THE GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL 2013: ROUND-UP PART 2

As promised we will give you a succinct round-up of all the bands and artists we managed to see and a brief descriptive review of each gig so that we can share with you the plethora of acts and types of music we saw at The Great Escape Festival.


US BABY BEAR BONES, (ALTERNATIVE POP, UK)

We were very pleased to see one of Brighton's best bands of recent years performing outdoors in Jubilee Square at The Great Escape this year; Us Baby Bears Bones, the cohesive trio of Elizabeth, Daisy and Luke popped up onto the daily schedule to deliver a short set of sublime and ethereal glow-pop burners. The purveyors of multi-instrumentalism fused jaded synth gusts to twinkling guitar pangs and rumbling drum throws to create a docile, yet assured performance. The humble gathering who turned out to see the local three-piece seemed to appreciate the consolidating nature of Us Baby Bear Bones' lead vocalist; her gentile and enchanting coos lapped nicely against the instrumental backdrop and ensured the message of each song was sung with verve and precise tonal expressionism. A fantastic little set list that showed how Brightonians make true dream-pop. Check out their eagerly anticipated debut EP 'What Starts With A 'U', Ends With An 'I'' that is released on June 10th.


Us Baby Bear Bones: Facebook 


ONLY REAL, (ALTERNATIVE INDIE-POP, UK)

We were most intrigued to hear what Only Real would sound like seeing as the bashful London youngster, known as Niall Galvin, has been making huge waves amongst the new music community; with comparisons to King Krule, Jamie T and his ability to Picasso-smash genres together we had to grab a look at his set at club Audio and we were mightily impressed. The irreverent cheekiness and casual loose shouldered antics made his performance relaxed and enjoyable to watch. Lacquering his grime-tinged tendencies with psychedelic surf-pop and smouldering guitar loops produced a creative mixture of aural textures that the crowd enthusiastically lapped up. Only Real's performance was a pleasant surprise and served up a fuzzy world of urban music flavoured with organic and alternative sounds. 


Only Real: Facebook


SYRON, (URBAN-POP, UK)

Since first blogging about Syron back in February (see review here) we had her down as one of our huge 'must see music acts who are playing in a small venue to which you are unlikely to ever get a chance again should she make it big', so it was actually a relief that after Only Real's set that the feisty urban marauder and much touted London kitten was slotted in for the next gig. We expected a lot from Syron and thankfully she delivered everything and a whole lot more. Her powerhouse soul vocals pierced the atmosphere of the underground club and ignited an energetic vibe that resonated throughout as tone and pitch perfect lyrics dominated the stage. Her entire persona oozed characterful charm and urban wit whilst remaining professional throughout her set list; a seductively clad Syron commanded the stage and interacted with the eager crowd in perfect unison; add in the thumping garage beats and reggae-dance bass lines of tracks like 'Breaking' and 'Here' and the urban pop package was well and truly completed. An enlivened and inspiring performance that shows what a promising young starlet the capital has to offer. 


Syron: Facebook


FEATHERS, (SYNTH-POP, USA)

The Texan-New York all-female quartet of Feathers were another group that we had recently reviewed back in February (see review here) having been immediately sucked into their magmatic parallel worlds of electronica and neon-pop, so much so that we ran across to The Haunt to capture the Americans first hand. Although the venue wasn't as packed as we were expecting there was a decent and clearly loyal crowd who follow Feathers and had this gig marked down as one to watch. Atmospheric synth excursions and galactic tech-scapes manipulated the group's performance to create this imaginative plateau of sounds and mood; flicking lights, celestial four-part harmonies and salacious eighties beats made the gig feel tactile and gave a sense that you could really align to the music. Think Eli And Fur meets New Order and Depeche Mode in a futuristic vortex of noise distortions. A performance we were glad we built up a sweat running to indeed. 


Feathers : Facebook


ON AN ON, (ELECTRO-POP, USA)

It is always the luck of the draw where bands will end up playing and when they will play at The Great Escape; Chicago and Minneapolis trio On An On bagged themselves the fortuitous Coalition night club for a late evening slot ensuring the band played to a packed out night club who were eager for live music regardless of style or genre. The three-piece collective captivated the crowd with a thoroughly polished and well orchestrated performance that spliced thunderous electro movements with stadium indie soul and vibrant pop bravado. Their refreshingly polite demeanour and sweetly humble Americanisms only enhanced the gig and indirectly reminded many that music from across the pond is just as current and on trend as our European or Australian brethren. Each track from the night's setlist was rousing and inspired, fostering a kinetic dash of zeal and evoking an electrolysed Snow Patrol style sense of euphoria.


On An On: Facebook


NO CEREMONY///, (ALTERNATIVE ELECTRO, UK)

The blurb extract from The Great Escape festival planner describes No Ceremony/// as being similar to 'The XX on ecstasy', however, add to that the musical essence of TRUST and Visions Of Trees and then you begin to build a descriptive aural picture of what this band sounds like. Performing very late at night to a packed crowd in Brighton's Coalition nightclub set the scene up for this performance to end Thursday on a high. We were not disappointed one bit. Proving to be a massive surprise despite knowing about some of their previous material, the secretive Mancunian outfit underpinned their tracks with maniacal electro reverberations and zorbing tenacity that invigorated the entire room. Fiercely auto-toned vocal harmonies barked their way through the intermittent noise frenzy and fuelled further bass line shudders and cataclysmic electro menace. Whirring audio carnage, flailing guitar riffs and generalised instrumental scuzz made the band's performance feel energetic yet strangely machinated and steadfast, providing a delightfully pumped up end to the day. 

 No Ceremony///: Facebook


Owl By Night: Facebook

Owl By Night: Twitter