sam records has to offer. 

The Brighton beach is the allure of spending an entire afternoon down on the waterfront and Tide Beach; a venue not connected to the Main Great Escape but part of the alternative festival; plays host to a rowdier; livelier and more engaged crowd that are there because it’s free entry; and well, it’s Gurriers. But we’re treated to plenty of quality, all new-to-me, all great acts before that show the expert curation of the day. Indie act Marsy are up first; a charming indie band “I thought magic was something I saw when I was a child,” kicks in the whimsical lyrics of new single ‘Magic’; a powerful indie tune that envelopes you from the word go. They’re a London based band that are working in a slacker environment that gives them a lowkey entertaining atmosphere that just pulls you in and makes you believe utterly in their spell. It’s a birthday show for Lucy Rushton, on bass; and a hell of a way to spend it. They create an aura of timeless melodies to them that could exist in any era; and if you’re a fan of the likes of Jessica Pratt you’ll be right at home here. The only way – like Theatre; is to experience them live and find out if they work for you.

American Brother Wallace is the vibe shift for the next band we are able to see; and the mood shift is instant into something joyous, upbeat and groove-y. It’s clear Wallace has a background as a choir director and a minister of education and he’s able to find the sense of groove that belongs to artists like Tyler Ballgame and the Heavy, working with guitarist Dan Taylor to release a high-octane soul movement that has the whole venue dancing. This shows the sheer variety of bands on the table that Great Escape has to offer – effortlessly grooving and dancing at every turn. Immediately stepping outside of the main festival it becomes clear that people are more engaged in the free events – and Wallace’s gospel-infused ‘Electric Love’ reminds the audience how much joy there is out there.

Having already supported Blood Orange I was excited on a friends’ recommendation to see Norwegian alt techno artist Sassy 009, the project of producer/songwriter/vocalist Sunniva Lindgård. Her vibes are like that of Sorry; and she has new material; including ‘Butterflies’ to spotlight to a crowd that by now; is getting busier and busier as we approach the evening. “all my life hand in hand keeping close the real friends” gestures towards the house, techno and industrial side of electro-pop and feels club-ready and ready to go down a storm. ‘Butterflies’ places an emphasis on friendship and connection – and it’s clear that a stop at techno-heavy festivals like Primavera in Barcelona isn’t too far around the corner. 

We’re shifting genres once again into pop-punk territory with PUNCHBAG who tell the audience what they are – not your punchbag – from the self-titled single that ramps up the crowd into a fun; good-vibes only mosh set. A lot of the problem of Great Escape so far has come from people who don’t know how to mosh or people just not moshing at acts you should be moshing to, so it’s fun to see some safe, crowd engagement and PUNCHBAG succeed in getting the crowd ramped up immediately. They’re “aggressive hopecore” from South London and determined to make an impression. Like Westside Cowboy it’s a band that I’ve seen before and have grown a lot more refined since then with more practice under their belt; they deserve to be a lot bigger than they are. Pure good vibes, punky energy love? They’ll be at Slamdunk in a few years – easy to see them with an in-built fanbase that are just there to see them in the evening. It’s got that overflowing energy of pop ecstasy that mixes in its fierce tempos with high-stakes energy; a relentless assault on the audience from beginning to end. They have the in-built chemistry of brother-sisters, rave pop that feels utterly cathartic. It’s time to get on the PUNCHBAG train if you haven’t already – they’re one of my favourite sets of the weekend, Clara Bach and her brother Anders, stars in the making. 

Once more a shift in mood comes to Belgian acts Ghinzu and The Haunted Youth; the latter of whom are playing in a very small venue for them and used to bigger stages – so too are Ghinzu, it’s small for everyone. Ghinzu have a new album on the way – ‘W.O.W.A.’ – and make the most of the experience of a band that’s been around since 1999. Out of the tracks on display the techno-alt infectious energy of ‘Snow White’ is an absolute belter of a hype-generator – a song that revels in creative experimentation and freedom and refuses to sit still in one place. There’s a mood factor here of trying something completely new and different; unafraid by constraints and the whirlwind mix of percussion and electronics. You’re poisoned with an apple and you wake up with love – is what the song is going for; and it fits the vibe of the club-ready beats to perfection. It’s the perfect lead into The Haunted Youth; who get the crowd warmed up for Gurriers instantly – one of the many cases where the location dictates who is playing in what order – stick it in Belgium, a much bigger arena, The Haunted Youth will be your headliners, but here; they’re the third band in. Their new single taps into the vulnerability of male emotions in ‘Boys Cry Too’, and are by this point, a very well-rehearsed outfit and every move feels meticulously planned and controlled. It works – and has earned them a slot at Rock Werchter later this year on their home turf.

The final band of the weekend for us is Gurriers; explosive and chaotic and the place descends into a madhouse from the moment that they come out on stage. I mean come on; it’s GURRIERS. Would you expect any different? Many of the crowd are the same people here from Bleech 9:3 yesterday, eschewing the wristband-only venues in favour of the pit; but there are also people who have travelled upwards of three hours just to see Gurriers alone. They have that pull – mixing in industrial, raucous punk rock that goes for the jugular with its sheer prowess of a social commentary that arrives as kind of like an Irish Big Special (or would Big Special be a Yorkshire Gurriers?). ‘NOBODY’S COMING TO SAVE YOU’ is track opener – that just builds and builds in the way that Gurriers are capable of – and we’re off with mostly new songs in a way that whilst the crowd may not know all the words to; yet, but it’s sure to become a cult favourite: “hope is dead / you feel it” captures the kind of biting social commentary that leads into the magnetic titular chorus of all-hope is lost industrial-soaked despair; the kind that would soundtrack a slow-move through the heartlands of a warehouse environment. Older favourites go down well – of course; it’s GURRIERS - they go down well – we are treated to ‘Des Goblin’ and ‘Top of the Bill’, as well as a whole host of new material that will come with the album release. The kind of despair and all-encompassing dread asks the crowd how we’re supposed to continue in normal times in the grand scheme of social upheaval: “Getting ready for the weekend while they are at war?” Surely the best way to respond to that would be to throw yourself into the pit and go fucking nuts. And go fucking nuts, the crowd do. 

So that's the Great Escape then. Or the 3 days I could do; Saturday felt the pull elsewhere. Quality music; and the sheer diversity of music across the board – I knew so many people going and only bumped into a few of them – depends on the variety of music and the strength in depth the festival has to offer. Whilst the crowd can be hit/miss depending on where you go – even the best bands can struggle to work a crowd as well at Great Escape – it is still capable of producing moments of magic like the Gurriers set at times. Highlights also included a peak Jamie Lenman performance that’s like he’s never been away, the math rock outfit of the cabs, the sheer punk chaos of Native James – and the twinned sets of Girl in the Year Above. Extraordinary, and of course – Madra Salach themselves, the next great name out of Ireland. 

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