The Great Escape (Day 3)
@ Venues throughout Brighton, UK 05/17/08
By Dany Sloan
I didn't expect it to be, but the final night of The Great Escape was also the festival's best. When you go to a fest like this, you can plan out your night, but all of the planning in the world can't counteract the all of the things that get in the way of what you actually want to do.
A show could have a queue going around the block, there could be two (or even three or four) bands that you want to see playing at the same time or a band could cancel. What starts off as a perfect schedule will usually turn into disappoint, or in some cases, unexpected surprise.
My night was supposed to begin with The Displacements, but since there was the aforementioned queue around the block, I opted for Finland's The Crash instead Great indie pop -- look for their debut in the States on Rykodisc.
The night's first scheduling difficulty came with The Clik Clik and Mumford and Sons. The former band was to take the stage at 0715 at Arc, which was underneath the boardwalk, and Mumford was to hit the stage at 0745 uptown, at least a 15 minute walk away. In retrospect this wasn't too bad -- I caught three songs from the very young Fulham quartet before booking it up to the Sallis Benney Theatre for what turned out to be one of the night's biggest surprises.
Mumford and Sons fit nicely into the whole folk revival thing going on in and around London, filed nicely beside Noah & the Whale, Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling (who was amazing when I caught her later on in the night). I didn't know much about them when they went on, but after I heard "White Black Page," I was sold. Stunning, stark Americana at its best.
Over the weekend I had planned not to see any band twice, but after Elle Milano's (pictured) subpar set the previous day, I decided to give them another chance, and they delivered. I had time for just three songs before I had to return to Arc for Look See Proof, but I ended up leaving after five songs -- the band was just that good. The band mixed their set up a bit, but it really didn't matter what they played. The hometown crowd was out in full force with everyone singing along. "Laughing All the Way to the Plank" and "Meanwhile in Hollywood" were two of my favorite moments from the weekend. It's the type of fun I want to have at every show.
Truth be told, I did not see Mystery Jets, although I really love their new record, but as I was heading to see Look See Proof, I heard "Half in Love With Elizabeth" emanating from The Honeyclub. I heard that the crowd was pretty bad, so I guess I didn't miss much either. Fucking teenagers.
Look See Proof, in a word, were stellar. They had a crowd that outnumbered a lot of "bigger" bands at the fest and the guys were absolutely tops with the best song of the band being a new tune. Talk about songwriting progression. When I thought the night couldn't get any better, I managed to wedge myself into Laura Marling, but being that there was so much going on, I decided to try my luck and try to get into the Glasvegas show.
Walking over to Komeida, there was a massive line outside, but I didn't see one for delegates. I asking the woman at the door and to my surprise, she whisked me right in door! I caught the band's last four songs and they were nothing short of amazing. They closed out the night, and for me the festival, with "Daddy's Gone," an exercise in what a perfect crowd singalong should be. Once again it's the live show which helps to sell me on a band.
Looking back on my master schedule, there were a long list of bands I missed, like Johnny Flynn, Team Waterpolo, Bombay Bicycle Club, Operator Please, Maths Class and White Lies, just to name a few, but that was part of the fun of the Great Escape. There's always next year, right?
Check out: The Great Escape (Day 1)
Check out: The Great Escape (Day 2)
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