Brighton in May is one of my favourite places to be in the world. As if there wasn't enough to do already, the Fringe festival takes over the city and provides a host of entertainment to sink your teeth into. Nestled in amongst cabaret, comedy and theatre is The Great Escape (TGE), the largest new music festival in Europe. It's effectively our version SXSW but with less Americans and set on the seaside, with over 35 venues playing host to 400 up and coming bands and artists from all over the world. Punters and industry aficionados alike flock out in droves to find next year's talent before their stages become more grandiose, and as Thursday came around I was eager to get searching myself.

Sneaking off as early as I could I arrived at the new hub location, the Spiegeltent at the bottom of Old Steine. Although slightly more out of the way compared to last year it is much better suited here, with room for a decent crowd, a couple of bars serving Brighton ales, and the addition of the Moulin Rouge stage (currently up for the duration of the fringe) definitely curated the feel of a centralised headquarters. I was here for one reason however, and that was for Badbadnotgood. A three piece instrumental powerhouse, who gave a master class in jazz virtuoso, tied together with deep bass and noisy electronics. Technical hiccups meant their half hour set lasted only twenty minutes (much to my annoyance), but their cover of Flying Lotus's 'Putty Boy Strut' remains one of the highlights of the weekend, and hopefully they'll come and play London soon so my ears can get an hour with them.

Usually I take a couple of days to do my homework for TGE, carefully planning my route for all three days. This year I didn't get around to this however, and had to base my movements on the programme blurbs. After a brief afternoon interlude we decided to venture towards Digital where Poland's female fronted Bokka were set to take stage. Looking across the room I can see five people, all wearing tailored one piece scuba masks (minus snorkel). Apparently they are known for the anonymity, and a quick search on internet reveals very little on the matter, but their delightful mix of almost 80's sounding synths and airy vocals create a very memorable alternative pop sound.

As a veteran of the festival, you come to accept and realise a couple of simple facts; if there's a band/artist you want to see in the evening hours, you better be damn sure to get there two bands before if you intend on actually seeing them. This was such the case with Little Dragon, and we weren't taking any chances, arriving at Coalition for the start of Ballet School who formed in Berlin circa 2012. They were a pleasant surprise, taking the classic 80's pop sentiment and twisting it with a more melancholic new wave sound that took them way beyond the merits of a simple throwback band. Drowners who followed soon after were less to my taste however, as their standard formulaic indie/pop didn't provide anything new, and felt as though it would be better suited to 2004 instead 2014.

Nevertheless all was forgotten as Little Dragon began, whose dreamy, synth laden hyper-pop has gained this Swedish group quite an audience in the last five years. The new material from their soon-to-be-released album Nabuma Rubberband is as strong as ever, and everyone who was fortunate enough to see them evidently agreed with me. Wrapping up the evening we headed to The Blind Tiger for a night cap (or two, or possibly three), with the likes of Plastic Rose, Sheppard and Thomas Azier to see us off.

A new dawn, a new day, a new hangover. Luckily it faded quickly with the realisation that I would be seeing Australian electronic trio Seekae not once, but twice in the same day. I found them at TGE around four years ago and have been dying for another opportunity to see them play live. Firstly was their set at Boutique, which was part of One Inch Badge's Alternative Escape show. Running alongside the main festival all weekend, the Alternative Escape is a fully fledged event in its own right, allowing those without wristbands to soak up a host of awesome music. Since I saw them last Seekae have gained an extra member, and are all the better of for it. Bringing vocals into the mix really gives their set fluidity, playing old favourites such as 'Void' whilst introducing their newest material to fresh faced audience. Before the break we managed to squeeze our way into the Prince Albert for Irish duo UNKWN, impressing me with Gemma's smooth vocals floating on top of the glitchy percussions of Chris's electronic productions.

Another round of Seekae ensues, this time at the Komedia, before catching the end of Sivu's set at the Brighthelm Centre. Although his quirky, laid back indie style might not exactly be ground breaking, it's refreshing when compared with some of his less imaginative counterparts. Once more coming to the conclusion that if we wanted to catch Royal Blood we were going to have to get their early, we weaselled our way into Darlia as they were about to start. I'd heard good things, but for me it was Nirvana covered in aspartame. It's always good to see a Brighton band getting some deserved credit for their efforts, and Royal Blood certainly did their best to uphold that statement. A hell of a lot of noise is made by these two guys, with the bass guitar signal being split to provide teeth shattering low end and a separate driving guitar sound; another highlight of the week here.

Ending this night was a trip out of town (and fortunately nearer my house) to Brighton Electric, where an Alternative Escape evening was playing host to a plethora of local talent. AK/DK's frantic drums and electronics were a late night crowd pleaser, whilst Written in Waters plaid a recognisably epic set filled with operatic vocals and post rock melodies.

By the time Saturday of TGE rolls round I am usually feeling rather fragile. There's only so much walking and beer drinking a man can do before his bed beckons him to her. Finally mustering up the courage to venture towards town I headed back to One Inch Badge's stage at Boutique, this time for The Physics House Band. If you've read anything I have written in the last couple of years you have probably heard me sing their praises before, and their performance leaves me with no other alternative than to do the same now. Hearing some new psychedelic material from these boys was a massive bonus, and you should be on the lookout for their next record whenever it surfaces.

After an afternoon/evening of beer drinking we discussed tactics for the remainder of the night and headed to Bermuda Triangle for Persian Rabbit. It was an interesting experience; the band sounded almost like a slowed down Mars Volta, but with weirder instrumentation. A harmonium provided a woozy drown to the dark melodic undertones, but I felt as if there was something lacking in the sound department. A lack of presence form the double bass and the harmonium almost inaudible made the whole thing a bit disjointed.

The Hope provided the next line of entertainment, which came from another two piece rock band God Damn. I have followed their movements for a few years now after getting obsessed with their video for 'Heavy Money' (watch it...no seriously go and watch it right now). Generally huge sounding, their thunderous drum/guitar combo will leave your ears seriously ringing if you're not careful, (or in my case armed with plugs), and it's obvious why the small room is positively teaming with people.

I only missed two acts that I genuinely wanted to see all weekend, and it happened to be on the last night... So much for my TGE veteran spiel. It appeared the whole of Brighton was queueing up extra early to see John Hopkins, and I just didn't have the heart to wait in a queue for that long after the weekends festivities, opting instead for the Northern Lights where Lu'Ami was playing a late night set. She operates a pedal for her vocalised loops to curate her soulful, harmonically rich music, and was a great way to finish off a stellar weekend of live music.

Collecting all my thoughts in the formation of this review makes me realise just what a diverse musical event TGE is, and how lucky I am to have it right on my door step. Brighton is my field, and all the venues my stages, what more could I ask for? Until next year Great Escape, if I've recovered recovered by then.  

Review by Liam McMillan
Photo's by Chris Poots ThirdEyePhotographyUK