| Features | The Great Escape Festival round up |
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Words by Greg Harper It’s always nice to escape, especially to Camden-on-Sea or the San Francisco of Britain… Brighton, and to this years Great Escape festival that proved it as the UK’s leading city based event. With Vampire Weekend on most people’s minds, the unavoidable migration moved towards Concorde 2 leaving those in the know heading off to watch Young Knives sparkle their indie humour and intelligence. Elsewhere The Futureheads played what was their bravest and most exciting show to date. Set-listing what seemed like their predominantly garage-led material, including new album grace ‘Walking Backwards’ and ‘Beginning of the Twist’, the band were backdropped by Digitals’ visual reckoning that had the venue erupt into a punk rave of immeasurable brilliance and crushing passion.
Also on the bill, Elle S’appelle showed off their colours for the Artrocker flock at Water Margin, their Liverpool pop being some of the most ear friendly melodies we’ve heard all year, the untold ‘Monkey Shine’ being as close to pop rightness as one would ever dare go. Day one was capped off by the iniquitous The Go! Team returning to Brighton for a benchmark carnival-like show that swept the audience away in a candid sense of Sesame Street playfulness and reflecting harmonies. The throngs enjoyed ice-creams on the pier whilst others gently partied down on the beach later and, looking out to the cliffs, wondering which bands to catch live out of the myriad on offer. Managing to find the time for a modest bit of the instrumental Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band Featuring Tim and Sam, before heading to see the winners of the Red Stripe Music Award, Klaus Says Buy The Record, a project fronted by a man with all the refinement of a ‘Patrick Champion’ and the voice of Paul Heaton; playing singly, accompanied, and then from the innards of the audience he knows how to make a song work. He will, later on in the year, be playing at the outstanding Blissfields festival in Hampshire alongside The Whip, The Wonder Stuff and Roni Size. Then of course the big guns come out as Cage The Elephant played downstairs at Audio. Though not their liveliest of audiences, the show was as life-avowing and exciting as you’d hope from the American pop-punk band of 6-string bangers, playing the likes of ‘James Brown’ and ‘One Ear’ to much air punching and head diverting with sneering cheerfulness. We catch 4 or 5 Magicians before strolling along to the Pavilion Theatre where Rockfeedback was hosting some of their Transgressive artists including Jeremy Warmsley who not just plays, but owns, his next single cover of New Order’s ‘Temptation’. We, on the final day and along with what seemed like everybody else, enjoyed a rare performance from Soko and Kid Harpoon, playing together in a last minute show that sees them accompanying each other in a fantastically magical show that really displays what’s so exceptional about this event. Moving to The Wallbirds and what could have been a dull set in front of a room full of lounging layabouts became one of the festivals highlights with their grassroots alt-country folk pop. ‘Changes With The Moon’ had drummer Chris up into the crowd banging his feet along to the songs auspicious melody while settling back into the vibe of the set, the band had the room clomping and clapping along to a sound only describable as Bob Dylan fronting The Libertines. From there we moved along the crowds to Laura Marling, somebody we’d underestimated as we’re dragged by an overzealous member of team RawRip to find her bowl the performance of the whole festival.
Layered in vocal beauty we struggled to find fault in her crying genius. Our feet were battered and bruised, our hair thick with sweat, but as we perched over the audience for this spectacle there was only her and us, the music (backed by the surreally fantastic Mumford and Sons) entering our characters with honesty, love and a chop of lines that could have Regina Spektor hiding under the table. Finally to Esser, playing tougher and closer than earlier in the day when Pizza Express had seen them play an impromptu show, we’re in no doubt as to who else could be likable to Blur and Foals in one inexplicably magnificent verse. Tired and elated, we retire from the festival… a drink in one hand and a skimming stone in the other, there’s nothing but fond reflection on this utterly life-changing festival, full of madcap adventures and the best music you’re ever going to hear in your life. From Camden crawling to Brighton calling, this has been one of the best springs for new and established music we’ve ever seen… even if the weather has been trash.
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