The beginning of the long festival season kicks off with a trip to the seaside. The Great Escape And Alternative Escape Festival I’m Brighton is a 3 day music festival hosting some of the best up and coming talent in music across multiple venues. Here’s a pick of our top five acts from across the weekend…

LongDayLateNight
One of the best things about a festival like Great Escape is catching the best new acts in such intimate venues. Seeing LongDayLateNight at Northlaine Brewhouse on Friday with the audience rammed to catch the indie upstarts showed the industry is in safe hands. A great, energetic set from a band that had to deal with some major issues. The set was nearly cancelled due to 2 of the members being under 18 and the venue not allowed over 18s into the venue. Not wanting to disappoint, the band saw a way around the ruling with the use of a fire exit where two band members performed stood alongside other fans not able to get into the venue and absolutely smashed their set despite the troubles.

Lauran Hibberd
This was actually the first time we’ve caught Lauran perform and I had very high expectations from the rave reviews I’d previously received. Hibberd chops through her recent pack of sly, tongue-in-cheek singles, including ‘Sugardaddy’, ‘Hoochie’ and ‘What Do Girls Want?’. We managed to catch Hibberd on the Saturday at Jubilee Square, which was one of her many appearances over the festival weekend. Possibly my favourite moment of the set was Hibberd bringing up a track being about blow jobs during her mid afternoon set to a young, family audience. Her personality and quality as an artist was clear throughout.

Lucia
Glasgow’s Lucia literally blew the doors off The Old Market from The Fender Next Stage. There are moments of bubblegum pop, soon burst by the snarl of classic rock and grunge with the presence of the legends they long to be. This is modern rock n’ roll driven by instinct alone. This band should be the sound of your summer.

Birthday Card
The 5 piece Brighton indie electronic band smashed their set at the Hope and Ruin on Saturday. From the moment the set started they had the crowd hopping along to their music; even a small crowd at the front began jumping around clearly taking on everything the band had to offer! I was very impressed by what the band describe themselves as a ‘melancholy pop band’ but they seemed to warm the hearts of the crowd in front of them.

Marsicans
We also went over to Alternative Escape to see Scruff of the Neck partnering with Distiller Records at clothing venue Beyond Retro. This is where we caught indie-pop quartet Marsicans exhilarate with a set that overspills with oomph. Looking down on the ram-packed warehouse from upstairs above the till, the Leeds gang of four unveil their giddy guitar pop anthems with a torrent of energy, pinging through a scintillating setlist that included Pop-Ups (Sunny at the Weekend), Too Good & Throw Ourselves In.

[spotify track=”https://open.spotify.com/user/anotherwaytod/playlist/0IPrcNOMyHcuoKDncJYY8V?si=usLD9F0WTlyHwmjih6KEtw”]