Amongst the raw talent on display we have rockers DRY THE RIVER, Danish electro-poppers WHEN SAINTS GO MACHINE, Afrotronic super group AFRICA EXPRESS SOUND SYSTEM, hard-core Aussie duo DZ DEATHRAYS, Dalston outfit SPECTOR, currently acclaimed twisted pop bands ALT-J and DJANGO DJANGO, pianist PERFUME GENIUS, contemporary composers A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN and so many more. Europe’s leading festival for new music is also bringing new Catalan Sounds to the British seaside likeMUJERES, ME AND THE BEES, SEWARD and FURGUSON, as part of the lead International partnership with the Institut Ramon Llull. There are more Catalan and Balearic artists to be announced soon. You should brace yourselves music lovers because this will be a year to remember!
The line up so far is as follows
BRIGHTON DOME SHOW
AFRICA EXPRESS SOUND SYSTEM – SATURDAY 12TH MAY
To access the Brighton Dome Shows, top up your festival wristband for £7 per person or purchase separate gig tickets @ escapegreat.com
*This show is in association with Brighton Festival
CORE PROGRAMME
DRY THE RIVER SPECTOR WE ARE THE OCEAN FRIENDS HOWLER ZULU WINTER
ALT-J GRIMES DZ DEATHRAYS NILS FRAHM A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN
JAMIE N COMMONS DJANGO DJANGO EAGULLS PERFUME GENIUS COM TRUISE
WHEN SAINTS GO MACHINE SONIC BOOM SIX FRANÇOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS
BOS ANGELES YOUNG DREAMS DOLDRUMS WEIRD DREAMS MUJERES YOUNG MAGIC
THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE MAX COOPER JINJA SAFARI COLLEGE GRAPHICS
SLOW DOWN, MOLASSES MOJO FURY MALLORY KNOX HAWK EYES PEACE YUKON BLONDE EMMA LOUISE JUVENILES BINARY SING TANK THE SOFT INLAND SEA HALF MOON RUN OWLLEPRINCESS CHELSEA SEWARD STRANDED HORSE AVALANCHE CITY FURGUSON
TRUST THE DARCYS ME AND THE BEES JORDAN COOK
… AND MANY MANY MORE
3 Day Super Early Bird Festival tickets are currently on sale for just £35 BUT there are only a limited number remaining. Previous TGE acts have included world famous names such as Bon Iver, Adele, Tinie Tempah, Mumford and Sons and Ed Sheeran… And this year, with more up and coming talent on display than is strictly fair don’t miss out on the great opportunity to see some of the best new talent at an incredible price.
To get your 3 day Super Early Bird tickets CLICK HERE
The atmosphere was amazing and addictive during the day it was relaxing and chilled with the few venues in the town down all the little winding streets, full of street performers and shops selling all sorts of weird and wonderful things. The venues were spread all over Brighton so you could get a different atmosphere from the different venues. Including the Pavilion Theatre which is a nice pub turned into a venue, to Digital which is a club with amazing banging base. In the evening it came alive on the seafront with venues and bars, the place lit up with people drinking and having a good time.
Day One: I got there late Thursday evening and went to pick up my pass. It was already very busy you could hear bands coming out of all the different venues. I was already thinking in my mind which bands I was going to see. I had a plan mapped out but it got turned upside down when I got my pass as I walked down to the sea-front and it turned out that
was the place to be, so I didn’t leave for the rest of the night. There were crowds of people outside the bars and venues enjoying themselves and socialising. Armed with my wristband, camera pass and anticipation, I went into my first venue to see the band Fight Like Apes. They are a very energetic band that liked to jump about and use the stage to its maximum advantage. They had a large fan base that enjoyed it and joined in with the bands enthusiasm. After that I went down to see Example at the Concorde. It wasn’t too busy but the people that did decide to make the walk down the other end of the seafront were not disappointed. Example sang all his hits including Unorthodox and Won’t Go Quietly and even some new material. Example was dripping sweat from jumping back and forth around the stage! I walked back down to the Coalition on the front where I caught Frank Turner, who turned out to be one of my highlights of the weekend. He came out with just his guitar and a smile and wowed the crowd with his acoustic sound and the joy he had from playing his music. He sung hits from his album such as Still Believe and Pass It Along. Definitely one to watch out for!
Day 2: I woke up all ready and excited in my hotel room, by the looks of it everyone else was already drinking and getting into the festival spirit. I took a walk down one of the main streets in the town before the bands started and checked out some of the street performers. Then I made my way down to Above Audio which was a little pub/ bar on the seafront where I listened to a few bands. The Jezabels stood out for me. They are an Aussie 4 piece band with a rich indie sound very enjoyable to watch with great stage presents. I walked down to Life and in the tiny unique venue I caught Mishima, a Spanish indie pop band, they were addictive to watch with songs in both English and there native Catalan. In such a small venue you felt you were in your own little show that no one else new about.
For the next few hours we just chilled out. I spoke to some of the festival goers who seemed to be making the most of the bars and venues. They all seemed to be in high spirits and enjoyed being down the seaside. There was a range of ages from teenagers to the more mature all having an awesome time. As the evening grew the next lot of bands started. I started out at the Brighton Coalition which was a large bar/music venue under the arches on the sea front. After seeing a few bands i came across Handsome Furs, a great band with lots of energy very exciting to watch. At one point the lead singer ended up in the crowd. The crowd loved this band and the excitement they brought to the venue with their fresh dark sounds. I walked back down to Life, the tiny venue with a great atmosphere. I got to see Visions of Trees that were amazing! The lead vocalist's voice was gripping with their electronic sound. I took a stroll down to the Corn Exchange in the town and caught a glimpse of Katy B, and the venue was very busy. It was what you expect, she’s an amazing and talented artist and is going to go far with her dub step and drum and bass style of music. She sung hits such as On a Mission, Perfect Stranger and came on for an encore of Lights On. The atmosphere in the Corn Exchange was big with everyone excited to see the next big thing.
Day 3: We started at the Relentless Bar where I ended up catching Seekae on the outside stage. Such a talented group of people pushing out there dance tunes. I also saw them later that day in the Digital venue which is obviously made for a band like this, the bass was unbelievable, definitely one to watch out for in the future. A bit later on that day I saw Benjamin Francis Leftwich who with just his guitar was amazing to watch the line was huge to get in to see him and I’m not surprised. He is very talented, the crowd loved him, and was singing along. And to top of my weekend I popped in to see Foster The People and White Denim. I was not disappointed with what I choose to end my weekend with, they just blew everyone away. After a packed fun filled weekend I got ready to go home. I really enjoyed my weekend, it’s great to come across bands you would never normally choose to see. Overall The Great Escape was a great weekend with great weather and great bands.
The final list of acts that have been announced today are as follows:
The View, Guillemots, Okkervil River, White Denim, Black Devil Disco Club, Beardyman, Anna Calvi, Black Lungs, Factory Floor, Foster the People, Grouplove, Art Brut, Fionn Regan, Liam Bailey, LCMDF, Flats, Cerebral Ballzy, Echo Lake, Beat Connection, Lone, Christian AIDS, Creep, Dark Dark Dark, Fight Like Apes, Three Trapped Tigers, Dent May, Gallops, Laurel Halo, Lára Rúnars, Guards, Fear of Men, Gatekeeper, Let’s Buy Happiness, Ólöf Arnalds, David’s Lyre, Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, Daughter, Lanterns on the Lake, King Charles, Man without Country, Kitten, Kyla La Grange, Florrie, Mondkopf, Brassica, DELS, Young the Giant, Still Corners, Various Cruelties, Young Buffalo, Rachel Sermanni, Sounds of Rum, The Sounds, Bag Raiders, Melodica, Melody and Me, Delta Maid Stateless, Stealing Sheep, Our Mountain, Marina Gasolina, Sparrow and the Workshop, Bear’s Den, You Can’t Win Charlie Brown, Chapelier Fou, Admiral Fallow, Bastille, Dave I.D., tres b, Halves, Hot Horizons, Mz Bratt, Monument Valley, Mechanical Bride, Alice Gold, Miami Horror, To The Bones, Out Like A Lion, Paris Suit Yourself, Polarset, Munich, Aias, Brothers & Bones, Luna Belle, Mammel Club, Oh So Quiet, Bueno Bros, Cap Pas Cap, Iiris, In-Flight Safety, Jazz Morley, Little Red, Patch William, Milk Maid, Mishima, Moddi, Trails, Moss, Prize Pets, Renu, Royal Republic, Smokin’ Barrels, Starfucker, The General, The Touch, 22, Coda, All Mankind, Sali
Cheeky chaps The View will bring their own crowd-pleasing take on indie-pop to Brighton, playing future hits, and tried and tested favourites. Expect euphoric recall courtesy of The Guillemots who regroup with ringleader Fyfe Dangerfield to air new material from the forthcoming third album. Two of Austin, Texas’ finest exports join the bill. First up Okkervil River will be taking us on their journey from ear candy to veiled audio violence, to the sea, up to the highest mountains and back again. Also playing are White Denim whose punk-infused, psychedelic blues-rock never fails to deliver live. Black Devil Disco Club were discovered by Aphex Twin and The Chemical Brothers some 30 years after the release of his first tracks. The legendary crooner of space disco is finally back with a new album and brings it to Brighton…Beardyman needs little introduction having compared many a festival these past couple of years. His unique vocal dexterity winning him fans around the world. Expect man-made re-rubs, re-edits, and layer upon layer of cheeky aural wizardry. Anna Calvi is one of the names on the tip of everyone’s tongue to break through in 2011. Seeing her brand of big, challenging pop songs is sure to be one of the hottest shows at The Great Escape. The Black Lungs is a side project of Alexisonfire guitarist, Wade MacNeil. Wade is the lead singer of this band, reminiscent of his first punk rock band Plan 9. Dirty but as addictive as Marlborough Reds, these St Catherine’s residents will be flying the Canadian flag in Brighton. London trio Factory Floor are raw, chaotic, fantastic and different. Everything you could want from a new band. Critics and the public alike have been flocking to their industrialized and synthesized live shows. Watch it go off. Grouplove are favorites of the NME, and their take on California is as forward thinking as it is inspired by the classic harmony groups of yesteryear. Packed to the rafters with energy and good vibes, they are set to bring some proper sunshine to Brighton beach! Once again proving that artists get deals off the back of The Great Escape, King Charles has, since his incendiary performance at last year’s event, been snapped up by Universal in the states, and has been recording his debut album in LA. His unabashed twist on colonialist folk has to be seen to be believed. His personality is only dwarfed by his huge tunes (and his massive hair)…And the list goes on….for the full line up go to http://escapegreat.com/festival-line-up.
Ted Baker brings the HMV Next Big Thing stage to Brighton featuring the cream of emerging talent that played the London event in February plus special guests.
Relentless energy drink are back for the third year with their legendary street gigs!
Arts Council England are yet again generously supporting us to deliver a diverse and exciting plethora of Urban, British Asian and Indian music. In addition they will also be supporting some innovative street theatre from Periplum and gig collaborations with Brighton Festival featuring DJ Shadow, Sufjan Stevens & Max Richter.
Great Escape is supported through Arts Council’s Grants for the arts scheme. Grants for the arts is funded through National Lottery and is Arts Council England’s open application funding programme. It supports arts activities that engage people in the arts and helps artists and arts organisations with their work.
TICKET INFORMATION – all tickets available from www.escapegreat.com Early bird festival tickets £45 for 3 days up till 12th April – price then £49.50 Early bird delegate tickets £125 for 3 days up till 12th April – price then £150 Single day tickets now on sale – Thursday £22.50, Friday £27.50, Saturday £30.00 Friday and Saturday combined tickets now on sale – £38.00
These tickets allow access to all TGE gigs, except Dome shows, on the named day of the festival subject to each venue’s capacity.
The Great Escape have sold out of Dome Show tickets, however there are a limited number available from the venue direct.
FULL DETAILS OF INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASES
The Great Escape is proud to announce a selection of showcases taking place at this year’s event:
· Lead Country Partner Music From Ireland presents Fionn Regan, And So I Watch You From Afar, and Funeral Suits.
· The Aussie BBQ presents Deep Sea Arcade, DZ DEATHRAYS, Little Red, The Touch, The Jezabels, Our Mountain
· ACM presents Bonjay, Cascadeur, Cubrik, Frontiers, Jazz Morley, Oh So Quiet, The General, Brother & Bones, Trails, Coda, Smokin’ Barrels, Dan Parsons
· Brazil Music Exchange presents Marina Gasolina, Black Drawing Chalks and TBC
· Brooklyn Vegan & M for Montreal presents Said the Whale, Thus:Owls, Handsome Furs, and The Radio Dept.
· Canadian Blast and Canadian Music Week presents Woodhands, Winter Gloves, Young Empires, Braids, Said the Whale, Hey Rosetta!
· Generator presents A North East Invasion featuring Polarsets, Mammal Club, Let’s Buy Happiness, Lanterns on the Lake
· M for Montreal presents grimes, PS I Love You, Radio Radio
· MusicXport.nl presents the Dutch Impact Party featuring BASKERVILLE, Laura Jansen, and Moss
· New Zealand Music presents Die! Die! Die!, The Phoenix Foundation and TBC
· Music Nova Scotia presents DUZHEKNEW, In-Flight Safety, Radio Radio.
· Popkomm presents Retro Stefson, Iiris, Dry the River and Lucy Swann
· PRS for Music presents Hind Ear, Black Drawing Chalks, Bones, Dinosaur Pile-Up SESAC presents Team Me, The Jezabels, Yaaks, Dog is Dead
· Showcase Scotland presents Rachel Sermanni, Admiral Fallow and TBC
FULL DETAILS OF INTERNATIONAL ACTS AT THE GREAT ESCAPE 2011
The Great Escape is dedicated to providing and supporting the best in new found international talent. Here is a full run down of the bands according to nationality.
· Ireland (Lead Country Partner): Villagers, Fight Like Apes, Funeral Suits, And So I Watch You From Afar, James Vincent McMorrow, Heathers, Fionn Regan, Rhob Cunningham, Halves, and Cap Pas Cap
· Australia: Seekae, PVT, Deep Sea Arcade, The Jezebels, Bag Raiders, DZ DEATHRAYS, The Holidays, Miami Horror, Luluc, Dan Parsons, Cloud control, All Mankind, Little Red, The Touch, Our Mountain, and Jinja Safari
· Brazil: Marina Gasolina, The Black Drawing Chalks and TBC
· Canada: Bonjay, Said the Whale, The Mountains & the Trees, Woodhands, Wintergloves, Suuns, PS I Love You, Brasstronaut, Braids, Hey Rosetta, Handsome Furs, Duzheknew, In-flight Safety, Radio Radio and grimes
· Catalonia: Aias, MISHIMA, and Les Aus
· Denmark: Oh Land, CHLLNGR, Hauschka,
· Estonia: Iiris
· Finland: LCMDF
· France: GaBLe, Fredrika Stahl, Team Ghost, Anoraak, Housse de Racket, Chapelier Fou, Cascadeur, Black Devil Disco Club, Punks Jump Up, NFL3, and Mondkompf
· Iceland: Laura Runars, Ólöf Arnalds, Retro Stefson
· Netherlands: BASKERVILLE, Laura Jansen, and Moss
· New Zealand: The Naked and Famous, The Phoenix Foundation, and Die! Die! Die! Norway: Blood Command, Lucy Swann, Team Me, 22, and Moddi
· Nova Scotia: DUZHEKNEW, In-flight Safety, and Radio Radio
· Poland: très.b, Bueno Bros, Rebeka
· Portuguese: You Can’t Win Charlie Brown
· Sweden: The Sounds, Thus:Owls, Little Dragon, Niki and the Dove, Royal Republic and The Radio Dept.,
· USA: Guillemots, Sufjan Stevens, Okkervill River, White Demin ,Foster the People, Grouplove , Cerebral Ballzy, Beat Connection , Creep, Dark Dark Dark, Dent May, Laurel Halo, Guards, Gatekeeper, Kitten,Young the Giant, Young Buffalo, Starfucker, Gang Gang Dance, Josh T. Pearson, Mona, Cults, The Antlers, Alex Winston, K. Flay, ANR, The Secret Sisters, DJ Shadow, Warpaint, Twin Shadow, Dustin O’Halloran, The Soft Moon, Mona, Cults, Alela Diane
AND THE BEST OF BRITISH…
· Brighton: Apples and Eve, Hind Ear, Melodica Melody and Me, Us Baby Bear Bones, Dark Horses, Munich, Fear of Men, Mechanical Bride, Monument Valley, and Rizzle Kicks
· From the North East: Lets Buy Happiness, Lanterns on the Lake, Polarsets, and Mammal Club
– Scotland: Rachel Sermanni, Sparrow and the Workshop, Admiral Fallow, The Phantom Band, and The View
