Twenty years in, and The Great Escape still feels like a window into the future of live music.
Words and pictures by Sara-Louise Bowrey
From 13–16 May, Brighton once again transformed into the world’s biggest new music playground as over 450 artists descended on the city for the landmark 20th edition of the festival. Originally inspired by the same founder as Montreal’s M for Montreal and conceived as an industry showcase for emerging talent, The Great Escape has grown into something far bigger: a four-day pilgrimage for music fans eager to discover tomorrow’s headliners before everyone else catches on.
For one long weekend, music spills from every conceivable corner of Brighton. Official venues, beachside marquees, church halls, tiny pubs, basement sweatboxes and bars become interconnected stages in a city-wide celebration of live music. The challenge isn’t finding something worth watching—it’s deciding what you’re willing to miss.
With so much on offer, careful planning is essential, though the festival’s greatest moments often arrive unexpectedly. That’s the magic of The Great Escape: stumbling into a room of strangers and walking out convinced you’ve just seen the next big thing.
This year’s edition delivered exactly that feeling time and time again.
Wednesday Winners
Wednesday launched at full throttle with Japanese rap-metal duo EMNW, whose explosive fusion of punk, hip-hop and nu-metal immediately set the tone. Elsewhere, Icelandic-Canadian singer-songwriter Elin Hall provided a breathtaking counterpoint, captivating a packed Patterns with little more than an acoustic guitar and a remarkable voice. It was an early reminder of the festival’s greatest strength: its ability to jump effortlessly between extremes.
EMNW
Throughout the week, post-punk remained a dominant force. Brighton favourites Winter Gardens delivered towering walls of reverb-soaked intensity, while Montreal’s Ribbon Skirt, New Zealand’s Hemi Hemingway and French buzz-band Angine de Poitrine all justified the considerable hype surrounding them. Meanwhile, Lemonsuckr unleashed one of the weekend’s most gloriously chaotic performances, blurring Euro-disco, punk and pure bedlam into something unforgettable.
Winter Gardens
Ribbon Skirt
Angine de Poitrine
Lemonsuckr
Thursday Things
Thursday brought more discoveries than any schedule could reasonably accommodate. Afternoon Bike Ride offered a moment of beautiful, lo-fi introspection, while Trampolene turned Revenge into a heaving mass of bodies and singalongs. Karin Park transformed an unlikely shopping-centre venue into a euphoric synth-pop dancefloor, and Mira Taylor somehow turned a pre-show guitar disaster into one of the weekend’s most charming sets.
Elsewhere, Oslo Twins delivered one of the songs of the festival with the hypnotic ‘All In Your Mind‘, while Heartworms proved once again that Jojo Orme’s darkwave project is rapidly becoming one of the UK’s most compelling live propositions. By the time noise-punk wrecking ball PISS flattened Green Door Store later that evening, exhaustion had become an entirely theoretical concept.
But a left-field standout for us was CHIMER… when he’s not touring as a member of The House of Love, frontman Harry Osborne is crafting a whole new genre to call his own.
The best of the rest
Friday Frolics
Friday perhaps best captured the spirit of The Great Escape itself: relentless, unpredictable and endlessly rewarding. South London’s Twat Union packed Daltons to capacity, Adult DVD incited complete mayhem in Komedia Basement, and GANS somehow turned four songs—thanks to technical difficulties—into one of the most euphoric sets of the weekend.
The Alt Escape fringe events once again proved essential, offering some of the festival’s most memorable moments. Silverwingkiller’s secret pub set was an exercise in beautiful chaos, while Brighton’s Francis Pig delivered exactly the kind of sweat-soaked rock’n’roll theatre that small venues were built for.
Francis Pig
As darkness fell, the festival’s larger stages came into their own. Peaches brought provocation, politics and absolute pandemonium to Brighton Dome, while Working Men’s Club transformed Concorde 2 into a dark warehouse rave. On the beach, rising grunge revivalists Keo showed why they’re one of the UK’s hottest new prospects, and Villanelle—despite inevitable comparisons—demonstrated they’re beginning to carve out an identity all of their own.
Villanville
More big hitters
Saturday Shenanigans
By Saturday, survival became almost as impressive as the performances themselves. Yet somehow the quality never dipped. Australia’s Mannequin Death Squad blew away any lingering fatigue with a ferocious opening set, while Londoners Y delivered one of the most talked-about performances of the weekend to a venue bursting at the seams.
Mannequin Death Squad / Y
Even as Brighton’s weather finally turned, the crowds remained committed. Teenage Joans, Yakkie, Paige Kennedy and The Baby Seals all brought energy levels that defied the rain, while Shame closed the beach programme in suitably riotous fashion. Frontman Charlie Steen barely seemed to touch the stage, turning a cold and windswept seafront into a mass of smiling, sweat-drenched bodies.
More great bands
And that’s really the story of The Great Escape 2026.
It’s exhausting. It’s chaotic. It’s impossible to see everything and inevitable you’ll miss something brilliant. Yet that’s precisely why it remains so special. For four days, Brighton becomes the centre of the musical universe—a place where future stars emerge, unexpected favourites appear around every corner, and every venue offers the possibility of discovery.
Beyond the stages, the conference programme once again provided valuable insight into the industry’s evolving landscape, with standout appearances from Melanie C and Peaches alongside discussions on mental health, politics in music and the future of live performance.
Twenty years on, The Great Escape remains unrivalled as a showcase for emerging talent and a celebration of live music in all its forms. We left physically broken, mentally overloaded and carrying a notebook full of names we’ll undoubtedly be hearing a lot more from in the years ahead.
Roll on 2027.
