Brighton Rocks not just in the crime fiction and feature film canon but also straight through its hard candy core. From the grade 2 listed ecclesiastical majesty of the Unitarian Church to the bare-brick chic of the Green Door Store, Brighton has a venue for every kind of sound.
This weekend those venues come together, coalescing into the greatest symbol of musical unity this city will see all year.
35 venues, all within walking distance, will play host to more than 400 artists over the three nights of The Great Escape. Now just to plan your festival..
Here’s our daily itinerary, if you wish to join us.
Thursday 19th May
Forget the car and pull into Brighton Station, a marvellous feat of Victorian engineering, that leads straight out onto Queens Road for the short stroll into the city centre.
Your ticket in hand, head for the Old Steine Pleasure Gardens, just shy of the seafront, and exchange it for your essential ‘access all venues’ festival wristband.
Now with an ill-fitting piece of fabric around your wrist, walk to Wagner Hall for the opening act of the festival; Toothless. The moniker for Bombay Bicycle Club‘s Ed Nash and his Transgressive signed solo vehicle, expect an ethereal blast of sonic beauty, reminiscent of Mercury Prize nominee C Duncan.
Enjoy your first drink of the festival in Wagner Halls’ courtyard garden before BRIT Critics’ Choice Award nominee Frances (14:30) premieres her Communion endorsed debut at The Great Escape.
Then, to follow Frances, a fellow BBC Sound of 2016 nominee, Mabel (16:30) with a soulful pop style reminiscent of her mother’s (Neneh Cherry).
Save your pennies on the first night and try the food at Pompoko on Church Street, just across the road from the Corn Exchange. It might be one in, one out by 7pm but it’s the best place to experience both an authentic bowl of Japanese cuisine and the frenzied pace of Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing in the one sitting. It’s BYOB so prep yourself for the table wait with a bottle of Tesco’s finest red.
Head north after your noodles for a tactical pint in The Great Eastern, one of the best ‘old man’ boozers in the North Laine side of town.
There’s a fierce display of female talent on the bill at this year’s Great Escape, possibly no better demonstrated than at the Green Door Store on the Thursday night.
Arrive early for Glaswegian duo Tuff Love (19:15) and their self-titled brand of “apologetic pop” before Skinny Girl Diet (21:00), Chastity Belt (22:00) and Swedish ‘goth sex’ quartet Dolores Haze (23:00) do battle with the basement.
If you can stay the term, wait for the electro-pop punch of Cash + David, closing up at the Green Door Store from 2am.
Friday 20th May
Waking up with a life-draining hangover? You can wash it away with a bloody mary and fry up in Billie’s Cafe, one of Brighton’s best kept secrets tucked just behind Western Road.
Friday morning starts – for delegates – with a session curiously titled ‘Meet The Canadians’. No further detail is provided but we’re hoping for personal appearances from either Drake, Celine Dion or M For Montreal’s Mikey B.
You don’t need a delegate pass to enjoy the VIP (Very Important Pizzas) in our next restaurant. With links back to Naples and the great pizza boom of 1845, VIP Very Italian Pizza delivers the real neapolitan pizza spread, made with home made sourdough and cooked in 100% traditional wood burning pizza oven.
If you want to relax into the Friday afternoon (and if the sun’s out) then avoid the deck chair hire charge on the promenade and head back to the Old Steine Pleasure Gardens and the recently erected Spiegeltent for a watered down Pimm’s cocktail.
Those allergic to cucumber and good times, try the Fringe Benefit IPA, a unique creation from the teams at Brighton’s Laine Brewing Company and Edinburgh’s Caledonian Brewery, only available during Brighton’s Fringe festival (6th May – 5th June 2016).
Friday evening belongs to one band: Black Honey. The local four piece (Izzy, Chris, Tommy and Tom) are the hottest name in Brighton’s resurgent music scene right now, clutching a bunch of celebrity endorsements from the likes of Annie Mac and Huw Stephens, and bookings for Bestival and 2000trees later this summer.
Black Honey play Wagner Hall at 20:30 before moving on to Horatio’s Bar at the end of the pier at 22:00, in what could be the quickest de-rig, drive and soundcheck in festival history. If you see a bass drum rolling down the seafront give them a hand with it.
Stay at the end of the pier for the hottest name in phat-rock excess, the Eagulls (23:00), screaming Hotel California late into the night.
Saturday 21st May
Your ears still ringing from the night previous, Saturday is all about the recovery. Head to any one of Brighton’s cutesy independent book shops (City Books, Kemp Town Bookshop, Books for Amnesty) and then escape to the solitude of the Royal Pavilion, firmly clasping your latest Andy McNab title in both hands.
Sit in the gardens of this iconic building or take the tour (£6) and stop to enjoy their suntrap of a balcony, sipping the finest Sussex blend from the Pavilion teamroom, served up with scones or cake.
In what will no doubt become the defining event of the festival, WSTRN, The Heavytrackerz and M.O take to Brighton Dome’s main hall in support of Saturday night headliner Stormzy (22:00). The East London rapper will be looking to repeat the chaotic scenes Skepta left the stage on last year.
If you missed the golden Stormzy tickets (now sold out) then look next door, to the Corn Exchange, where Leeds four piece VITAMIN (18:15) open early in the evening before indie’s new breed upstarts The Big Moon (19:15) take their turn warming up for scene veterans Mystery Jets (20:15).
Now suitably full of spirits and young love, head two doors down to the Old Ship Hotel and find the Paganini Ballroom where Moshi Moshi host NZCA LINES (22:15) and TELEMAN (23:15).
In the VEVO curated surrounds of Wagner Hall, Loyle Carner (00:30) gives you the best bang for buck after midnight. The South London rap prodigy will be indulging in his now trademark confessional verses and low-key, jazzy beats, providing the perfect antidote to Stormzy’s bombast.
Stuck for a late night snack, head to Grubbs along St James’s Street. With any one of 16 mount-watering burger options, from Mango Curry to Blue Cheese, you get a mountain of options (single, double or triple) plus there’s time to choose your bap-enclosed-poison as Grubbs stays open until 3am on the Saturday night.
Want to work your triple Tropical burger (peanut butter, pineapple, banana) off? Go straight to Patterns for Tel-Aviv based duo Red Axes, the musical nightcap of choice, rounding off the festival with an hour and half of electronica until 3:30am.
For the full lineup and more festival information visit www.greatescapefestival.com.
Click here to download the Great Escape Festival app.
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