Every time I see them I feel they are the culmination of the recent post-punk revival. They seem to do a bit of everything. They are political without becoming a self-defeating caricature, at times acerbic, other times show a wry sense of humour. The songs are usually well observed and reflective. The post-punk formula is spiced up by Poppy’s saxophone accenting songs and at times providing the angular riffing usually confined to the guitars. It is all held together with Zac’s impressive performances with him usually jumping into the crowd several times in a set. They just seem to be the complete package.

Tonight they played the album in full and in order, as Zac observed, probably for the last time. Sadly, Poppy recently left the band. Her saxophone is a large part of the special Deadletter sauce. It always seems sad looking in from the outside when a member of a band leaves just as they release the album. But tonight, their new saxophonist ably filled Poppy’s shoes and the new material all hangs together really well.

Set list

• Credit To Treason
• More Heat!
• Mother
• Bygones
• A Haunting
• It Flies
• Hysterical Strength
• Relieved
• Deus Ex Machina
• Practise Whilst You Preach
• Mere Mortal
• Binge

Despite flooding in the South, the journey to Bognor was straightforward with no delays. Given I had suffered a really poor night’s sleep – I think due to food poisoning, the train gave me a chance to recuperate. On the way down, it is fun spotting the Rockaway crowd amongst the commuters and travellers heading to Gatwick. We are really easy to spot, basically a tribe of middle-aged indie kids who have never grown up and that is part of what makes Rockaway so great. Lots of like-minded people, out to enjoy new music.

As is usual, the rooms were ready before the advertised arrival time and I was able to unpack and have a rest before hitting Reds. The start time in Reds was later this year. I think this was a change for the better, as it meant the room was busy from the start.

Starting our weekend of music and new discoveries were Ghost Car, a new band for me. The majority of songs came in around the three minute mark. Short, sharp 60s inspired garage punk, with but with a pop edge. I recognised Ceci Corapi from her other band Qlowski, a band I’m fond of, so I was already disposed to liking them. While they have disposable fun songs like Sushi Addict, most of their songs do have a message, but they try to make them fun. Sadly, the vocals were too low in the mix. Something repeated throughout the day.

Driving down from my native Teesside, Benefits brought their political industrial noise poetry to Butlins. I’ve covered my love for this band multiple times and their focus on how the working-class get shafted but also continuously shaft themselves, through inappropriate patriotism and fear ‘of the other’. The Britain they hold an uncomfortable mirror up to is living on faded false glories. You could say Butlins is the perfect place for them to play. It is a faded working-class institution. Sadly, few parks are now left and while they’re doing a great job of trying to make the place compete against overseas holiday destinations, it is a struggle. Kind of Post-Brexit Britain in a nutshell.

Sadly, much to my disappointment, Kingsley didn’t turn up as a Red Coat.

I have to admit, I love Benefits. I’m a Teessider. I like their attitude. I have found Kingsley to be completely respectful in all his interactions with me. So I wave a flag for them. But I’m also a realist about their music. The music isn’t to everyone’s taste. I joked with Robbie before hand that they might clear the room. They are well aware of their challenging sound and I think this helps keep them humble. They seem to appreciate those who stay and engage with them. I’ve had friends who didn’t survived two songs at other festivals. Here at Butlins, there were a lot of people who wanted to catch them, stayed and then raved about them later in the weekend. They’ve worked so hard to get their music out. It isn’t easy for a band from Teesside to get heard, especially a band ploughing their own furrow. But they are making a good fist of it and people seem to be open to listening to them.

Sadly, M(h)aol, who were up next, were a slight disappointment. I had seen them play the Moth Club supporting Bodega. I thought they were great. Their singer Róisín had so much presence and Zoe, the bass player, used a violin bow to create a great sound from her bass guitar with an expressive performance. The album they released in 2023 was also one of my most listened to of the year. I hadn’t realised that Róisín had left.

This change has forced a shift in responsibilities. With other members of the band taking vocals. But it has also caused a shift in the dynamics of the band, both sonically and from a performance perspective. Zoe especially is less exuberant, now that she shared vocals duties and drummer, Constance, who shares vocal duties is hidden at the back of the stage, which doesn’t help engagement. Sadly, some of the edge Róisín brought to the band has been dulled.

Many of the songs were new, I guess reflecting the shift in dynamics. I enjoyed the new songs, which seemed more layered and textured. It is brave not to replace the singer with like for like and to allow your sound to drift naturally to new moorings. I would be lying if I didn’t say I preferred the shouty nature of their previous sound. It will be interested to see where their sound heads. I will keep one eye on them. There was still something interesting about what they are doing.

Polish band, Trupa Trupa have played Rockaway. Much of their appeal is singer Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, who appears like an overhyped toddler who can’t contain his own fun, conducting the rest of the band as he plays. Some of their English language songs lack any complexity. But they’re so infectious, it doesn’t matter.

At this point in the evening, options opened up. The bigger Centre Stage opened ready for tonight’s headliner, Selector. Without a photo pass it becomes difficult to photograph the bands, as it is challenging to move between the two rooms and get to the front without pushing – which I try not to do. So I mapped out which bands I wanted to photograph the most and planned mye evening around them.

Belfast band Chalk, were first up on the Main Stage. If I’m honest, I don’t think the big stage was right for them. They seemed very small on such a large stage. With repeating angular, guitars and part-spoken, part-sung vocals, they reminded me of Gilla Band. That’s not a bad thing. I want to see them in a small dark room with strong strobing light where their intensity I think will pay off. They looked a bit lost on the big stage. But they did enough to ensure I will catch them again.

I had intended to watch HiFi Sean but got tied up with something and so headed to see Bob Vylan. It was clear a lot of people wanted to catch them as Centre stage was packed. However, because I wanted to also catch Patrick Wolf, I decided I was only staying for half the set. What I saw was one of the highlights of the festival. Comparisons (and arguments) have been drawn to Sleaford Mods. But musically they draw more from a poppier version of the Rage Against the Machine sound, with punk mixed with rap. Vylan also add in grime and Jamaican influences which means each song has an underlying danceable grove.

My previous reviews of Sleaford Mods and Billy Nomates, have suggested that their dynamics and stage presence could be improved by having live musicians and Bob Vylan vindicates this for me. While, much of the sound is sequenced from a laptop. There was a real dynamic between the two Bobs. Bob the drummer reacting to the performance to give everything a proper live feel. It didn’t really matter that the rest of the music was sequenced.

It also helps that singer Bob has real stage presence. He was comfortable talking to the audience. Joking from the off. Impressively, it never felt he was talking at the audience. At times his performance was visceral. Other times funny. Some have complained that Bob talked too much and they found his views towards the police, uncomfortable. But they’re two young black guys and their experience of the police is probably not what the majority of the middle-age white audience experienced growing up. They’re doing exactly what musicians should do. Challenge us by holding up a mirror to the world as they see it. I felt more connected to them and their music, than I’ve ever done with the Mods.

Heading down to Reds for Pale Blue Eyes, many had stayed downstairs and it was several deep at the barrier. I headed to the side for a few shots, accepting that I had photographed them numerous times, and feeling recovered after the previous night’s nausea, I finally took the opportunity to grab a few beers. Even from the back, it is clear that PBE are a really tight band.

Sadly, at this point, Reds fell behind. I’m sure the guys managing the stage would be the first to admit, they got things wrong during the first day. After all, it was their first festival back after New Year. We all make mistakes on our first day back after Christmas. While the sound was too bass heavy and setup at times slow. So far it hadn’t led to any delays. This finally caught up with them and timings slipped by 15 minutes while setting up PBE. But as festival go, that’s not a really big issue and it’s nothing that couldn’t have been made up.

PBE’s set was great as usual. I’ve said it before. They are so comfortable with each other and they own their sound. They make music seem effortless and convincing. They sounded great while I drank my first beers of the festival.

We were now hitting the big clash in the programme. Patrick Wolf was due to start at the same time as Selector. He was a late addition after a band pulled out. However, he was going to finish first. My thinking was to watch half of Patrick’s set and then head up and catch the second half of the Selector’s set.

It’s probably 18 years since I saw Patrick Wolf. At the time, I really didn’t like him. However, I know a lot of people who do like him and in 18 years both my musical tastes and Patrick have developed. Out of all the bill, I was most interested to see what he sounded like and for me to reflect on my own changing tastes.

Given the short notice, Patrick said he was playing without his full band and he had to devise a new set over Christmas. Clearly he hadn’t worked out how to change over in the 20ish minute gap he would have between bands to set up. Because he single handedly knocked the festival back another 45 minutes. He was like the runner in a 4×100 relay race who drops the baton. He seemed so out of practice setting up for a festival turnaround.

He turned up with numerous instruments, repeat pedals and bags of cables. After PBE finished, the stage was 15 minutes late. By the time he had plugged in his keyboards, guitars, autoharp and violin in correctly, then sound checked everything, he went on 50 minutes late at 2335 and the Selector’s set was nearly finished. He seemed to lack any urgency. If you are the headliner, fine. When you are not top of the bill, you are eating into somebody else’s time.

Of course, at this point, I had to stay to see him. I don’t know if I was in a bad mood at this point. But he didn’t win me over. It was pleasant, but uninspiring. Others said he was boring and shouldn’t have been on the bill. I don’t agree with them. I think he was a good booking. Adding some light to the shade of the rest of the bill and this year’s bill, despite being pretty perfect to me, was all dark. However, he needs to get into rehearsal studio and assemble his kit and work out what is realistic in the 15 minute festival turnaround time and let that dictate which songs he plays. I’ve seen stages at SXSW tell an artist they can’t play when they started to make the stage times slip. What he did was unfair to Hinds as it pushed them back from 12pm to 1am. And despite my earlier criticism of the stage guys. This had nothing to do with them. This was mostly Patrick’s fault.

Giving Patrick enough time to win me over, after four songs, I wasn’t finding any love for his music. Sadly, by the time I headed up to the Selector, they were playing the end of their set. Brilliant, as you would expect. But given my lack of sleep, I had basically been up for nearly 24, I decided to grab some food to give me the energy to survive Hinds set.

While the dual stage isn’t good for me grabbing evening photos without a pass. I do like the second stage and I think the Rockaway team have made effective use of this stage to give headline slots to bands who have the potential to headline the bigger stage. Hinds are a case in point. They are headliners in waiting. Every time I’ve seen them, they are bundles of energy. It is impossible not to to like them. However, I’m not sure their name is a big enough draw for a main stage headliner. Though after tonight I have no doubt, they will make a great headliner. Maybe next year?

Despite having been up since 5am to travel to the festival from Madrid and Patrick delaying their set until 1am, long after they should have finished. Many who wanted to catch them decided to head to their rooms. There was still a reasonable size and warm crowd for them. It is a few years since I’ve seen them and two of the original members recently left and I was worried their energy might have gone. I needn’t have worried, even during sound check Carlotta Cosials was beaming with her infectious smile, joking with the sound guys and trying to warm up the audience. What followed was a customary Hinds set of joyous music. Everyone who stayed went to bed happy.

I thought I would head back to edit photos, but it was nearly 2.30 and I was knackered. They would have to wait. Not a bad first day and I knew better was still to come.

The great thing about Rockaway Beach is that Butlins offers other things to do around the music, like bowling, playing arcades, pool, swimming and go carting. Obviously, Down at the Front headed down to catch Trout in Reds, which started the day with significantly improved sound. Well done the sound engineers for listening to our complaints.

Trout were first. They weren’t for me. They were bit shoegazey. All standing still looking serious. Little to photograph and I tend to find that type of music a bit boring. Although, I admit it was clever sequencing by the organisers. They were the perfect band for dealing with the first hangover of the weekend and they eased us into Saturday.

While Trout were the appetiser. Frozemode were the fiery chilly dish. Anyone not yet awake were soon woken up by Frozemode, three rappers who mix in a bit of noise rock. They jumped around the stage with an energy level that was unhealthy at this time of day. If I’m honest, I didn’t really follow anything they said. But it didn’t matter, they filled the stage with their performance.

Genn, the Brighton via-Malta band, offered a mix of post-punk and a bit of psych, but there were other influences that made them stand out from the crowd. Genn weave Middle Eastern and North African textures into their songs that made them sound fresh and new. Interest was helped by a captivating performance of singer, Leona Farrugia, who had a fantastic voice and danced around the stage, engaging us with their performance. One to watch and my favourite new discovery of the weekend.

Another late addition to lineup was Lonely Tourist. I had considered jumping out to get some food because I didn’t want to miss any of the bands playing the rest of the afternoon. Staying for one song, the Scottish duo won me over with their relaxed engaging style and great songwriting. Lovely little vignettes of the little things in life.

If I’m honest, this time last year, I wasn’t convinced about the ‘one to watch’ hype Heartworms were generating. I had seen them on a full bill, though good, I felt there were better bands on the bill who weren’t generating the hype. But they are as good as the hype. I’ve seen them a few times since and become convinced that those hyping them were right. Jojo Orme is a brilliant songwriter with great stage presence. Her dark gothic post-punk sound feels fresh. The addition of the theremin adds a different dimension to the songs and her performance. Hopefully a debut album is coming soon.

Big Special are one of my current favourites. I think 2024 will bring big things for them. They kind of sit alongside bands like Benefits, Sleaford Mods and Bob Vylan. They have written songs that reflect on modern society. Songs are part spoken with a tongue firmly placed in cheek. Singer Joe Hicklin, has a wry sense of humour and for somebody who talks for most of the songs, a really brilliant voice. I think that’s what makes them different. They have his voice available to add in a different dynamic.

Ditz are a great live band. They know how to work the room. Cal, unhappy the lead on the mic was really short and that bands aren’t allowed to bring drinks on to the stage, paced around the stage looking like he was being wound up like a coil ready to spring. This was going to be good. A radio mic was procured and as soon as they started, he was off into the crowd to see how far he could get. Complaining that he wanted the music louder. I think Cal was converted to using radio mics. He had a new toy for the rest of the set he made good use of it. I half expected to see him singing from behind the bar.

(In fairness to the sound engineer, if loudness was what caused yesterday’s sound issues. They had the levels right and when I was further back, I thought the sound levels were fine)

As with any DITZ performance. Cal moves around the stage unable to stand in any one position, pacing as if he’s planning mischief. Much to the annoyance of the stage crew, this involved climbing the rigging, and like a parent who knows there is no way their kids will do what they are asking. The sound engineer dejectedly walked across the stage knowing he wouldn’t be listened to. Upturning and standing on a monitor probably didn’t endear Cal any further with the stage crew. But the audience loved it. I think Ditz made a lot of new fans today.

Finally, I’ve seen JOHN! I had tickets to see them twice and missed them. The last one, due to a train strike. The risk was that they wouldn’t live up to my anticipation. We were worried before their set that John (drummer) wouldn’t be seen at the back of the stage. Thankfully, they moved the drums to the side so that we could see him (well mostly, there was a lot of smoke). They were everything I wanted them to be. The two Johns produced a loud and imposing sound that hits you in the stomach. Music you turn up to 11.

Unfortunately, given 8 hours standing in the same spot, my feet were killing me and my stomach was telling me I needed to feed it. I headed up to catch the end of the Skids set. While they sounded okay, I decided it was better to get some food. The feedback about their set was really positive, but I think I made the right decision. I’m not really bothered about discovering a band from the 1970s. There’s so many new bands to discover.

I have been hearing excited whispers about amazing Fat Dog performances coming out of South London. They have created a small but strong London following. I did have a ticket to see them earlier in the year and based on tonight, I can see why they would be great in a small London venue. First, there seemed to be loads of people on stage. We all love seeing a chaotic stage. Then there’s a mix of instruments that makes them look like they are a band of whoever turned up with a musical instrument that evening. Then when they play, it’s pure dance music. At the end of the evening, after a few pints, they would be brilliant. I hadn’t drunk anything and they made me feel like I needed to have a drink. I could see what I was missing. Hearing that the bars were running out of beer, after watching half their set, I headed to get some beer.

This is one of the problems with Butlins, beer, or rather the lack of it. I’ve mentioned it in previous years. Their beer options are limited. They seem to focus on offering lager and Guinness. This year they had improved their offering with a small micro-pub provided by Sharps. Sadly, they started to run out on Saturday night and by the end of Sunday, even the Guinness had run out. This isn’t a fault of the festival organisers and Butlins do seem to be listening to our feedback and trying to offer new options, sadly, they didn’t get it right this year. I’m sure next year they will.

Still relatively sober, I headed up to catch Sleaford Mods. I saw them play a local venue around the time of their first album. While, I liked the album. I was unimpressed by their live presence. However, I wanted to give them a chance. They’ve been playing big stages for years. Surely must be more than a bloke shouting into a microphone and a guy pressing play on the computer? Yes, Andrew now dances. If anything, they were worse than in the small club. At that performance Jason was in touching distance. The performance was in your face. Here there was no intimacy. It was like watching a pissed angry guy ranting away in the corner of a pub and like that situation, I opted to move on.

The decision was an easy one. Dream Wife were playing Reds. I first saw them play the Touting Tram and Social to a few of us there for the music, in a pub full of people out to have a drink. Even back then, they were fully formed. Since then they’ve released three albums and gained a strong following, especially amongst young women, due to them creating a welcoming space for women at their gigs. In fairness, it’s less welcoming to ‘down at the front’ men who queued to be at the front and then are kicked to the back. However, there’s loads of bands we can go and see and feel safe and welcome. That’s not the same for women.

Their festival set was fun, but their message was still there. Interestingly, their lyric from Somebody off their first album, ‘I am not my body, I’m somebody’ seemed to have hit home with a number of men who I heard quoting it over the weekend. The way Rakel sings, it has become their anthem. It’s damn catchy.

It was great to see how far the band has come. When blokes say there are no female bands who can headline stages. Well Rockaway showed that’s not true. In fact Dream Wife and Hinds would have been a better headliner than Sleaford.

Hopefully, Rockaway will go the full distance next year and include a female headliner on the main stage. Both Hinds and Dream Wife are good candidates.

Like previous years, I decided to take Sunday more easily. It is hard work being ‘Down At the Front’. As I had previously photographed pretty much everyone on Sunday’s Red bill. I decided to take less gear and head for a late breakfast, rather than being first into Reds.

First up was a brilliant festival band, Enjoyable Listens. Let’s say they are a less-then-serious band. Singer, Luke Duffett, creates a well observed caricature of a crooner. There’s a lot of similarity with Jesse Hughes’ rockstar caricature. Taking all the sterotypes of a crooner working a room, the secret of Enjoyable Listens isn’t the music, which is fun, but the stories, explaining the songs. And like every great star, by the end of the set, he had everyone eating out of his hands.

For the rest of the afternoon, I dipped in and out. I had seen all the acts before and while I like most of them, this was my day off. Japanese Television play laid back surf-rock with a Japanese influence. Very chilled and tight. I’ve listen to Joyeria a lot since seeing him in 2022. Firmly rooted in early 90s US alt-rock. I think he deserves to be listened to more and after this set, he definitely has a few extra fans. I can see the appeal of Shelf Lives, with their fun, danceable, electric punk. They just don’t work for me, but the audience were lapping them up. I think TRAAMS surprised everyone. I saw them in 2013(ish) and then I didn’t hear about them for years, picking them up again last year. Using the Krautrock formula to build up momentum to monumental performances. They were the pick of many who went to Rockaway and I could see why.

At this point, I decided to jump back onto the barrier for a few songs of Snayx. I have seen them quite a few times and they have a strong, enthusiastic following that seems to has spawned out of IDLES AF gang. I’m going to be honest, I am not fully convinced by them. But they are good to photograph and fun to watch.

They are a trio. Vocals (Charlie), bass (Ollie) and drums (Laney). Ollie’s bass is heavily altered by effects pedals, so it creates a sound more reminiscent of dance music. I think why they have so many fans is the way Charlie and Ollie bounce around the stage and continually engage with the crowd. It is all good on surface, but I’m always left feeling wanting more musically. While their music has a political edge, it just feels blunted by the dance sound coming out of the bass. I like my post-punk angular. But there is no denying they are good fun and do more than most bands do to keep you entertained. I moved further back and let the real fans enjoy my place.

I was waiting the whole festival for Deadletter. I think they are one of the best bands around at the moment. I saw them at one of these ‘one to watch’ nights in early 2022. I’ve seen them grow and gain some influential backers like Steve Lamacq. I am surprised they have yet to release an album. I’m hoping early 2024 will see the release of the album and they hit the streets and capitalise on their momentum.

I have a feeling the post-punk revival is nearing its end. I think Deadletter are the culmination of all that’s gone before. They manage to be as vital as anyone before them, have tongues in cheek when needed and write finely crafted songs that Talking Heads would be happy to have written. All driven by supremely confident front person, Zac, who knows how to work the crowd while also keeping a detached persona when he needs to. He performs in his space. He performs in the space the songs need, sometime we are in it, sometimes not. Tonight, was a classic Deadletter set. The crowd loved them.

My final band of the festival were Desperate Journalist. They played Rockaway before. I saw them just before Christmas. A good choice for the main stage and a fine way to end my festival.

Sadly, I meant to catch the Cribs and Vaselines, but after Deadletter, I ended up talking to various people and the rest of the night disappeared. I even ended up in the silent disco. But I don’t come to Rockaway for the legacy bands. I come for the interesting undercard. The festival organisers have a very good track record of gauging the pulse of the indie scene and this year they out did themselves. Many of these bands will have much higher profiles by Rockaway 2025.

2025 is the 10th anniversary of Rockaway Beach. I started out thinking it didn’t provide enough music. Each year, my love of it has grown. It will be interesting to see what they have planned. Hopefully, next year they will have some element of ‘Rockaway Greats’ to celebrate the anniversary. If they do, they could do worse than having a female headliner who has played the festival before. There were two good candidates this year, but my pick would Nadine Shah.

Is it worth going? It’s January. Can you think of anything better than this to do? Give it a try. Butlins staff are friendly. There’s loads to do on site. Decent food options. You head back to a room every night. And you get to listen to great new music. Can you see why it has got its claws into me? I know I will be back next year. I have already bought my ticket. See you in 2025.

Full gallery available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pahudson/albums/72177720313910407

After checked-in, I headed off to grab my badge. Last year I was off the pace, with issues with my calf muscles reducing my mobility. They have mainly held up since then. My only concern this year was the perennial size of the queues. Would 2023 continue the trend of turning paying music fans into second-class citizens, while the ‘off on a jolly to the seaside on work’s expenses’ crowd get preferential treatment?

Heading up to the Green Door Store for a few of the sets at one of the alt-Escape opening parties, for some reason. I found the venue unbearably hot and decided to head off for a beer and a quiet night. Before leaving I managed to catch three acts. The highlight, Porchlight. With that kind of anarchic Squid sound, popular at the moment. They put on an excellent show. But I decided to bail and save my energy for the full festival.

This year I spent more time planning who I was going to see. But as is usual, the plan didn’t hold up in reality. The day started off at the Prince Albert for Katie Phelan playing the Irish showcase. The curse of being on first. Katie Phelan suffered from sound issues. Though in fairness, I don’t think it was the sound engineer’s fault. I think Katie forgot to change her battery in her acoustic guitar and the sound engineer had to quickly mic up the guitar. But this is what festivals are for. They help artists deal with the logistics. Musically, it was a fairly standard singer-songwriter fair. Lots of little reflective vignettes. Pleasant, but focused on young concerns.

Reb Fountain at the North Lane Brewery was my first discovery. Her music blended elements of folk, blues, rock, pop, even a bit goth at times. Reb’s vocals are rich, bluesy and at times sultry. I was really impressed by her and caught her playing the Lexington on the way home.

Up at the Hope and Ruin, Cowboyy continued to impress with their intricate math rock. More intricate music and dare I say it, prog, appears to be rearing its head again as kids bore of the post-punk sound that has dominated the last few years. Cowboyy intricate math rock is definitely worth catching. 

But the post-punk revival hasn’t yet died. Surfing on the tail end of the revival and one of the best bands of the revival, Deadletter played the inappropriate Music Venue Trust Airstream stage down at the beach. I always photograph them in black and white and their music suits the dark. Seeing them in daylight somehow feels wrong. Luckily, they were still as good as always. Zac, as usual, went out into the crowd midway through the set. Being a festival set, they concentrated on all their most crowd-friendly songs.

The sound on the MVT stage was pretty poor all weekend. It is the nature of outdoor venues. However, it is unforgivable for the sound engineer to make things worse. Sadly Coach Party experienced an unacceptably bad sound. For some unknown reason, the sound engineer failed to notice the first song and part of the second song had no vocals. It probably won’t affect Coach Party, they already have a pretty dedicated fan base. But please TGE don’t let this happen again. This is a showcase for many artists. As you would expect, Coach Party’s infectious indie pop registered strongly with the afternoon crowd and the perfect breezy accompaniment to a sunny day on the beach

The evening was dominated by queues. But I did manage to see two great acts, the visceral Benefits I have covered numerous times. Playing the One Church. Kingsley’s sermon was received by a willing congregation. It was great to see such a positive reaction to what could be a hard festival sell.

Second standout of the evening was Lael Neale. I had tickets to see her at the Lexington the following week. I hoped I would catch her here, find her average and have an evening off to regain post-festival sleep. No chance. The album has been on heavy rotation and live, was just as beautiful. Many of the delicately crafted songs were played on an old omnichord and Lael’s swilling of her fingers around its pad, weirdly mesmeric.

For the rest of the evening, it was a case of finding any venue I could get into. In the end I decided to grab a few beers. While Brighton is more open than last year, many of my favourite pubs were still closing relatively early on week nights. Sad to see things are still catching up to pre-COVID times.

Friday started off with something different with Annie Taylor rocking out at Komedia Studio. Good old fashioned unreformed blues rock with lots of blue denim on show. Annie and band put on an energetic fun set. Not really my thing anymore. But still fun.

The second Benefits set was slightly more surreal than the previous evening in a church with Kingsley and co disturbing the beachgoers at the MVT stage. Sound continued to be an issue with vocals too low in the mix. It was good to see a significant number stayed to enjoy their set. You either love this band or you hate them. With this band there is no compromise.

The rest of the afternoon was particularly unsuccessful. Some of the bigger draws had long queues. I managed to squeeze into the Shipwright’s Yard to hear an excellent set from Pale Blue Eyes. Unless you are at the front you can’t see the band playing inside the garage. I have a fondness for this makeshift ‘venue’. TGE needs more of these pop-up venues.

My unsuccessful afternoon led to me deciding to grab a beer in the relatively empty Mesmerist and listen to what they had scheduled for the Alt-Escape. Listed on their board was ‘Sleeper’ playing in 30 minutes time. Could it be that Sleeper? Amazingly it was and the acoustic set they played was rather good. They all seemed so relaxed and at ease with each other. It was a joy to watch.

Given the difficulty of getting into venues, I decided to head for St Mary’s Church to catch FDR who I had heard good things about. JFDR didn’t do that much for me. But I caught the last 10 minutes of Penelope Trapes’s impressive dark brooding set accompanied by some excellent atmospheric lighting.

As the church is 15 minutes walk from the nearest venue. I decided to stay there for the next act. Once I left venue it was after 10pm and the rest of the evening was a bit of a miss. Everywhere I headed to was busy or I simply wasn’t interested in walking half the length of the town to find the queues.

Saturday was unlike any recent Great Escape. With a rail strike, there was a reduced train service to Brighton. The usual weekend hordes that descend on Brighton stayed away and many of the TGE audience who usually catch the late night Saturday trains back from Brighton (to avoid the ridiculously expensive Saturday night hotel prices) disappeared mid afternoon. Saturday was actually the most pleasant TGE for years. There were few queues to be seen and Brighton itself was relatively quiet. This is what TGE needs to be like all the time and closer to what it was like when I first started.

Saturday started well. Anna B Savage and band played a beautiful set upstairs at Patterns. It all seemed effortless from her and her band. I’m not completely sold on her distinctive vocals when she plays a full set. They start to become a bit wearing as I find her vocals after a certain point seems like an affectation. But these short festival sets have the opposite effect. Distinctive and rich, they add some spice to the day and Anna’s set really hit the mark.

The next band on my agenda wasn’t on for another hour. So I decided to head there via Volks for an interestingly named Rainbow Frog Biscuit. I think I walked into a parallel world of rainbows and unicorns and sugary candy floss pop. The kind of pop created by somebody who has grown up singing Frozen songs in front of the mirror. I’m not sure the 6Music audience is her target audience. But what a great voice she had. While very stagey, it suited her materials. Sadly, it was very much not my thing.

PABST at The Prince Albert offered up 90s inspired grunge rock. Energetically performed by the three piece band. A palette cleanser after Rainbow Frog Biscuit. Usually, The Prince Albert is rammed and unbearably hot on the Saturday afternoon. This year, it was pleasant making it easier to enjoy the band but a little bit more difficult for the band to get the audience participation they maybe hoped for when they asked us to form a circle and mosh.

At Chalk, Flossing, the project of Heather Elle, Bodega’s old bass player, reminded me a lot of Jenny Beth’s post-Savages work. Heather cutting a confident, strong, no-nonsense stage presence. The music is equally as confident and direct. The electro-industrial sound accompanied by strong lighting really worked well. One of my highlights of the festival

Over at a packed Revenge, Butch Kassidy had started their set. Unable to get anywhere near the stage I watched some heads bobbing up and down in the distance to a thunderous heavy psych rock soundtrack. These guys are good. This was probably my favourite set of the festival. I need to catch them in a smaller venue where I can see them too.

Unusually for a Saturday night at TGE. I didn’t decide to stick to one venue. The lack of queues at many venues meant I managed to catch a few more acts before calling it a day. Pencil, featuring a whole host of familiar faces were interesting and I will no doubt catch them again. Closing the evening at Brighthelm and my festival, Anna Wolf put on a great festival show that perfectly capped off my festival.

Was this a successful TGE? Not really. I was surprised by Reb Fountain and I managed to catch a few artists who’ve been on my list for a while such as Flossing and Butch Kassidy. But the buzz bands were the buzz bands last year and I didn’t get anywhere near seeing them due to the queues. I think we are still seeing the effects of the pandemic. Most bands weathered the lockdowns. But the lockdowns seem to have affected the pipeline of new bands. I guess we will see them slowly appearing as the music scenes around the country build up their momentum again. But overall, I think the quality was an improvement on last year.

I’m in a quandary about my continued engagement with TGE. As a music review / photography site we aren’t big enough to get photo passes. That’s fair enough, we are small or is that ‘boutique’? While we have already grabbed an early-bird ticket for 2024. I’m not sure TGE is value for money anymore. As standard festival ticket holders, we are now second-class citizens. I arrived early on Friday and Saturday to get to the front at a venue as they opened, to then have the delegates waltz up five minutes before doors and walk in before me. Throughout the weekend they had priority in queuing situations. Why is this the case? They paid for a conference which comes with a TGE music pass. They shouldn’t have priority for the live music part. Many haven’t paid a dime for the tickets. Their companies have. Why do paying customers get handled as we do? It is getting to the point where you see more music by sticking to a single venue and if that’s the case, some of the free events have higher quality day line-ups. The joy of this type of festival is being able to move around and see new artists.

I guess my main issue is the cost of staying in Brighton. I have always had an issue with the venue creep and the lack of bands I see at TGE. When it was relatively cheap, I learned to treat the weekend as a short break with some music. Sadly, the hotels are now a rip-off. Nearly £600 for four nights in a Premier Inn. Looking at next year’s prices, several hotels are quoting £1000 for four nights when they were quoting £500 four years ago. Brighton is pricing itself out of this game. Is it really worth £150 a day to spend half your time queuing? If somehow TGE could make this year’s Saturday happen every year. I wouldn’t think twice. While I have a ticket for next year, I am in two minds if it is worth booking hotels or to pass on the ticket to somebody else. I don’t know. Maybe with clear light of day, I might change my mind. But at the moment, £600 would cover the cost of two festivals elsewhere. I suspect I will be back next year. But it will probably be my last unless there are some serious changes.

Artists at TGE and Brighton Festival

Day 0 – Yuanfan Yang, Moon Idle, Maximillian, Porchlight,
Day 1 – Katie Phelan, Reb Fountain, Connor Mac, Minas, The New Cut, Cowboyy, Freak Slug, Deadletter, Coach Party, Benefits, Pax Cultura, Lael Neale, Navy, Ruth Lyon, Storry
Day 2 – Annie Taylor, Luke RV, Baby Cool, Benefits, Sleeper, Lilo, Penelope Trappes, JFDR, Hinako Omori, Maria Chara Argiro
Day 3 – Anna B Savage (x2), Rainbow Frog Biscuit, Soak, Ombigizi, PABST, Nadia Sheikh, Sophie Jameson, Flossing, Butch Kassidy, Nice Biscuits, Ann Lu Cannon, Pencil, Anna Wolf

Tonight was another BBC Introducing Show and another chance to catch them before they head off to bigger and better things. Deadletter were part of an otherwise weak BBC Introducing lineup (for my taste). Featuring yet another Radio 1 destined TikTok singer songwriter, Nieve Ella, and a dance music band from Dublin, Just Wondering, who seem to think autotuning their vocals is a good thing. Thankfully, Deadletter saved the evening.

After an unusual evening where the lights were on in the Lexington. The lights were dimmed for their more moody performance. The intimate crowd were receptive to the band from the off. Unlike last time at the 100 Club. The moshing was all pleasant. Just as it should be. Full of people enjoying themselves and not trying to hurt people (which my recently recovered knee is pleased about).

It is nearly a year since I first saw Deadletter. During that time they have released a new EP, Heat! and honed their already formidable live performances. Tonight, they played 12 songs that should provide a good base to build on, when they inevitably play bigger venues next year.

Most of songs from Heat! got an airing. While songs like Fit for Work already has the audience singing along. All the new songs all have catchy choruses and are very danceable, while keeping the observation, politics and wit of earlier songs.

Closing the show, Zeitgeist, is probably the highlight of the EP. The strong moody baseline drives the music, building the tension as Zac tells us that a change is coming. Then it kicks into a higher gear as the sax comes in for a brief stab of anarchy. It is the ability to switch gears, injecting an extra layer of energy with the saxophone, while keeping everything dark and moody that separates this band from other post-punk bands.

This was another amazing performance. These guys are going to be big in 2023

Set List

• Hysterical Strength
• Pop Culture Connoisseur
• More Heat!
• Weights
• Madge’s Declaration
• Practise What You Preach
• Snitching
• Degenerate Inanimate
• Binge
• Hero
• Fit For Work
• Zeitgeist

Deadletter are probably the best new band I have seen this year. From the tiny Social, they have picked up the backing of people like Steve Lamacq after their fantastic Great Escape performance (and he was in the audience). On tonight’s evidence, playing a much longer headline set. They have the songs and the politics good post-punk bands need and they are developing into a top-tier band. It won’t be long before they are playing much bigger venues.

Support was from the Heartworms who used a theremin to give them a unique sound and are worth another listen. Humour, from Glasgow, tried but failed to create an anarchic Gilla Band, type sound. Nice try, but they just didn’t work for me.

I had some remote hope I had a photo pass waiting even though we hadn’t received notification, as Down At The Front had some email issues leading up to the festival. But no luck. We weren’t on the list. Another year where we would be limiting ourselves to venues where we knew we would be safe take in our cameras.

Day 0

As is customary, we headed down to Brighton on Wednesday. As we experienced this time, it is the sensible choice if you want to catch all the music and not worry about how well the trains run. Sadly, this year, Brighton has got even more expensive than it was pre-lockdown and it was already stupidly expensive then. The extra day really does make things a lot more expensive. Usually there are events happening the night before the festival starts that help justify the extra cost. But this year was light on interest and I did wonder if it was really worth the extra cost just just for the Thursday afternoon.

Pretty much the only thing happening in Brighton was the Alt-Alt Escape Opening Party at the Green Door Store. The opening party had some decent music on show. ELLiS.D started the evening of well with his psychy rock with a touch of glam theatrics thrown in.

Another standout was The Kitterns. Just good, uncomplicated indie

CIEL, who many caught during the TGE and raved about, were also on the bill. They were very entertaining with some catchy songs, especially their single ‘Fine Everything’. Although they didn’t light my fire, I will happily catch them again.

As this was the first night of my first real break since pre-lockdown. I decided to head off to find a grab some food, find a pub and hunker down for the evening. Really disappointedly, Brighton was dead. Restaurants seemed to close by 11 and my usual late night pubs were closed by midnight. I did find a pub open until 1am, but my usual approach of watching bands and to not really starting to drink until about 11ish, meant that I was waking up for the rest of the festival with a clear head.

Day 1

In many ways this was a different festival for me. I am not sure how others felt about it. I don’t think I was ready for this year’s Great Escape. Normally, I wake up (with a hangover) and go for a long walk down the sea front, grab some breakfast and head to the first gig on the bill. Since catching COVID at Christmas (luckily, no symptoms), I found my exercise has reduced after my calf pinged (twice). Meanwhile, I have relaxed and been out to the pub a lot more. Essentially, I am not in the best physical shape I have been. Unfortunately for me, my calf tightened again the day before the festival and I decided I had to be sensible. I couldn’t rush around doing stupid things like power walking from Horatio’s to the Green Door Store. For much of the festival I planned short routes between venues. Avoiding gambling on walking across town to venues that might be busy and that have no nearby backup venues. My step count was about 50% down on a normal TGE.

Starting the first day off as I was to continue the festival. I decide to have a relaxed start in Komedia Studio with Telenova, rather than rushing off to the first venue that opened, like I normally do. The room was already packed by the time I got there. I found a space midway in the room and listened to a few enjoyable songs of breezy indie pop, before heading down stairs to catch High School who sadly didn’t do much for me.

Music Scotland were holding one of their regular showcases at the nearby One Church. Featuring Memes and Kathryn Joseph, I thought I would ease myself into the festival and headed the short way up to the church. Opening was Blair Davie, a singer songwriter with songs exploring his identity. It was all fine but a little introspective for me.

Memes followed. I had seen them a few weeks earlier supporting Benefits. I liked their set the first time and enjoyed it even more a second. Garage post-punk. Memes are just two people. Lots of bass, complementing a drum machine that drive each song forward, with the singer barking the lines. There is a bit of an industrial feel to it at times and remarkably dancy.

After a brief, but uninteresting trip up to the Alt-Escape at the Laines Brewhouse. I headed back to see Kathryn Joseph and her distinctive voice. She seems to have gone all Taylor Swift with a new album of songs about failed relationships. She was completely engaging, with lots of self-deprecating humour about each song. It was a lovely set.

This was pretty much the afternoon over and I realised I hadn’t really seen much new music and decided that for the rest of the festival I would only try and catch new artists and headed back to my hotel room to grab some refreshments.

The evenings at The Great Escape usually consist of queue. Although Thursdays often aren’t too bad and I hoped that would be the case tonight.

I decided it was time to give Chalk a try. I had a soft spot for The Haunt, so was unhappy when it closed. The new space isn’t bad. It gives Brighton a bigger venue and The Haunt is somewhere in the heavily remodelled bigger Chalk space. I was there to see Medicine Cabinet. The lead singer, looked like an escapee from a Final Fantasy game and guitarist looked like an escapee from CHIPS (there’s one for the kids). They clearly didn’t take themselves too seriously. Definitely at the pop end of the indie scale. While fun to watch. They didn’t do too much for me.

First of a few missteps at the TGE. English Teacher were on my list to catch. They were playing the nearby Latest Bar. I should have headed there earlier. But I stayed to catch the whole of Medicine Cabinet’s set.

Arriving at the latest bar I found there was already a long queue. I should have just left and moved on. But I waited and actually got to the door before they told people it was at capacity. The security guard seeing I was on my own, did actually sneak me in. Unfortunately, this just allowed me to join a second queue in the bar area as downstairs was rammed and at capacity. From past experience, it is not a pleasant space when it is full and I finally saw sense and decided to head off. There shouldn’t be queues like this on a Thursday. Sadly this was an experience repeated throughout the festival.

There was a decent double bill at Komedia with the Folly Group and Billy Nomates. I knew it was likely Billy would have a long queue and the sensible choice would be to queue for her, as I would really like to see her in a smallish venue. Instead I decided to catch Folly Group first, catching the tail end of French band District Five who create music with a fusion of influences from jazz and indie. They were really quite good.

I really liked the Folly Group’s recent EP and live that nervous energy is there. While fitting into the generic post-punk descriptor. Like Squid, they have a singing drummer and angular guitars. Unfortunately the singer was hidden at the back of the stage behind a haze of smoke. They probably should push the drums to the front of the stage to give him a more staring role.

Sadly after the Folly Group had finished, the queue for Billy was long and the venue was at capacity. I waited for an about 10 minutes but the queue didn’t move. Worse, the delegate’s queue was increasing in size and I knew they would be let in first. These delegates queues are becoming a problem The Great Escape is going to have to solve if it isn’t to collapse under its own weight and push out us normal festival goers.

It seemed this year the Great Escape conference was bigger than it has ever been. In many ways this should be a good thing. However, there were hip middle-class delegates everywhere. I don’t remember it being this way in the past. But if the conference is going to be useful, it has to find a way to be more accessible and not just a conference for University-graduate, young, white, middle-class adults. That’s pretty much the whole problem with the music industry at the moment. It has to try harder not to be Shoreditch-on-sea.

This year, delegates had separate queues at most venues and these allowed them to by-pass the general queue, giving them priority. This is a sign The Great Escape is starting to edge towards being the UK’s version of SXSW, when due to it’s location it is simply is a pale impersonator.

Unfortunately, Austin is set up so much better for forced venue hoping than Brighton is. Also, Austin actually makes an effort to support SXSW. Most TGE’s outside of the venues, I wouldn’t really know there was the UK’s premier new music festival taking place. The council seem to make no effort to support it and local business don’t seem to embrace it. I guess it is because of how popular it is as a holiday destination they don’t have to chase after the TGE punters.

When combined with what seemed like an increase in standard festival goers, queues were worse than ever this year. And with nothing done to stop the spread of venues leading to an ever reducing venue density. Choosing the wrong venue means missing a good chuck of music each evening. At SXSW there are 20 other venues within 15 minutes walk. This is not the case in Brighton and after missing Billy, I headed to the next venue, only to have to join another queue at a venue that usually doesn’t have them. It was a good 40 minutes before I saw the next act. TGE really needs to up the number of venues and have bands play multiple times across the city, increasing the chances of seeing the buzzy bands or stumbling across your new favourite band.

After more queuing at usually quiet venues, I headed up to see Hamish Hawk at Brighthelm. I have never seen a queue at this place and thankfully there was no issue getting in to see what turned out to be a really fun set and one of my highlights of the festival.

Friends had seen Hamish play the week before and recommended I catch him. Whether intentional or not, there is more than a touch of Neil Hannon about Hamish and that is not a bad thing. Hamish was fun and engaging. My highlight of the day.

After Hamish, I decided to catch one more band and then head off for a drink and to process photos. So picking a venue I expected I would be able to get in I headed to catch Grace Cummings at Komedia’s Studio venue.

Often at these festivals you see bands stressed out as they rush around and having to set up quickly at a new venue. tI was great to see a very relaxed Grace Cummings and her band. Lots of smiles and fooling around as they set up. I have to admit I had already decided what her voice would sound like before she started, so was pleasantly surprised to find she has a proper rock blues voice, the kind you don’t hear too often from male or female singers. Her music was I guess blues rock. But there was the occasional country blues tone and also some pschy guitars. I was pleasantly surprised.

After Grace I decided to head off and find a beer. But like the previous night, not much was open outside of the festival and it was another relatively early night.

Day 2

Waking up without a hangover was a nice change. I grabbed my first ‘full-English’ in probably three years while perusing the day’s schedule. Friday was the best day on paper. Lots of the bands who broke during the previous two years were playing today. Many of whom, I have already seen and who were bound to be the day’s big draws. But I decided I would stick to my plan and avoid these bands and try and only catch new bands for the rest of the festival.

Looking at the early options. There was an enticing double bill of Irish post punk at the Prince Albert. Arriving to see long queues wasn’t a good sign for the day ahead and this was the first of many queues this day.

Starting the day were The Clockworks. One of the many great post punk Irish bands following on the heals of the Fontaines. They impressed the early crowd, who many like me, were here for the Sprints. I believe the bands has moved to London. So definitely one to watch.

Another highlight for the festival were Sprints. Sprints are at the shouty end of post punk. Lots of attitude and energy and great front person. They put in the perfect festival set. It was clear to see why they already have an ardent falling.

Heading off into the early afternoon sun, there were already queues outside some of the venues. Unusual for a Friday afternoon. So I again headed to the One Church for another afternoon of Scottish music. It is also close to the alt-Escapes Laines Brewhouse venue, which had been empty the day before. So I knew I could nip out and catch another band or two.

Up first were Dead Pony. They have a classic Scottish Indie rock sound with lots of energy. Very popular with the crowd and fun to photograph but in all honesty, the Scottish indie sound doesn’t quite tick the boxes for me. I prefer my rock to me a little more post-punk at the moment.

Following Dead Pony was Alex Amor. The guide suggested that she was a flautist. A flautist at a predominantly indie festival sounded interesting. Unfortunately, her sound wasn’t indie or classical. It was more pop music with the flute hardly used and when it was, it seemed crowbarred into songs. Sadly, this performance didn’t work for me.

The rest of the afternoon really didn’t work either. I dipped in and out of the Alt-Escape. But nothing jumped out. So I headed back to my hotel room for a break from what was starting to become a very busy Brighton.

Heading to Chalk again to start the evening. A young Scottish artist, Bonnie Kempley played a nervous, but endearing set to the early crowd bedding down to catch a strong evening of music at Chalk. But I decide to stick with my plan to see new artists and headed off to St Mary’s Church.

Arriving at St Mary’s, Yama Warsashi was finishing off her set. From the song I heard, she sounds like somebody to catch in future.

Friends had recommended Maarja Nuut, an electronic artist who filled the church with many ‘found sounds’. It was pleasant but there wasn’t much that really grabbed me.

I still hadn’t had a drink by this point and I decided that I might as well hunker down at the BBC showcase rather than join another queue. It would mean catching a band I had seen before, but it was better than trying to get into busy venues. (It wasn’t a good start when I realised the venue only had larger!)

Beginning with duo Dark Tropics, with their gothy cinematic pop. It was all very theatrical. But the sound was a bit weak. Too reliant on backing tracks. They probably should beef up the sound with a bassist and drummer.

That can’t be said for the next band, one I saw a few months ago and who greatly impressed me, Deadletter. Enhancing the traditional post-punk guitar line up with a saxophonist. They immediately have a dynamic that separates them from the other post-punk artists. Add to that their explosive front-man Zac, alongside several observant songs. I really feel this band has the talent to hit the mainstream and it was clear Steve Lamacq was a big fan too. With a terrible Tory government in power, I love how there are bands on the scene again who have something to say about the issues we are all facing and not just focused on love and breakup songs.

The reason for sticking at the BBC event was to catch Opus Kink. Another band making waves for their live shows. Thanking the audience for not heading off to Warmduscher, there was some similarity between their sound and Duscher’s. They maybe lack the humour that permeates Warmduscher. But there was no denying that they put on a very good show. Worth catching at a festival.

After Opus, some unsuccessful attempts at getting into busy venues, I finally ended up waiting for an artist, who when they finally tuned up on stage, were so bad, I left after one song. I decided to call it a day and headed into what had become a very busy Brighton to find a quieter pub for a few beers.

Day 3

I have to admit, Saturday didn’t look like a good lineup and my calf was still playing up and with expectation of long queues throughout the day, I decided to take it relatively easy. For me, this year’s TGE didn’t feel completely normal. Brighton was busier than I have ever seen it. The good weather dragging many down from London for a day out. I think Brighton is being hit by the wedding catchup that is happening at the moment. There were more hen and stag groups than ever. Let us be honest, hen and stag groups just make places unpleasant. By this point, I wasn’t really feeling the love for Brighton and this had a knock-on effect of my enjoyment of TGE this year.

Deciding it was worth risking TGE’s own beach venue with the small amount of camera equipment I had with me. I headed off to the Aussie afternoon, one of my favourite ‘country’ showcases at SXSW (a close second behind the the UKs). Their version at TGE is never as well financed, so lacks the beer and snacks, but they usually have a great lineup.

I was really there for The Lazy Eyes who were on my list to catch in 2020 and are one of the few bands to make it to the delayed festival. While VAANS with their straight forward rock and did little for me. Singer songwriter, Didirri, a late addition, offered an engaging and impressive set filling in the gap before The Lazy Eyes.

The popularity of psych seems to be waining. But that hasn’t dampened The Lazy Eyes enthusiasm and they clearly won over the early afternoon crowd with an energetic set that featured possibly the quickest setup of a piano I have ever seen, that was like a bit of performance art. Very fun to watch.

The rest of the day was pretty unsuccessful for of both queues and my musical choices. But that’s not unusual for the Saturday at TGE. I have learnt not to get wound up by it.

In the case of Unschooling, I had no way of knowing they were going to be effected by poor sound quality. Clearly a band I would enjoy a lot in a better venue. They suffered from the worst sound I have heard at a gig for years. With the band asking if they sounded as awful in the audience, as they did on stage. This highlights the challenge TGE has, which as I mention in every TGE review, SXSW doesn’t suffer from. While Austin is wall to wall venues. Brighton has less option. Obviously trying to find new venues, TGE opted to use Revenge, a gay club with a sound system that probably is fine for the Drag Queens who seem to dominate their events listening, but didn’t work for noisy rock music. The sound system just made the band sound muddy and that isn’t fair on the band.

After an unsuccessful evening of more poor musical choices (the risk with avoiding the bands you know you will enjoy), I decided to finish early. Catching a really enjoyable set from Swim School at a packed Prince Albert. I then decided I would finish and grab some beers and find something to eat. But true to form for this weekend. It turns out pretty much all restaurants in Brighton are still closing by 11pm and I just walked between closed restaurants. Eventually heading into the town only to find many of the pubs looked like a stag and hen armageddon. I am not ready to be in packed pubs full of stag parties. So I called it quits and headed back to my hotel room. This is the first TGE where I ended up in my hotel room at midnight on the Saturday.

So was this a successful TGE?

In all honesty, this is probably my poorest TGE experience and a lot of it was down to me. I still really enjoyed finally being back at a city music festival. I had really missed this. While I currently lack the fitness for the weekend, Brighton isn’t back to normal yet and the cost of staying in Brighton seems to have gone through the roof. These aren’t problems TGE can fix. However, the venue spread that has been steadily getting worse, is under their control. Likewise, they can control the number of delegates and the rules around access. But equally, it is great seeing the conference side take off. It is probably good for the music industry. I do wonder if TGE is now close to outgrowing Brighton and that it might have to refocus itself as a festival that serves the Industry, rather than a festival for punters. However, despite my disappointment, I have already purchased my ticket for next year and booked a ridiculously expensive hotel room. Hopefully myself and Brighton are back to our best and TGE somehow does something increasing the number of venues and reduces the spread.

Although I said I wasn’t going back to the Social until this thing blew over. With my post-COVID sense of invulnerability I decided I would risk it. But I’m still uncomfortable about touring artists having to risk their tour playing venues who aren’t trying.

First up, DEADLETTER, a five piece post-punk band from South London. Their lead singer sings/talks the delivery of a set of well observed songs about modern life. Taking every opportunity to go into the crowd and climb across tables. The band were fun to watch and seemed to go down really well.

The band I had gone to see, Deep Tan, actually didn’t do much for me. They were far messier live than on record and in their DIY session. I think part of it was that for me the bass was too loud, over powering vocals and guitar. I will have to catch the some other time.

Closing the evening were Priestgate. More mainstream indie that the other two. Musically, I think DEADLETTER were better. If the singer had just stood still and sung the songs. I think the songs would have washed over me. However, Priestgate’s performance was explosive. The singer didn’t stand still for a second, jumping around the stage, putting his all into the performance.

Overall. Really good evening.