Alas it’s the final day of Europe’s biggest new music event – The Great Escape. The Brighton & Hove Music Team brings you a final 12 concert reports from this fab third days proceedings, so sit back and enjoy…
GOD ON MY RIGHT (England) – Prince Albert 12:00 – 12:30
Saturday’s opener came from Liverpool based duo ‘God on my Right’. Unfortunately I only caught a couple of tracks due to a change to the advertised time. Theirs was an industrial sound with heavy Numan-esque synths and a strong vocal. Check out the track ‘Not So Young’ to get a flavour. MF
THE KITE STRING TANGLE (Australia) – Beach House 12:10 – 12:35
The Kite String Tangle is the solo project of alternative electronic artist and producer, Danny Harley, although in Brighton at the Beach House he is accompanied by a mate on drums. Danny is in charge of synths and drum pads and the rammed Beach House tent audience are well behind him. Possibly word had spread as to how good his show was at Patterns on Thursday night.
Young Danny it seems is already quite popular with 95,000 Facebook likes under his belt and his debut self-titled album reaching No.1 on the iTunes Electronic chart. His take on modern chart music should see him in pole position north of the equator, as south of it his breakthrough single ‘Given The Chance’ reached gold sales in Australia. His ‘The Prize’ single also featured Rudimental’s Bridgette Amofah, so this lads on the right track. NL
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS (Australia) – Beach House 12:50 – 1:15
We stay in the Beach House for another Australian outfit, who are a million miles away from the previous act, not in terms of where they were born, but on the musical front. Amyl And The Sniffers are Amy Taylor (vocals), Dec Martens (guitar), Gus Romer (bass) and Bryce Wilson (drums) and they are Australia’s answer to Wendy O. Williams New York City’s punk/metal Plasmatics. They are loud, brash, full of aggression, fast, noisy, have attitude and certainly know how to entertain and get their audience right behind them.
I am thankful that I have managed to catch their show, as I tried to see them on the previous night at the Prince Albert, but I have to say that I have never seen such a long queue to get into a gig there before and it was plainly obvious that those outside had absolutely no chance of getting in, myself included.
There’s nothing polished about this lot. Just over a year ago, they all came home to their shared residence one day and spontaneously wrote and recorded their first EP titled ‘Giddy Up’. It took them just four hours to get the whole thing done, after which they released it for free on Bandcamp. Humble beginnings indeed, however the Amyl gang will always remember Tuesday 23rd January 2018, as they played a gig to many thousands of people at the Coopers Stadium aka Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, (which hosted seven games of men’s football for the 2000 Olympic Games) as they were opening for none other than The Foo Fighters. Therefore, Amy and the guys sure know how to captivate an audience and the Brighton punters were enthralled by their set. They were tremendous and I hope that they come back very soon. One of the best TGE gigs. NL
CARNIVAL COLLECTIVE (England) – Jubilee Square 1:30 – 2:00
Brighton favourites Carnival Collective delivered their usual infectious performance at a packed Jubilee Square on Saturday lunchtime. From my distant vantage point, I counted 17 of them on the small stage. Carnival Collective use a mix of trumpets, saxophones, drums and various percussion in a variety of genres to create a wonderfully foot-stomping cacophony. I would challenge anyone not to be completely mobilised by their infectious energy and tribal beats. Unfortunately I felt this was too small a space to do their fabulous performance justice. Luckily they are locally based so I hope to catch them again soon! MF
AK PATTERSON (England) – Latest Music Bar 2:15 – 2:45
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team are certainly no strangers to AK Patterson and her chums Alfie Weedon (double bass and ‘Clangers’ whistle) and multi-instrumentalist Nat Reading, as we have recently reported on two of their fine absorbing concerts. AK Patterson’s charged delivery cast against a backdrop of haunting and skilful instrumentation, makes every performance an absorbing experience, sucking you in with melancholic lyrics.
We ventured out of the bright sunlight down to the cavern that is the basement of the Latest Music Bar. It was a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of what was going on in the outside world. I personally sat on the floor at the front and absorbed the captivating yet haunting Liz Fraser-esque (Cocteau Twins) performance.
Seems as though they are on a mission with their releases as they are making a track a month available until July and then they will release their debut EP. My colleague’s favourite track was ‘Lady Grayling’ whereas I honestly couldn’t choose. NL
ADOY (South Korea) – Patterns (Downstairs) 3:15 – 3:45
ADOY is an electronic rock band from Seoul, South Korea who formed in 2016. Although relatively they are a new band, the members (Juhwan – vocals/guitar, Zee – synthesiser, Dayoung – bass and Geunchang – drums) have been entrenched in the music scene for a while. ADOY’s music draws images that are dreamy, upbeat, and intuitive, such as summer, sea waves, surfing, running, night walks, cold beer, good chat with friends, and so on.
All of the band’s music is created in Juhwan’s house called ‘The Angel’, which is apparently plastered with posters of Tame Impala and Fleet Foxes. They released their first EP ‘Catnip’ a year ago and now have released a new single, ‘Young’ from their second EP ‘Love’. Since their initial release, the band has played numerous gigs and festivals and this entertainment value has shown through at their Patterns Brighton gig. Juhwan certainly knows how to get the crowd going and there were quite a number of European and Asian people singing along to the bands English lyrics songs. Dayoung on bass looked stunning with her face decorations etc. I would say that ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Grace’ were the most enjoyable tracks. NL
DOG IN THE SNOW (England) – St. Mary’s Church 4:00 – 4:30 (Alternative Escape)
Another act that is no stranger to the Brighton & Hove News Music Team is the enchanting Helen Ganya Brown, who is known as Dog In The Snow. We last caught up with her on Record Store Day, when she was performing a few of her wonderous compositions inside of former Cocteau Twins Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union record shop in Ship Street Gardens, Brighton. I stood next to former Cabaret Voltaire frontman Stephen Mallinder and we both got absorbed into DITS world. It was fab and again in St Mary’s Church in Kemp Town, Helen ‘did her thing’ and the punters sat on the church benches in contemplation, whilst the music flowed around them.
Her talents haven’t gone unnoticed as four tracks from her ten track 2017 album ‘Consume Me’, have been remixed/remade under the title ‘Consume Me:Re’ by Jonny Sanders (from Teleman), William Doyle (who was formerly known as East India Youth and is a jolly decent fellow), GGGGHOST (which is Steve Hillier of Dubstar) and Lost Horizons (which Helen plays live with and actually is Simon Raymonde’s latest musical project).
My fave DITS tracks are ‘Uncanny Valley’, ‘Magic’, ‘Mirror’ and ‘Consume Me’. Check her out. NL
THYLA (England) – St. Mary’s Church 4:50 – 5:20 (Alternative Escape)
Thyla (pronounce ‘Thigh-La’) are another act that the Brighton & Hove News Music Team have seen perform live before, when we saw them back in March at the Concorde 2 supporting the Top 10 album band Fickle Friends (who’s singer Natassja Shiner incidentally was also lapping up many acts at this year’s TGE). Thyla went down extremely well with the Concorde 2 crowd and I decided there and then that I wanted to see them perform again and so I grabbed my chance at St Mary’s Church as I was unable to attend their gig supporting Sunflower Bean on 5th April as I was already attending another gig at the Prince Albert.
Thyla are a Brighton based 4-piece made up of Millie Duthie, Mitch Duce, Dan Hole and Danny Southwell and they majestically blend glassy distorted guitar tone with driving rhythms and lilting ethereal melodies. Thus can be compared with Blondie meets The Horrors. I love their track ‘Pristine Dream’. NL
WET RED (Russia) – The Arch 6:00 – 6:30
Wet Red is an eye-catching band, who lives, rehearses, and performs just a short walk away from the Kremlin. They combine viral melodies with bold postpunk rhythms and at times sound akin to Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ meets an updated version of M People. Add into the mix their glam rock stage personas, the colour red and enough headgear to keep any milliner happy for a long time, the band, under the leadership of its frontwoman Eva Vostroknutova (other members being Vadim Pugin, Fedor Kandinsky and Jury Popov) has become a favourite with the Moscow fashionistas for its whirlwind live performances and DIY videos.
Throughout their two-year history, Wet Red have given dozens of performances, ranging from invitation-only parties of the international fashion brands to large Moscow festivals, as well as for us lot in The Arch on Brighton seafront. Having already released three singles, Wet Red — equally enamoured by testosterone music and haute couture — will soon finish the recording of their debut album. NL
JOYCUT (Italy) – The Arch 7:00 – 7:30
When the first initial batch of TGE 2018 artists were announced many months ago, I listened to the lot and for me the standout act based on a ten minute live video I saw put up by Audiotree Live was JoyCut. There was no way that I was going to miss a gig from this synth and drums trio from Bologna, Italy.
JoyCut who are named after the songs ‘Joey’ from Nick Drake’s ‘Time of No Reply’ and the Pink Floyd’s ‘The Final Cut’ and they make music for the future, weaving sound from a mass of electronics and two drum kits. You will hear orchestral breathings, cinematic saturations, tribal drumming and industrial percussion. They design atmospheric layers of sound with a dark tribal edge, a massive beat, a twitching melancholy and inventiveness that makes them hypnotic in their power and imagination. This is exactly what we were presented with at The Arch and I truly loved it! Seems I’m not alone in rating the band as Robert Smith (of The Cure) has invited JoyCut to headline the Purcell Room on 15th June 2018 as part of his Meltdown festival in London this Summer.
Their last album, ‘PiecesOfUsWereLeftOnTheGround’ took the band to new heights, evidenced by the album’s continued success, with a never-ending tour of over 300 dates across North America, Asia and Europe. The band is now working to release their fourth album in 2019. One of my fave TGE 2018 gigs. NL
AK/DK (England) – The Arch 8:00 – 8:30
The Brighton & Hove New Music Team just can’t get enough of Ed and Gee aka AK/DK as this will be our fourth outing with them and they never fail to impress. They are a MUST see live band, if you want to comprehend what all the high-energy and largely improvised structural abandon is all about. AK/DK stream of layers of fizzing arpeggios and crushing motorik drums has earned them places on stages and at festivals all around the UK and Europe.
The guys create improvised layers of fuzzed-up synths, delays and thunderous double drums. Their new album ‘Patterns/Harmonics’ was lauded by BBC 6 Music and received an ‘Album of the Day’ accolade after heavy rotation from the station.
Their performance at The Arch had to be on top form, especially as they were on stage immediately after the fab JoyCut who also utilise the synth and drums sound, but Ed and Gee sure did pull it off and the crowd were behind them all the way. One of my Top 5 favourite performances at TGE. NL
THE GO! TEAM (England) – Beach Club 9:45 – 10:45
Although The Great Escape is primarily a festival for introducing new music, we couldn’t resist the temptation of closing out this year’s festival by attending ‘The Go! Team’ at The Beach Club, a great new venue added for 2018. We had previously witnessed their energetic performance at the Concorde2 in February and noted they lined up with a larger ensemble this time around.
Brighton and London based ‘The Go! Team’ produce a unique blend of rapping, chanting, singing and dancing with a blend of musical styles to create a mighty fusion of sound and spectacle. This produces an exhilarating and infectious performance and tonight was no exception.
The set which lasted just over the advertised hour was superbly marshalled by the effervescent and charismatic lead singer Ninja who, along with her band-mates were all on top form. The set was packed with old favourites such as the brilliantly infectious ‘Ladyflash’ and ‘Huddle Formation’ combined with tracks from all five albums since they first burst onto the scene in 2004 with the Mercury nominated ‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike’. Other highlights for me included the awesome ‘She’s Got Guns’ from the album ‘Semicircle’ released this year, ‘The Power is On’ and ‘Keys To The City’ which had much of the crowd bouncing around deliriously.
All in all a great way to round off another brilliant Great Escape. I’m now counting the days until TGE2019! MF
The Great Escape Festival 2019 super early bird tickets now on sale HERE.
Read our Great Escape success article HERE.
Read The Great Escape Beach Launch Party 16.5.18 article HERE.
Read our what happened on Day 1 of The Great Escape 18.5.18 article HERE.
Read our what happened on Day 2 of The Great Escape 19.5.18 article HERE.
Read our Great Escape news article HERE.
