The first evening of Brighton’s Great Escape Festival was in
full swing when the acts scheduled for Komedia kicked off their night. The
sheer diversity on offer from one venue over the course of the evening was
astounding, from folk-infused pop, to noisy punk-dance through to dub-reggae,
there was something for everyone, and, as the ever-changing makeup of the audience
suggested, each group had their own fan base out in force.
First up, representing Holland for the evening was Blaudzun,
a seven-piece group who mixed folk music and instruments with uplifting pop
melodies, to create an uplifting and joyous set. The group had obviously won
some fans earlier in the day at a previous gig the played in the city, as many
in the audience had been so impressed by the first show that they felt a second
time was a must. Between the various members in the band, the range of
instruments played was staggering, all of them playing at least two or three
different instruments (mandolins, banjos, trumpets, accordions and electric
violins were amongst the instruments which were brought out at one time or
another.) The band’s sound varied from uplifting pop-ish tracks, complete with
folk-dance rhythms, to lighter sounds which the various extra instruments gave
interesting textures to- creating washes of music which flowed over the
audience, creating an ethereal atmosphere. It is not hard to imagine,
especially with the make-up of the contemporary charts, this band- the project
of Johannes Sigmund, his brother, and various others- rising in fame and
popularity, with many of the songs sounding similar to various tracks which
have shot into the public consciousness on the back of advertising campaigns.
Band two was London group Thumpers. Their brand of safe, commercial
pop which seemed to have less depth than a puddle in the desert, and seemed
devoid of much in the way of meaning and thought, won them a small following.
The tracks were fairly similar and basic, following more clichés and set
formulae than what constitutes “radical new music” than can be found in an
issue of NME.
Next up, Is Tropical came to the stage in a blaze of
distorted guitars, leather, punk-rock attitude and technical difficulties when
it took a while for them to get their microphones to work properly. This
additional frustration, however, seemed only to fuel further their angry
mixture of rock and synthesised beats, which gradually increased as their
curtailed set progressed. The trio, which was expanded by the addition of an
extra singer for their final track, performed tracks which mixed thrashing
guitar chords, brief solo passages and heavy drums with synth beats, meaning it
took a short while to get used to their unusual sound, but once it was in full
flow, it was hard not to enjoy their infectious grooves.
The final group was London dub-reggae outfit The Skints, on
the first of their two Great Escape shows. The band’s urban, reggae sound,
mixed with rapping and ska flavours has won them a large following over recent
years, and the club was packed with a full audience, all skanking the night
away. It was hard to remain still as The Skints’ upbeat rhythms kept up at an
unrelenting pace. Three of the four members at various points took to the mic,
each of them with a totally different vocal style, each of which perfectly
suited the style of tracks they were singing- from melodious, slow dub-reggae,
to rapid-fire ska to rapping over the Jamaica-meets-London mix. This melange of
grooves and funky tunes made for a fantastic end to the night, far and away the
best band on the bill, offering funky grooves and great sing-along tunes.
(Although a brief attempt by an audience member at crowd at a stage
dive/crowdsurf met with minimal success).
By the very nature of the Great Escape Festival, audiences
are very fluid, moving from venue to venue to see different bands on different
bills, which meant that the different groups and subcultures who flocked
through the doors of Komedia on Thursday evening each brought with it a new
atmosphere and a different energy- each in itself interesting to watch- giving
the different bands appreciation. Although it would have been an interesting
experiment to have the same audience stay in for all four of the evening’s
bands, as at a standard gig as opposed to a festival event, to see what dynamic
would emerge then.
