The Great Escape Festival

Rooftop shows? Zane Lowe? Moshing in the King and Queen? It could only be the 3rd Great Escape Festival, getting bigger and better each year. This year backed by Red Stripe amongst others, it is compared to the yearly SXSW festival in Texas. A showcase of upcoming bands and solo artists all over the city. There are also conferences for the music industry darlings but for the rest of us one wristband was the key to any of the shows in town.

Thursday

Concorde 2 was hosting the 3 nights for MTV2’s Gonzo. Mopeds sped up and down the road giving people free lifts whilst we waited in the queue. FrYars was the first band on. Announcing the fact that he had been to A and E, was going to have a heart attack and might pass out, the lead singer carried on regardless of his shaky self. Not sure if he was nervous because they were the first band on or due to the fact they were being filmed. Very quirky songs with a haunting voice throughout, one to check out if you like something a bit odd in a good way.

So far so good, until School of Language came on and played a bad choice show opener but improved slightly but were nothing special or particularly memorable.

We left Concorde 2 to find something with a bit more oompth! The text message service proved to be helpful in instructing what venue was full or where to get in to. Audio was full so we headed to King and Queen for Cage the Elephant. Surrounded by all manner of Tudor things, this Kentucky band wreaked havoc in the pub. Crowd surfing and moshing in the King and Queen was something I would not normally expect to see in there but it was good! The front man even scaled the banisters to the upstairs part like a spider mid song. Cage the Elephant sweated and rocked out before our very eyes and was awesome. We left after hearing about a beatbox flute player at the Pressure Point; this had to be seen to be believed. Supported by a clarinet/double bass/bongo drum ensemble Arun Ghosh, Nathen ‘Flutebox’ Lee was sheer brilliance, not put off by my man falling asleep onstage…

Friday

Friday had many secret gigs during the day for those not too wrecked from the first night and even a BBQ gig with We Are Scientists for those who got one of the limited tickets. We headed to the Pavillion Theatre, which is an intimate venue normally for arty shows. We were told we were not going to get in. However patience prevailed and we went in to see Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man, who are a strange but good British band who sound a bit like a cross between Modest Mouse and ye olde English songs. Dressed in a 3 piece suit, the frontman’s deep voice sang songs from their new album. Their dark but arty sound appeared to get a mixed reaction but mostly a positive one.

The Young Knives were definitely worth the wait in the queue. There was great banter between the Dartnell brothers onstage and their set was very tight. The drummer also had a magnificent beard! They promised to play new and old songs and “Weekends and Bleakdays”, “Fit 4 You” and “She’s Attracted To” were the highlights of the show. Their new single “Turn Tail” was also delivered with gusto. No radio play – why the hell not?

We left buzzing and headed to the Komedia Studio bar, getting in the confused queues and passing cars. The Recoil did an unplugged set, which was mere background music. The reason we were in the bar was to see Derek Meins, the self proclaimed legendary poet who was surprisingly quite good, delivering a mixture of songs and bellowing poems such as “RRRICHARD IS GOING THROUGH PHASES!” Impressive. Another favourite was his poem about a fat girlfriend and the effects of jogging. He even came back on for an encore due to popular demand. We were reminded of his poetry links by the people shushing at us to be quiet. Next band Blah Blah Blah led me to that very conclusion and to the end of the night.

Saturday

Horatios on the Palace Pier was the venue of choice for the final night of the festival to make sure we were able to see Pete and the Pirates. The one error realised from the start was perhaps not doing our research on the support bands. Matthew Sawyer and the Ghosts were the worst band – they all looked like they didn’t want to be there and it was apparent where the misery in the songs came from. At least you can laugh at emos but these guys were just woeful. One thing which probably didn’t help was the bad sound set up, which got rectified later. Shits on Alphabeat though.

Artefacts for Space Travel were more promising but sounded a bit samey after awhile. It was funny to see everybody rushing out for the free badges at the end though. Probably better than what was to follow. Like the previous support, I had not really any idea what Screaming Tea Party were going to sound like, it was lucky that I had not built up any expectations, as they just seemed like some rubbish band you would only pretend to like out of politeness (mate of a mates band yeah!). Except there were quite a few people at the front getting into it, maybe I just missed the point. Still thought they were just another lamo band for a local hall gig, not for a festival like this.

All hope was placed on Pete and the Pirates to save the night with their debut album Little Death. Their performance musically was flawless…although there was something slightly amiss for this headline set. If you were just expecting indie pop tunes and nothing more then I suppose there was nothing to disappoint, however this was a headline set and you’d really want something more to warrant this status than you too would feel the same. It just wasn’t amazing but was a good bit of fun, nothing special. Wish I’d got in the queue for the Barfly much earlier. Nevermind

Some bands which I missed out on: Peanut Albino, Cheeky Cheeky and The Nosebleeds, Soiled Mattress and The Springs. Some that I really missed out on: Ebony Bones, Crystal Castles, Lightspeed Champion (he fell on top of his keyboard). Never again: Matthew Sawyer and the Ghosts, Screaming Tea Party, School of Language, Blah Blah Blahs.

Words: The Mexican