It’s back. The Great Escape Brighton. 2024 version. Yaaay!
After a bit of a setback when more than 100 acts pulled out in protest of Barclaycard’s TGE sponsorship and the bank’s investment business with arms firms who sell to Israel, amid the terrible situation in Gaza, most of the holes were filled by the organisers with replacement bands and artists stepping in to save the day.
The very well organised live music went ahead without a hitch with many hundreds of gigs in more than 30 venues and the free entry fringe on top, plus the conference side of TGE, with VIP guest speakers. Attracting many thousands of music fans to flock to the East Sussex seaside town from around the world.
The eclectic lineup was top notch and included some big names – such as Suede legend Bernard Butler, Chvrches star Lauren Mayberry, the band Wunderhorse, and US singer and songwriter Faye Webster – and many rising stars, and an opportunity for many overseas acts to come here for showcase.
Countries represented including the US, Canada, Austria, Australia, Hungary, Spain, Ireland and Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan (Tokyo), Germany, Wales, Scotland and many areas of the UK, such as a showcase for Yorkshire-based acts. TGE is very focused on brand new artists and bands getting their first taste of festival crowds.
So without further ado, we bring you this gallery of superb images of our choice of the best and most interesting acts from Friday’s gigs across many different stages and venues, plus some exclusive photo shoots.
Our super snappers Manja Williams and Alex Asprey played a blinder, and ran their legs off around the various venues across the festival to bring you some superb photographs – including many exclusives. Bravo.
- TGE 2025 dates have just been announced: 14th to 17th May 2024.
Photos: Manja Williams [ Marked $ ] & Alex Asprey [ Marked £ ]
Words: Emma Ledwell
Day # 2 Friday – TGE 2024
One of the best shows of the festival was the wonderful Lauren Mayberry, lead singer of big name band Chvrches, and here as a solo star. Friday night set backed by drums and guitar and backing track, and she played some kevboards on one song.
10.15pm at TGE Beach – The Deep End. It was rammed. She had already been a keynote speaker at TGE conference that day.
At 15, she was already playing in bands, but she knew from experience that her bandmates would tease her if she tried to get them into Tori Amos or Fiona Apple or PJ Harvey or Kathleen Hanna. She says, “It was a lot of confessional female singer-songwriters, and I thought of them like, ‘These are my friends who live in my headphones.’ ”
Ahead of last year’s 10th anniversary of Chvrches’ groundbreaking debut album, “The Bones of What You Believe”, Lauren felt reflective in a way she hadn’t anticipated. Looking back at all of the incredible moments of personal evolution and musical growth during these years with the band, she realized that she still had a creative wall she needed to push through.
A magnificent set at TGE 2024. A big talent…
Bon Jour from Austria, labelled one of the “most exciting music projects in Austria” by one critic.
Bon Jour grew a steady following with performances supporting Alt-J and sold-out shows in Vienna.
Their avant-garde approach and innovative use of AI saw reach number 1 in the Radio FM4 charts.
The seven musicians, known from renowned bands such as Makemakes, Mynth and Olympique, played two shows at TGE 2024, at The Hope and Ruin on day # two and Jubilee Square on Friday, and pulled a large crowd both times.
They delivered a good chunk of their are current album, “Growth”, including the single, “I Am Out” – a soulful up-beat track that deals with the complexities of love, loss and self-discovery. A band well worth catching live.
Lala Hayden @ Horatios on Friday and The Hope and Ruin on Saturday.
Laura ‘LALA’ Hayden has gained notoriety within the music industry for a number of years fronting indie outfit, Anteros.
Her latest delve into music sees a solo project under the guise of Lala Hayden.
Empowering, powerful and self reflective, the Ladyhake/Blondie inspired dynamic alt-pop has spawned the release of her first EP, “Girl Becomes”.
A bit of Bucks Fizz’s antics in the Eurovision song contest back in the day in Lala’s show, when she she rips off the bottom half of her white wedding dress-style clobber and and then decides to have a lay down on stage to recover – I guess the dress hire shop will understand!!!!!
Here we bring you the bassist of Dead Air in mid air! TGE Beach – Pirate Studios stage, Friday @ 5.30pm. Big crowd who lapped it up.
South London powerhouse Dead Air draw influence from their love of heavy, riff-driven rock, and they make a mighty sound for a trio.
Friday afternoon, at Dust, basement part of the venue Chalk.
Neck Breakers featuring Maxx Palmer (far left on photo). New generation indie meets glam with an unpredictable punchy sound. This UK five piece are a find… We will bring you more on them soon…
Liz Lawrence is a British artist, multi-instrumentalist,and producer. Previously one half of pop duo Cash + David, Liz then toured the world as a singer and collaborator with her friends Bombay Bicycle Club.
Having taught herself how to produce, she has been releasing the fruits of this experimental labour since 2018 with a series of double A-side single releases, followed in 2019 with her album “Pity Party”; spawning multiple singles and a sold out tour.
2020’s “Whoosh!” EP delivered her first BBC Radio 1 playlist single in “California Screaming.” Her 2021 album, “The Avalanche” continued her rise with multiple BBC 6Music playlists, festivals including Green Man, All Points East, Victorious and a sold-out London headline show at Lafayette.
Liz is currently gearing up for the release of her next album “Peanuts”, which was produced and mixed by Ali Chant (Yard Act, Perfume Genius). The album will be released on 7th June 2024 via Chrysalis Records.
Liz performed three shows at TGE 2024, all on day # 2, Friday in three venues @ 3:15pm, 5:45pm and 11:30pm.
This mag has been bigging up Isle Of Wight indie pop princess Lauran Hibberd for the last four or more years, and her set at TGE Beach – The Deep End at 6.15pm on Friday did nothing to change our minds.
Buzzing across the airwaves with BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders all throwing their support behind the young musician.
Lauran’s witty, off-kilter approach continues to attract glowing praise from the online community and welcome comparisons to contemporaries including Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers.
Maluride from Hungary, are Virag Zazie Farkas (keyboards), singer Julia Viszkeleti and Milan Hodovan (producer, keyboards). Their alternative, electronic dream-pop went down well at the Jubilee Square stage.
- That stage was the location for BBC6 Music’s broadcasts throughout the festival.
This magazine hugely admires UK singer, songwriter and guitarist Rosie Frater-Taylor and adore her smashing album “Featherweight”, which dropped in February via Cooking .
“Featherweight” is the follow-up to her three million-streamed debut “Bloom”,and heads in a new musical direction, blending alt-rock, pop, folk and jazz and exploring themes including self-reflection, anger and vulnerability.
We have been tipping Rosie for big things for some time; as does a guitarist who knows a thing or two about the fretboard, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page who praises Rosie’s unique style.
She played a sizzling set at The Tempest Inn on Friday night with bass and drums, and a second show solo at Komedia Studio on Saturday.
“Jazz chops, indie spirit” Rosie Frater-Taylor is widely regarded as a virtuoso guitarist and a vocalist with a powerful emotional range and depth. Her music blurs the boundaries between rock, alt pop, neo soul, new-school jazz and folk.
Drawing influence from Joni Mitchell, PJ Harvey and Kate Bush, to the rockier roster – where John Mayer, Meshell Ndegeocello and Madison Cunningham hold court. WE SAY: Go see Rosie soon because she really is unique and a real breath of fresh air. “Featherweight” is brilliant. Look out for our interview with RFT coming soon…
Marathon from Amsterdam are a band to seek out, which we did at the Prince Albert at 9.30pm on Friday for a passionate performance; channelling the energy of punk and the dissonance of shoegaze and post-punk.
Back for a second day, the hottest act of the festival that we caught on day one was most definitely Irish newcomers and future stars, Really Good Time from Dublin.
We saw them at The Prince Albert on day # 1 at 3pm and TGE Beach – Soundwaves on Friday night. Both sets knocked it out of the park.
They released their debut EP “Escape From the Mountain of Spit” in November 2023, with the lead single, “Mountain of Spit” receiving extensive support from Steve Lamacq at BBC6, drawing comparisons to early QOTSA and The Walkman on Lamacq’s roundtable.
WE SAY: Really Good Time are probably the next big band to come out of Ireland.
US artist Faye Webster was the “Spotlight Show” star at The Dome on Friday. The 26-year-old American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia has released five studio albums: Run and Tell (2013), Faye Webster (2017), Atlanta Millionaires Club (2019), I Know I’m Funny Haha (2021), and Underdressed at the Symphony (2024).
Quirky factoid: Faye’s hobbies include Pokémon and yo-yo. She has attended the World Yo-Yo Contest and has designed and sold her own custom yo-yo.
Photos: Manja Williams [ Marked $ ] & Alex Asprey [ Marked £ ]
Words: Emma Ledwell
