7 SETS YOU STILL HAVE CHANCE TO CATCH AT THE GREAT ESCAPE

This year’s Great Escape festival is in full swing with a whole host of new and rising artists performing in venues across Brighton. The fun all started on Thursday 11th of May and continues into the small hours of Sunday for those of you with your dancing shoes on. We’ve chosen 7 must see acts you still have chance to catch from the rest of the weekend’s line up.

49TH & MAIN
Friday 12th May – Komedia Studio – 11:15pm

Hailing from Kilkenny, the duo have been making unbelievable waves across the globe – selling out every headline show to date in a matter of hours, including the 1,000 cap Dublin Academy, amassing over 50 million streams and appearing as cover stars for Spotify’s RADAR and Apple Music’s Up Next. Setting the tone for the summer to come, the duo recently released double A-side ‘Crash and Burn’ and Said Nothing (feat. SKYLAR)’ – two new singles that effortlessly capture both ends of the 49th & Main musical spectrum. ‘Crash and Burn’ acting as a festival anthem in waiting, while ‘Said Nothing’ is a long-awaited ballad from the duo that captures their raw songwriting ability, featuring rapidly upcoming alt pop star SKYLAR. Both singles were mixed by Edmund Irwin-Singer of Glass Animals, indicating a new direction the duo are heading in.

COWBOYY
Saturday 13th May – 3:30pm – Revenge

Taking a swig from the eclectic melting pot of genres that inform their idiosyncratic sound they piece together sonic blueprints from indie and reggae as well as math rock and dance music. Previous singles ‘Gmaps’ and ‘Tennis’ have seen cowboyy receive a slew of critical acclaim from NME, DIY, Clash, Dork, So Young Magazine, Gigwise, The Rodeo, Yuck Magazine, BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music, Rough Trade, and many more. Pulling inspiration from math rock all the way to jazz, post-punk and electronic music, with a fresh and modern outlook on writing and collaboration, cowboyystrive to create their own unique sound, refusing to be anything but themselves. The result? Something that straddles the lanes of art pop and alternative rock, with guitar lines and bold ambitions to create new sounding music at the forefront of the project.

ARLO PARKS
Saturday 13th May – 9:45pm – Brighton Dome Concert Hall

In Arlo Parks’s world, words are as useful as photographs. Luscious, expressive vignettes pepper the poetic lyrics in her sweet, ruminative indie pop songs. Born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho, the 20-year-old from West London – who burst onto the scene with 2018’s “Cola” – uses poetry as her songwriting compass, weaving vivid imagery and sensory touches throughout the stirring, honest stories that make up her already-rich body of work.
Arlo’s creative process has continued to develop naturally, and she’s taken the same thoughtful approach for her forthcoming debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, featuring the breakthrough singles “Black Dog”, “Hurt” and “Green Eyes” – which also featured vocals from Clairo.

PORIJ
Friday 12th May – 9:00pm – Charles Street Tap

Today, Porij announce their signing to Play It Again Sam Records (Nation Of Language, Westerman and Connie Constance) and share the news that they are working on their debut album. They also share details of a string of huge stadium shows this summer supporting Coldplay. Porij had a massive 2022; releasing the outlines EP; selling out London’s iconic Heaven; performing a much-hyped Glastonbury set; and cementing themselves as burgeoning darlings at both press, radio and streaming. Porij are currently in the studio recording their debut album, which is being co-produced by the legendary David Wrench.

GENGHAR
Saturday 13th May – 9:30pm – Chalk

Over the last few years we’ve all been forced to pause and reflect. With life returning – but not as we know it – we all experienced that sense of starting over and asking ourselves if things could ever be quite like they were before. Acclaimed London indie four-piece Gengahr have been through the wringer, too – taking stock and making peace with everything they have been through. Now they’re back, with a career-best fourth album and a new lease of life.
Released on their own label with a new team behind them and a new lease of life, new album ‘Red Sun Titans’ is the sound of a band reborn – harnessing the energy and inspiration of their past but with a bold and fiercely independent vision for the future. It’s an album “caught in between two worlds,” as frontman Felix Bushe puts it – a colourful celebration where you’ve come from, and dreaming of where you could go from here.

THE KAIROS
Saturday 13th May – 9:00pm – The Hope and Ruin

Back in 2017, Tucked away in the North West of the country, 4 lads from the different regions of Liverpool decided what they were going to do to fill their time. Following in the footsteps of giants: Tom, Sam, Owen and Lewis started a band.
The lads grew up on Liverpool’s omnipresent music scene. Spending their most formative years playing in clubs synonymous with the city’s ropewalks district, such as The Zanzibar, Heebie Jeebies and The Arts Club. Momentum behind the group gathered and the band found themselves with a small, devoted following.
The Kairos focus on playing live led them to developing an atomic sound, attested by Gigslutz as ‘Scuzzed up, fuzzed up, Scouse Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Debut single, Money Mind, was released in the summer of 2019, setting a blistering benchmark for the tracks that followed – As well as establishing their proud influence in Rock music. A string of releases only convinced more people from outside the city to join the Kairo bullet train with Tee.

SPANGLED
Saturday 13th May – 10:00pm – The Hope and Ruin

Hailing from greater Manchester, spangled dance on the fringe between jangly guitars and yesterday’s promises. The
four-piece constantly subverts expectations offering an eclectic blend of Witty, heartfelt lyrics, lively attitudes, and
punch-the-air riffs proving there’s still decadence in youth.
Inspired by the likes of Foo Fighters, Sly and the family stone, Rizzle kicks, Supergrass, and The Beatles, Spangled
encapsulates the essence of music through a melting pot of genres to create a truly unique sound, that’s edgy,
cathartic, and joyful.