At face value The Great Escape festival can seem like a farce. Industry moguls flock to the seaside town of Brighton stroking their beards, attempting to seduce the next 'up and coming' female singer-songwriter into one of the last remaining big record deals. But underneath all the superficial trivialities, away from the pseudo glitz and glamour of the industry it is one of the best weekends you can spend anywhere as a music lover.

Overwhelming is an understatement, as every venue across the city (officially part of the festival or otherwise), crams live music through their doors. Even running between venues can yield secret street performances that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. The bigger names require an add-on ticket, featuring the likes of Stateside's Southern soul curators Alabama Shakes and poetically inspired Kate Tempest, who showed how to break pop conventions superbly.

It's not here however where the best times are to be had. If like me you're forever full of good intentions, wanting to have conducted a full-scale research project into every artist and failing miserably, then the best way is to pick something from the programme and take a gamble. It led me to some interesting evening entertainment from K.I.D (Kids in Despair), an art house No Doubt with less guitars, more keyboards and a purposefully desultory attitude that I shouldn't have enjoyed but very much did. Nouveau grunge outfit allusondrugs lay proof to the 90's resurgence, all fuzz and harmonies, their live performance giving context to their fast rising notoriety.

Even the cash-strapped can find something to fill their ears at the Alternate Escape, which runs along side the main festival and offers up a hefty amount of free music. Proof was in the pudding as a short stumble down a side street revealed tequila bar The Pull and Pump who were playing host to a slew of sonic entanglements. From the epic operatic grooves of Written in Waters to the no-frills distorted hooks of Tigercub there was no shortness in talent here, and I imagine the first time a crowd surf has taken place within the walls of this little pub.

One of my highlights from the weekend were the abstract beats from Polish producer Sonar Soul, who with band in tow mixed smooth hip hop with glitchy electronics to create something weirdly danceable, (if anyone finds my lost vinyl then you can hear it for yourself). The progressive, delightfully erratic rock/metal hybrid of Black Peaks also didn't fail to impress, even with the jobsworth henchman creating a tense atmosphere in at the Pav Tav, and are surely set for big things in the coming year.

Article by Liam McMillan

Photos by Chris Poots