Lessons Learned at The Great Escape

Melissa Darragh
22 hours ago
6 min read

This year marked 20 years of Europe’s largest new music festival. Two decades of breakout bands, changeable weather forecasts, overambitious schedules and the annual, slightly unhinged transformation of Brighton into a city-wide circuit of discovery.

For a few days every year, venue basements become launchpads, pubs turn into waiting rooms for the next big thing, and entire crowds develop the shared delusion that they can physically be in three places at once. It’s part endurance test, part treasure hunt, part accidental education in how quickly a band can go from unknown to unavoidable.

And yet, for all it's chaos, it’s still one of the most revealing snapshots of new music anywhere in the world - a place where hype gets tested in real time, where discovery still matters, and where the next wave of artists is often hiding in rooms you almost didn’t make it into.

Here’s what Brighton’s annual marathon of music taught us this year:

Lesson 1: Don't always follow the hype

It's clear to see that the most hyped artist leading up to the festival was Angine de Poitrine - black and white Canadian aliens delivering math rock to the masses. Their live set emitted a contagious energy that was sure to leave anyone in the crowd transfixed to their polka dots. Truly, the set lived up to the hype. Angine - I will join your microtonal cult.

However, sometimes hype has a way of curdling atmosphere. The room was packed to capacity, but instead of joy there was entitlement - people planted firmly like they’d reserved patches of floor, shuffling for position, folding arms, and occasionally shoving to defend their view of the band everyone agreed they had to see.

The result was a strange disconnect: an insanely good performance happening in front of a crowd more focused on occupying space than losing themselves in it.

Meanwhile across Brighton, smaller shows were doing the opposite - looser rooms, fewer expectations, and audiences actually moving, reacting, and building the kind of shared energy that makes live music feel alive.

Angine de Poitrine proved they're worth the hype headlining The Deep End

Lesson 2: Don't go tooo hard on the first night...

As Europe's largest new music festival - we can confirm that it's a marathon not a sprint.

The early mistake is always intensity. Too much movement. Too many plans. Too little awareness that energy isn't a bottomless resource. Wednesday night saw The Itch deliver an electric dance-punk set packed to the brim with precision and charm. With tight rhythms and building basslines, the band have continued to refine their set, sounding better and better as they gear up to prove they are one of the most exciting acts the UK currently has to offer.

Leaving their set with an ear full of anthems and a stomach full of booze, the night quickly mutated into a full speed descent into poor decisions, loud music, and the kind of stamina you are absolutely not going to be able to justify tomorrow.

The Itch downstairs at Patterns

Lesson 3: Bring a brolly...

The weather this time around wasn’t quite as generous as previous years. The skies remained unpredictable as bursts of rain seemed to arrive just as you commit to being outdoors. Still, crowds kept moving across the city, weaving between venues and sprinting through downpours to make it to the next artist in time, as if the weather were just another part of the schedule to beat.

Your brisk walk in the wind and rain can always be justified though. Whether you go into a boiling basement to dry off or you end up all the way at The Deep End to dance to one of the best sets of the weekend from Adult DVD. No amount of grey skies really dulled the pull of the beach stages, where people still gathered in force, wrapped in jackets and stubborn optimism, refusing to let a bit of rain compete with the draw of live music by the sea.

Adult DVD playing to a packed out tent at The Deep End

Problem Patterns brought infectious angst to the Soundwaves stage

Lesson 4: Explore the Alt Escape

Alongside the official programme, a parallel world has steadily taken shape - a fringe circuit built on community, word of mouth, and a steady expansion of independently driven shows. The Alt Escape now functions as a clear extension of the core event, with curated industry showcases made open to wider audiences. The result is a more direct version of the same ecosystem: tightly programmed line-ups in smaller spaces, focused crowds, and an emphasis on discovery.

My Precious Bunny downstairs at Hope and Ruin

Manchester band Getner take over The Bootlegger

This years defining Alt Escape moment unpredictability arrived during the Ellis·D set at Pink Moon. The crowd went full throttle, the room surged with it, and before long the ceiling itself was beginning to shift under the pressure, forcing the set to pause while people were asked, quite seriously, to stop jumping before the venue gave out entirely.

It sounds like chaos, but instead of killing the energy, it cemented the moment. A near-collapse became instant folklore - the kind of defining moment that doesn't just build hype, it locks in legacy.

Lesson 5: Prioritise discovery!

There are two kinds of people at The Great Escape. The first arrive with spreadsheets, colour coded clashfinders, and 'must see' lists longer than their arm. The second stumble out of a basement venue at 2am having accidentally discovered their new favourite band. Both are valid - but having your ear to the ground can only get you so far.

The point isn’t to stick to the plan, it’s to break it. The best sets are the ones you don’t schedule, the ones you stumble into by accident while following a rumour or a bassline through a stairwell. Like catching Chinese electronic pioneers Supermarket upstairs at Patterns, where a room you didn’t expect to be in suddenly becomes the one you don’t want to leave.

Supermarket transfix the crowd upstairs at patterns

Lesson 6: Check out the locals

Brighton’s music scene feels more vibrant, diverse and self-assured than ever right now.

From DIY basements to established rooms at some of the nicest venues in the business, the city’s ecosystem is quietly operating at the top of its game, producing artists with range, confidence and a distinctly unforced sense of identity.

That trajectory feels especially visible as Lime Garden step onto the main stage, a moment that has been building for years. And while that kind of milestone is worth celebrating, it also serves as a reminder: this isn’t a scene that peaks and recedes, it regenerates constantly. For every band moving upward, there are dozens more moving through the venues just a few streets away, waiting for their turn to shift the conversation next.

Lime Garden play The Deep End

It’s a self-sustaining loop of support that keeps the whole thing moving forward, where success rarely feels individual. That spirit was clear in how Hutch and Flip Top Head put together their lineups, building spaces that felt intentional and generous, pulling in artists they believe in rather than just chasing names. And among it all, Soft Top stood out - smooth, unhurried vocals paired with beautifully textured accompaniment, the kind of set that makes you understand why these bands keep backing each other so fiercely.

Soft Top charm the crowd at Rossi bar

Lesson 7: Get down early

There’s a special kind of regret that only arrises at a music festival, and it usually starts outside a venue you can almost see into but will not, in fact, be entering. As with any multi-venue festival, there is always the risk that a set will reach capacity and you'll be left outside at the opposite side of the city from your next port of call.

KuleeAngee for example at Fabrica hit capacity pretty early (and yes we're felling pretty smug about making it over in time!). Their infectious energy and rhythmic anthems had the whole crowd moving, as their set verified that the duo, having enlisted accompaniment, continue to evolve their sound, delivering increasingly more polished and more danceable tunes.

(If you didn't make it you can read our interview with them here)

KuleeAngee live at Fabric

Turning up late at peak time is a gamble that rarely pays off. Queues snake. Doors close. Suddenly you’re learning about your must see set second hand from someone who got there 40 minutes earlier and now won’t stop talking about it.

We spent the rest of the weekend hearing about how Piss' special set at Green Door Store. We can only imagine how great it was... - but you can read about their Left of the Dial set here

Lesson 8: Book ahead for next year!

Despite the queues, the rain, the exhaustion, and the mysterious bruises acquired from dancing in tiny basements… The Great Escape remains one of the best festivals in the UK for discovering new music embracing chaos, and accidentally having the best weekend of your year.