‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’, FIRST FIFTY, THE GREAT ESCAPE, LONDON 15.11.22
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team wanted to get the heads up on the ‘First Fifty’ artists that are set to play ‘The Great Escape’ new music festival in Brighton next May. Thus we headed off to various concert venues in east London as they were showcasing twenty three or twenty four of the world’s most exciting emerging acts ahead of their festival appearances next year.
The artists were spread across no less than eight venues, with many performing at the exact same time, thus a plan of action was required for our selected four team members Sara, Teddy, John and Mark who were covering the event. That plan being to select a single venue of your choice and check out the acts that are playing there!
The eight venues being used for the ‘First Fifty’ are listed below. Our team were based at the first four:
Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette Street, London, E9 6NU
Paper Dress Vintage, 352a Mare Street, London, E8 1HR
The Shacklewell Arms, 71 Shacklewell Lane, London, E8 2EB
The Victoria, 451 Queensbridge Road, Dalston, London, E8 3AS
Hackney Social, Unit 1, Bohemia Place, London, E8 1DU
OSLO, 1A Amhurst Road, London, E8 1LL
Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate Street, Cambridge Heath, London, E2 9AG
Folklore, 186 Hackney Road, London, E2 7QL
Now onto those acts that we managed to witness live this evening.
First up are Mark’s reviews of the acts at the Moth Club…
NELL MESCAL – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:00-8:3o)
Tonight’s gig is part of the launch event for ‘The Great Escape Festival’, which takes place in Brighton in May next year. There are multiple gigs taking place across east London tonight, in which roughly half of the ‘First Fifty’ acts to be announced for the festival will be performing.
The opening act tonight is Nell Mescal, who is the sister of actor Paul Mescal, who starred in the BBC drama ‘Normal People’, so performing obviously runs in the family. Nell is performing with a full band, and the opening song ‘Cruel’ is a lovely slice of breezy indie. However, this does not last, and the bass player switches to a Moog synthesizer for second song ‘Hate You’, which is a big powerful ballad, and reminds me of T’Pau, which is not a good thing. However, it does highlight how good Nell’s voice is, and it’s much better than T’Pau singer Carol Decker’s!
Growing Pains’ was written when Nell first moved to London and was trying to convince her friends at home that her mental health was fine (it wasn’t). This song also has something of a 1980s feel. ‘Punch Line’ is about knowing that somebody is going to hurt you, and you want to get there first! The intro is delicately fingerpicked, and the song has big choruses with keyboards. ‘Graduating’ is about not graduating from school, which Nell didn’t do. It’s also her first single. It’s a slow but powerful piano-driven ballad. ‘Homesick’ is energetic with a pre-programmed synth figure. It could almost be Martha and the Muffins. Final song ‘Yellow Dress’ is another slow powerful song. Overall the material is good, but there’s an element of stage school about it. It’s all a little safe. I think that if Nell took a few more risks she could come up with something really interesting. She has the wherewithal.
(Mark Kelly)
SEB LOWE – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
Next up is Seb Lowe, who comes from Saddleworth, although he says that he comes from Manchester. I suppose not many Londoners have heard of Saddleworth. Seb is a singer/songwriter, and tonight is playing with a bassist (Sam) and drummer (Joe), with himself on acoustic guitar. Normally there are five of them. No matter – it works perfectly well with three. The tunes are short, punchy and concise. They’re angry and ironic and the obvious comparison is Jake Bugg, but Seb is far more political. The delivery is very much influenced by rap, and there’s some nice acoustic fingerpicking. The songs are recent too: one references the death of the Queen.
‘Generation Suicide‘ references climate change, self obsession and apathy. It’s relatively rare to find a young songwriter who directly references the burning issues of modern life. The riff of one song sounds very much like Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, although this is probably more irony. One way or another I believe that this man will make waves. Certainly one to watch out for.
Seb Lowe:
Seb Lowe – vocals, guitar
Sam – bass
Joe – drums
www.instagram.com/seb.lowe.music
(Mark Kelly)
THE DINNER PARTY – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (10:00-10:45)
I reviewed The Dinner Party at the ‘Mutations Festival’ a couple of weeks ago in Brighton. Tonight seems to be something of a homecoming gig, and it’s also their last gig of this year. They seem to have a pretty loyal fanbase, as the place is rammed. Some of the audience seem to be friends of the band, and many of the audience are dressed similarly to the band. They enter to portentous intro music, and are greeted like conquering heroes. From tonight’s first song ‘Burn Alive’ they already seem more self-assured even than when I last saw them, but in front of such a deservedly partisan audience, how could they not be? I remember ‘The Feminine Urge’ from the last time that I saw them. It’s an angry, assertive and righteous song. Not for the last time tonight vocalist Abi proves herself to be an incredibly expressive performer. She tells us that it is nearly exactly a year since their first show. This is amazing. If I’d been told that they had been performing for two or three years I wouldn’t have been surprised.
‘Beautiful Boy’ is something of a showcase for guitarist Emily, who starts the song playing flute and later adds an impressive guitar solo. ‘Sinner’ is initially sung by guitarist Lizzie, and features a very ABBA bassline, which takes me back to my Eurovision comparisons when I first saw this band! Maybe it was this bassline that did it! Abi dives into the audience (not for the last time!) whilst Emily peels off a ferocious solo. ‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’ is piano led and has the feel of a 1960s pop classic. Emily’s solo here favours feel over flash. In this case less is definitely more. I’m still not sure about the lyrical content of ‘Nothing Matters’. Is it a feminist anthem, a song of acceptance, or worse, submission? The jury’s out at the moment. ‘During Lady Of Mercy’ Abi requests a moshpit, which she promptly joins! After ‘Mirror’ (which they say is their last song) all the lights go off, but they don’t bother leaving the stage. The audience roars and the band carry on with ‘Godzilla’ (which reminds me of Talking Heads’ ‘Life During Wartime’) which has a cataclysmic drum finale. Emily and Lizzie contribute some lead vocals to the actual final song ‘Underground’. Abi makes a final foray into the crowd and the band take a bow. I could expend many more words on The Dinner Party, but there’s no space. So in short: they ROCK!!! Make sure if you do nothing else next year, you see The Dinner Party at The Great Escape.
The Dinner Party:
Abi – vocals
Lizzie – guitar
Emily – guitar, flute
Aurora – keyboards
Georgia – bass
Session drummer for live gigs
(Mark Kelly)
Next up are Teddy’s reviews of the acts at The Shacklewell Arms…
LAMBRINI GIRLS – THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
Brighton’s own Lambrini Girls have been up and down the country lately, but The Great Escape’s preview gigs brought them back down south to mentally prepare future audiences for their chaotic shows. Intimate venues like The Shacklewell Arms are Lambrini Girls’ natural home, giving the band ample room to roam and bring the party right to their audience. This gig was decidedly less rowdy than most of their hometown affairs, probably owing to the fact that it was a pretty grim Tuesday, but it didn’t slow the scrappy punk trio down.
From their opening tracks, including their first single ‘Big Dick Energy’, they were thrashing about onstage with trademark furious energy. Rocking a graffiti-covered pink cowboy hat, frontwoman Phoebe made a beeline for the empty bar in her usual mission to sing Lambrini Girls’ tongue-in-cheek lyrics from anywhere other than the stage. Even instrument malfunctions that would put a dent in a less confident band’s show were embraced by the trio; bassist Lily adapted the screeches of their ‘Gay Panic’ interlude into an over-the-top plea for an audience member’s belt to use as a makeshift guitar strap. It’s all part of the show for a band so committed to DIY punk culture.
Lambrini Girls:
Phoebe Lunny – vocals, guitar
Lily Boşgelmez – bass
Catt Jack – drums
(Teddy Webb)
JOEY VALENCE AND BRAE – THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, LONDON (10:00-10:30)
I’ve been meaning to catch Joey Valence And Brae live for months now. Armed with left-field rhymes and nostalgic beats, the hip-hop duo take to the stage with the brotherly chemistry of a pair who’ve been making music together for years purely for the love of the game. I found the duo through TikTok via my little brother, so I had no idea how the songs I’d only seen in self-aware videos online would play to a live crowd. I’m happy to report, though, that their good vibes are truly infectious. As with Lambrini Girls before them on the night’s lineup, their full-throated conviction in their ideas elevates these boys and their retro raps into classics. If you can resist spending lines like “while I’m at it, I’m a clown like Nemo” rapped over a screeching ‘Jump Around’-esque beat, you’re a stronger gig-goer than I.
It doesn’t hurt that their beats often take on an early 90s swing, making them dated in the best possible way. I’m not too good for nostalgia and the Shacklewell crowd clearly weren’t either. A highlight of the show was seeing an audience member who’d slunk to the back for the first half of the set clear the floor to bust out some breakdancing when the beat dropped on the endlessly danceable ‘I’m Fresh’.
Joey Valence And Brae:
Joey Valence – vocals
Brae – vocals
(Teddy Webb)
Next up are Sara’s reviews of the acts at The Victoria…
ALIENBLAZE – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (8:00-8:30)
The Great Escape ‘first fifty’ boasts a good range of strong female musicians, three of which are offered up tonight at the Victoria in Dalston.
First up is AlienBlaze, a 20 year singer/songwriter and guitarist who has a penchant for flashy custom guitars. We first saw AlienBlaze at The Great Escape in Brighton in May this year, and since then she has grown in confidence and sound. This may be a small stage tonight, but she has morphed from the timid rabbit of a few months ago to a predatory creature, owning every last inch. Her foot twitching meld of pop, emo, grunge and electronica is gritty, dirty and fun.
The set is a short one with AlienBlaze only using up 20 minutes from her allotted half hour, and ending with an abrupt “goodnight” – this could have been due to simply running out of songs, but we’d bet on it being a less-than-subtle (but still successful) ploy to leave her audience wanting more.
(Sara-Louise Bowrey)
LOZEAK – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
With her cherry red hair, heavy monobrow and myriad tattoos, you might be ready to frame Norwich-born newcomer Lauren Eakins aka Lozeak as a rebel. But she’s not one; that’s just how she’s carried herself through life, using self expression and social media as a way of making – rather than being shaped into – the mould.
Lozeak is already a social media star with more than 500,000 followers. She has now set her crosshairs on becoming a serious singer.
Her music is a heady cocktail of dance, pop emo, and grunge, all dished out with a highly commercial voice – who said emo is dead? Definitely one for fans of Averil Lavigne.
(Sara-Louise Bowrey)
WITCH FEVER – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (10:00-10:30)
Witch Fever are headlining tonight, and as the room rapidly fills to bursting, it becomes abundantly clear that this is what everyone has come for.
The Manchester quartet generate high-energy empowering punk. It’s dark, infectious, and honest with a complexity that weaves, immerses, and resonates throughout the assembled audience. Singer Amy Walpole, guitarist Alisha Yarwood, bassist Alex Thompson and drummer Annabelle Joyce throw us songs with lyrics that have no fear, and they tackle subjects that may not be comfortable, but they are important.
Witch Fever:
Amy Walpole – vocals
Alisha Yarwood – guitar
Alex Thompson – bass
Annabelle Joyce – drums
(Sara-Louise Bowrey)
Finally, here are John’s reviews of the acts at Paper Dress Vintage…
SHELF LIVES – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:30-9:00)
Sometimes the coincidences just pile up so high you think it’s becoming a conspiracy. And tonight at Paper Dress Vintage in the heart of Hackney for one of the annual ‘First 50’ shows hosted by The Great Escape is just one of those times. Opening the BBC Introducing stage are Shelf Lives, the London-based darlings of Jess Iszatt, the BBC Introducing presenter who ushers the band on stage to a clearly eager crowd. One half of this punk-tastic electro-guitar duo is Jonn, and he’s from Northampton. Nothing particularly coincidental to report on that front. But leading the charge on vocals is Sabrina. She’s from Canada. And that’s precisely where we are going tomorrow, for a four-day taste of the country’s musical finest at ‘M for Montreal’.
Even more spookily, both ‘M for Montreal‘ and The Great Escape were co-founded by the same person… the legendary Martin Elbourne – long-time Glastonbury main stages booker and erstwhile ‘Musical Thinker in Residence for the City of Adelaide’…what a great job title that is, eh? We’ll be reporting back from Montreal next week to dovetail with our Great Escape coverage – and we sincerely hope that Shelf Lives are a touchstone for the quality of the acts the city will have on offer. The band’s most obvious influence is Peaches or maybe L7, but despite their aggressive delivery the band feel way more accessible regardless of their adversarial lyrics and in our face delivery. It’s fast, it’s frenetic and it’s over way too soon for us and everyone else in the room.
Shelf Lives:
Sabrina – vocals
Jonny – guitar, bass, keyboards
(John Bownas)
BAMBIE THUG – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:30-10:00)
Here we have a visceral experience in anyone’s book. Positively dripping with (a)sexuality, Bambie Thug’s visual appeal is all around their mic-stand thin singer… but it’s important to not forget that this is a band, not just a nihilistic front-person spitting over sampled beats.
Lauded as ‘must see’ they also sit squarely in the ‘must listen’ category…and are a perfect pairing with Shelf Lives, delivering a very similar – but at the same time unique – vibe. Irish roots shine through with Catholic church references abounding in a way that stridently pokes its recriminating finger at the institution’s abuse of people and power.
There’s a tonne of festivals out there who need to add Bambie Thug to their posters for 2023 – so watch out for them coming to a tent in a field near you soon.
(John Bownas)
SERAPHINA SIMONE – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (10:30-11:00)
Let’s just get the elephant out of the room. Seraphina Simone’s dad is none other than Terence Trent D’Arby – but she has totally succeeded in putting that obvious advantage to one side and ploughing her own musical furrow. It would have been all too easy for her to tread in his deep footsteps – but instead she takes her own direction…one guided equally by her Californian roots and her London lifestyle.
Admittedly, buried in her voice and arrangement is a sound that is frequently reminiscent in half-heard echoes of a host of other great musicians and bands. You can pick out your own favourites from three decades of purest pop – but the lasting impression is of something new and beautiful made from choice ingredients.
She sits somewhat out on a limb tonight given the two acts who came before – definitely not the sort of line-up you would expect outside of a festival setting. And that’s why we love festivals so much. But despite sitting firmly in the ‘dreamy’ as opposed to ‘punky’ section of the room, her stage presence and confidence carry her through to win over a crowd who had just been supercharged on a diet of hi-octane extravagance. It’s sweet indie pop but with a distinctly bittersweet undertone.
(John Bownas)
Here’s the list of all of the artists that are performing across east London tonight:
SHELF LIVES – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:30-9:00)
BAMBIE THUG – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:30-10:00)
SERAPHINA SIMONE – PAPER DRESS VINTAGE, HACKNEY, LONDON (10:30-11:00)
LAMBRINI GIRLS – THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
JOEY VALENCE AND BRAE – THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, LONDON (10:00-10:30)
MELIN MELYN – OSLO, HACKNEY, LONDON (7:45-8:15)
ARTEMAS – OSLO, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:45-9:15)
THE HEAVY HEAVY – OSLO, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:45-10:30)
MEYY – SEBRIGHT ARMS, CAMBRIDGE HEATH, LONDON (8:00-8:30)
MICKEY CALLISTO – SEBRIGHT ARMS, CAMBRIDGE HEATH, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
JESSICA WINTER – SEBRIGHT ARMS, CAMBRIDGE HEATH, LONDON (9:45-10:15)
GROVE – SEBRIGHT ARMS, CAMBRIDGE HEATH, LONDON (10:30-11:00)
ALIENBLAZE – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (8:00-8:30)
LOZEAK – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
WITCH FEVER – THE VICTORIA, DALSTON, LONDON (10:00-10:30)
NELL MESCAL – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:00-8:30)
SEB LOWE – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
THE DINNER PARTY – MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY, LONDON (10:00-10:45)
REDOLENT – HACKNEY SOCIAL, HACKNEY, LONDON (7:45-8:15)
LUCI – HACKNEY SOCIAL, HACKNEY, LONDON (8:35-9:05)
GIRLS OF THE INTERNET – HACKNEY SOCIAL, HACKNEY, LONDON (9:20-9:50)
SANS SOUCIS – FOLKLORE, LONDON (8:00-8:30)
?SARAH KINSLEY – FOLKLORE, LONDON (9:00-9:30)
ÁINE DEANE – FOLKLORE, LONDON (10:00-10:30)
The Great Escape Festival for new music will take place in Brighton from
10th-13th May 2023, and will feature 450+ artists performing across multiple venues across town. Find out more by visiting greatescapefestival.com
