The Great Escape: The Best of Brighton (Festival Review)
I got the opportunity to see some incredible artists at the famous Great Escape festival in Brighton. In the dark basement of The Casablanca Club, the atmosphere was bright, and the talent lit up the room. I have to admit that walking through a door soundtracked by Eden Hunter felt almost movie-like. After coming back to reality, I realised I was not the main character, but the captivating power on stage was.
Eden Hunter
While singing her heart out, this artist carried that sincerity into conversations with the crowd. As a result of asking everyone to step a little closer, a semi-circle formed around the stage. That closeness just made the gig all that more intimate, along with sharing the inspirations for the performed tracks. Furthermore, she claimed that she is “embracing the romance of life”. This was proven by her pure appreciation for the listening ears and the chance to play at The Great Escape.
I must admit that her cover of ‘The Climb‘ by Miley Cyrus was quite an emotional moment. Equally, this was felt by a room of people who grew up with Hannah Montana. Undeniably, you could feel the energy of Eden living out her pop star dreams. In addition, she described the choice of song as something she performed aged 12 years old at her cousin’s birthday party. Undoubtedly this full circle moment encapsulates all the ways people are inspired as we grow up into the person we want to be.
To wow the crowd even more, Eden debuted a brand-new song. It was written 3 days before and finalised just the previous night. This Surrey pop star brought a little bit of Hollywood glamour to Brighton. While on the theme of muses, ‘Showgirl’ pays homage to those who came before her. These are artists who dealt with the trials and tribulations of fame. Particularly, this is something that she has confirmed her upcoming project will focus on.
frances mistry
The next act we saw was the ethereal frances mistry. Although performing without the full band, joined by Eve on bass and Gabe on guitar, their abilities filled the room. As a result of this stripped-back set, it allowed us to fully immerse in the soft dreaminess of frances’ voice. This was illustrated prominently in the candid ‘something has to give’. The plucky track calls out the chaos going on in the world right now, all while providing us with the hope that music allows us to feel. Ultimately, its hazy sounds are accompanied by talk of unnamed writers dictating healthcare. Although we know exactly what frances is talking about, ‘something has to give’ cries out to all of us who are frightened about the state of basic human rights and a paramount need for things to change.
Similarly, carrying on with that openness and kicking back against societal ‘norms’, the band played what frances described as her ‘first openly queer love song’ (ish). ‘when i look in her eyes’ is a beautiful tune that swept the audience up into what felt like a personal journal entry. These tracks preempted her newest EP before it was released under APOLLO. Indeed luckily for us, ‘conversations with those i love‘ is now available on streaming platforms. Without a doubt, it is filled to the brim with heavy feelings that I can confirm sounds just as good live.
COWZ
It takes a true talent to completely switch up the vibe of a gig. This is especially true with a break watching the artists set up their stage and do a mini soundcheck. To go from that to enchanting a whole audience, you couldn’t keep your eyes off COWZ. Made up of two of Brighton’s biggest pop stars, Tash and Saga put their all into headlining at The Casablanca Club. In this case, from calling out their bad taste in partners in ‘Psychos’, to how they are going to take over the world in the poppy ‘DOMINATION’. Even getting the crowd to agree to eat the rich and stream their latest track ‘ELEPHANT’ all at the same time.
Although their set didn’t leave time for too much explanation, the pure vibrancy told a thrilling story. Moreover, their drummer was equally as engrossing. This was demonstrated in their pure happiness to be a part of something so vivid. It was infectious. While taking on queer power and calling out the inequalities in the world is so important, doing that all with choreographed dances and a Charli xcx level of cyber-like auto-tune makes the world seem like a brighter place.
While The Great Escape was my first music festival experience in Brighton, it lived up to its excitement. Not only did I get to see artists that I already followed, but I also discovered musicians that I will be looking out for in any other gigs they have in and around the city.
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