It’s close to midnight on day one of The Great Escape 2015 and Brighton’s seafront is being battered by the elements. But despite the wild atmospherics of Britain in the first flushes of summer, several hundred of us are still outside; bodies tightly pressed against a building, sheltering in a line to see the one-man neo-soul sensation that is Jack Garratt.

The venue is full to capacity and all we know is that the door is running at one-in, one-out. But as idiotic as it might seem to stay, the queue abides. And we huddle in tight, talking about what we’ve seen, what we will see and what we’ll never quite make in the days to come. And its moments like this, which remind me why this yearly pilgrimage to the south-coast is still vital; because despite the weather, the queues, the lazy (albeit somewhat undeniable) comparison to SXSW, the sprawling venues and the occasional sting of disappointment, it’s a festival powered by a collective passion for music.

British Acts Dominate

This year the focus was firmly on British talent, with Kate Tempest and Skepta both playing huge sold-out shows over the weekend, with an extended line-up around them that covers the UK’s most diverse acts.

Mysterious London newcomers HÆLOS and Nottingham’s April Towers prove sensational: sparkling talents dealing in alluring electro pop. Rival Consoles and Blanck Mass proved once again that as shitty EDM saturates the airwaves, fearsome modern British electronica is still one of our most powerful exports. The pair bookending Friday night’s ‘service’ at St George’s Church, with a glorious audio visual cacophony to counterbalance a few of the more guitar heavy nights at the festival. While LA Priest and Clarence Clarity sated our desire for futurepop, their mix of entrancing astral funk and psychedelia carrying us late into the night.

Of course, there’ll always be someone, somewhere with a guitar in his/her hand ready to deal out some solid indie. The Merrylees make exuberant work out of their Richard Hawley produced material, which doesn’t suffer for having his fingerprints all over it. While The Mispers — who’ve ridden the hype from a string of sold out shows— burst at the seams in anticipation of the bigger rooms that they’re sure to play. Gaz Coombes and Spector also prove acts not to miss, both packing out crowded venues to fans overcome with joy: proof that The Great Escape can be just as much about re-emerging acts as newcomers to the scene.

Local Brighton acts also top the roster. Black Honey provide raucous thrills, while the jangly pop of High Tyde and the warm synth pop of Fickle Friends delight in equal measure. The latter proving so popular their gig suffers from the ‘Great Escape Curse’…i.e. the venue fills to capacity so fast that a few hundred people end up stuck outside in the pouring rain. Such is the clamour for their summery tunes amidst Thursday’s gloom.

Women On Top

Unlike a large majority of UK festivals that are woefully lacking in female led line-ups, The Great Escape can hold itself up as an example of how to do things right. And manages to bring together some of 2015’s finest talents. Late on the Friday Tkay Maidze destroys our world; her pulsating beats and fast paced rhymes coming on like a more focused Azealia Banks. The assembled crowd gathered tight to the front of the stage trying to elicit high-fives from her in-between songs.

While a day later Verite lights up the same venue, her forceful vocals and throbbing beats making for some enthralling indie-pop. While repping the more dulcet side of the spectrum are Andrea Balency and Tei Shi. The former washing us clean with surging beats and layered vocals, while the latter provides a honeyed sound that mesmerises in the dark of the Komedia’s basement.

The ever-reliable PINS shake up a packed venue with their post-punk clamour, the Mancunian band’s energy focused around Faith Holgate’s terse snarl. And it’s a similar fervour —albeit separated by thousands of miles— that accompanies the music of Alo Wala. Their tropical bass heavy tunes creating a sound —falling somewhere between MIA and Jamaican dancehall, led by the compelling Shivani Ahlowalia. While on the other side of town ex-Kill Laura and Misty Dixon alumna Jane Weaver enchants with a wistful psych-folk selection taken from her woefully undervalued 2014 album.

Foreign Exports Shine

The Great Escape wouldn’t be the same without the varied international showcase that arrives in town each year and 2015 is no exception. Saycet is new to these shores but I’m informed (by the man himself) that he has an enduring popularity in his native France. The genuine sense of enthusiasm he has for his own electronica infects the crowd, while the back projected visuals that illuminate him seem to narrate his intense and uplifting sound.

In the same venue the night before Ho99o9 bring an altogether different atmosphere. The US duo’s noise terror mixes the fury of Death Grips with a hard-core punk edge. It’s rap but not as you know it. And soon enough lead singer Eaddy is bringing their aural assault to the eager audience: sweating, spitting and shirtless they ignite the seafront with fire.

If you’d told me six months ago that one of my favourite new acts would be a Russian quintet called Pinkshinyultrablast, whose reverb soaked take on shoegaze fuses melodic rock and hints of electronica then I’d have…well I’d have said you’re probably very intuitive. And despite a few technical hitches they create a blissful bubble around the assembled crowd in a tiny Brighton pub.

Songhoy Blues prove a popular draw as do Klaus Johann Grobe and while both sing in their native languages they couldn’t be further apart in tone. The latter singing exclusively in German, only interspersing their set with occasional chatter to the crowds “We usually more romantic than this” they laugh…before ploughing headlong into more dense motorik grooves; while the former are a jubilant Malian outfit, who bring traditions of world music and blend them with the thick guitars of the US Delta.

While on the Huck stage, Passpied bring a full dose of J-pop to proceedings, while later on the same night Al Bairre, thrill with the pop sensibilities of The Go!Team and the rhythms of South Africa. It makes for one of the festival’s triumphs. A breathless set built on foundations of pure joy. The assembled crowds in the Komedia staggering into the night with wide grins at the sugar rush of sound the band provides.

And that’s it… if there was more time and perhaps some teleportation device we might have made other gigs…but such is the beauty of The Great Escape: it leaves you exhausted but wanting more.

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