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May 27, 2026 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Nick Roseblade Web Exclusive

Welcome to the [brick] House

The Great Escape is here again. For four days Brighton is host to hundreds, it might even be nearer a thousand these days, performances from established artists and bands to ones just starting out and trying to make a name for themselves. You can either be a lanyard wanker and go to the official shows, I’ve been one in the past and its super fun, or you can just go to all the free/non lanyard shows. As usual I only went to the Alternative Escape stuff and, as usual, I saw some of the best bands out there.

Thursday 14th May

On Thursday I only went out to one show and that was Misha Phillips and Knifedoutofexistence at The Oak in Kemptown. I saw this duo’s first gig on the 12th. That was half an hour of feedback, screaming, thrashing and fun. This set was similar, but different. It started again with a version of Jimmy Campbell’s “In My Room”. The previous show saw Knifed take a bit of a back seat, but this time he felt more involved. The backing track felt more textured and Knifed added audio detritus to the performance. As the song faded out Knifed started to add layers of noise, while Misha picked up a guitar and started looping chords. These became hypnotic and fuzzier, while Knifed added more layers of sound and feedback. During the set an old derelict was looking through the window and shouting obscenities, which the doorman, who was looking tired when I arrived, was as far away from the door outside as he could be, probably wondering why he’d taken this shift. The highlight of the set was when Misha attacked an amp with a contact mic and Knifed was rubbing his mic all over a guitar. By the end The Oak was peeling to the sound of feedback. It was bliss.

Saturday 16th May

Saturday is always the busiest day of the program. All the venues are running bands from as soon as they can. The town is busy with people checking out Brighton Festival, and Fringe shows and, as it’s the weekend people are just out and about shopping. Saturday is also my favourite day because I get to take my daughter with me to see some bands. The best venues on a Saturday, historically, are The Hope and Ruin, The Folklore Rooms, St. Nicholas’ Church and Alphabet. Sadly, this year St. Nicholas’ wasn’t running TGE shows. As The Hope’s lineup was so strong, again Andy at Love Thy Neighbour absolutely nailed it, we decided to get there just before it all started. Get some food from Beezlebab and try and get a good spot. The first band we saw was My Precious Bunny. Part solo project of Lily Wolter, from Penelope Isles, part collective of her crew, the music is a wonderful mix of wonky indie with existential lyrics. Lily’s half-hour set was culled from her debut album A Moment in My Eyes. This was the first time I’ve heard the songs since getting the album. They really came alive and felt fleshed out. The standout moment was “KookieCannibal”. This song is full of a wonderful bounce and optimistic lyrics. This version might have been better than the studio version, but I might have been swept away in the moment.

Up next was Truthpaste. This group from Manchester are becoming one of my current faves since the release of their debut EP I Don’t Know Either. Their brand or quirky indie is proper catchy. Their songs all started with samples from films or pop culture. One was the “Jaws Theme” another was “Wibble Wobble Jelly on a Place” that got the crowd singing along. It was this playfulness with well-crafted songs that really got the packed crowd going. My daughter enjoyed the songs where the fiddle player really went for it. And so did I for that matter. “Bleary Eyes” was the best song of the set. Its slower folktronica pace was very welcome. As the temperature, and pulses, were rising. Esmé Lark’s vocals were pristine and soaring. This is definitely a band to watch.

After a short break Helen Ganya took to the stage. I’ve been wanting to take my daughter to see Ganya for a while but she, like a lot of musicians, doesn’t play a lot of matinee shows. Her set was mostly culled from her last album, 2025’s Share Your Care. I was interested how that album would go down as it’s mostly sung in Thai. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about as the crowd lapped it up. The three standout songs were the new single “Panic Button”. There is a real sleazy glam stomp to this one that really translated live. Gayna’s lilting vocals interwove with live saxophone to create something that really jumped from the stage. The highlight of my set was the instrumental “Morlam Plearn (Luk Khrueng Surprise) “. It had a slight psych vibe to it but drew heavily from music from the Northeast of Thailand. I’d love to see Ganya make an album full of instrumental songs like this one day. My daughter’s highlight of the set was “Barn Nork”. When I knew that we’d be seeing Ganya I started playing some of her music, and videos, to my daughter, so she’d get an idea of what was going to be coming. “Barn Nork” was the one she latched onto. I’m not sure if it was the video of Ganya singing to the camera, the music or the subtitled lyrics about eating noodles and rice, but it was a firm favourite. Before the gig she asked if Ganya would play it, I said I wasn’t sure as it might be too complicated, but we’d see. When the opening notes started a grin appeared across her face that doesn’t come around too often. Her eyes kept opening and she wasn’t sure what to do, so she just started to dance. When he finished, she clapped louder than she had all day. After Ganya finished it was time to take her home. On the way back she kept asking questions about the bands, The Hope and Ruin and The Great Escape. I think it’s safe to say she’ll want to come back next year.

After I dropped my daughter off at home, necked a load of water it was time to hear out for the evening. I swung by The Folklore Rooms and checked out Mother Suki. Ethereal dream pop. Lovely vocals and huge drums/beats. Then I went to The Inn on The Square and saw the most regressive band I’d seen for a while called Girl Like That. If you like boring/generic riffs and slogan lyrics, you’ll love it. The crowd was very into it, and very pleased with itself so I decided to leave them to it before I was booted out of passe central. Then I went to The Rossi Bar to see Veronica. I’ve seen Veronica a number of times and always enjoy her take on synthpop. Imagine Kate Bush with a laptop and keyboard and you’re on the right lines. This time she was joined by a live bassist. The bass was huge and really worked well with Veronica’s gossamer vocals. Then it was back to The Folklore for Nierra Creek. This was a massive dose of anthemic pop. I need to check them out again properly as I think they are ones to watch.

Then it was back to The Hope and Ruin for Ceann Capaill. This is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Declan Haughain. The band looked very similar to My Precious Bunny, Haughain is MPB’s drummer and clarinet player, so there was bound to be some overlap. I’d never seen Ceann Capaill before but loved the 2025’s Resentment Lodge EP and this year’s live Gathering for a Gathering album. The set was a mixture of these releases and unreleased songs from a 2027 debut album. The first impressions were these are complex songs about personal themes (death, dementia, isolation and love) and how they will go over with a TGE crowd that has been on the piss for most of the day and wanting something to bop and groove to. Haughain started the set by saying “I know it’s Saturday night, but not fucker talks for the next half hour, ok?” Well, the answer was they lapped it up. They were incredibly tight, but also loose. This is something I’ve noticed with crowds. If the music is good, they’ll go with it regardless of the genre of time of day. Vocal samples were run through effects, drums and cymbals shimmered. There were woozy guitars, throbbing bass and beguiling strings. The songs took on more of a post-rock vibe than the studio versions. Even on Gathering for a Gathering there is a calm, ethereal, vibe to it, but here the songs pulsed with visceral emotion. Halfway through Haughain said “This is a cheery one. It’s about dementia” the crowd cheered and he replied, “A great soundtrack for a Saturday night”. It was like Silver Mt. Zion meets Pink Floyd. Glorious melodies but with stark instrumentation. About this time Lily Wolter joined on saxophone. This gave the songs a bit of a lift and then she duelled with Haughain on clarinet it was something else. The song “Gathering for a Gathering” was a standout moment. It all went off and was a joy to see. At the end of the set Haughain said “I’ve been running around like a mad cunt all weekend. There are hundreds, not thousands of vans driving people all over the city. We do it for the enjoyment. We’re here to bring you some enjoyment”. This feels like the point of TGE. It’s not about networking, scoring gak, staying up until 5 in The Queens Hotel and being a lanyard wanker (though it is fun to flash a pass and jump the queue though). Where I was heading next was 100% the antithesis of TGE.

Playworker, [brick], Gutted and Sublux.

As I left The Hope and Ruin and headed towards the station I passed local heroes Slag. After a brief chat about their weekend playing on the beach front stage, I was off again. I got to Under the Bridge bang on eight. As I entered the small venue Playworker was absolutely destroying the PA with one of the most visceral noise sets I’ve heard in recent years. Everything was in the red. It was glorious. Mics were being tortured. A guitar’s pickups were being attacked with what looked like contact mics. At one-point Playworker was kneeling on the altar of noise (a trestle table) and screaming into a mic from the pit of his stomach. It was a guttural cry filled with pain and suffering. It was glorious, but like all good things the set was over very quickly, and we were filling back out into the dark, and dank, night. It had just started to rain and there was a chill in the air. This matched the music perfectly.

After a short break [brick] took to the stage. [brick] are slowly becoming one of the best punk bands in town. Their brand of trans-feminist hardcore was just what the doctor ordered. Especially after the scene I witnessed at The Inn on the Square. Throughout their short, and terse, set we were pummelled with blasts of bass, sparse percussion and searing guitars. The vocals ranged from crooning to screamo outbursts. There were moments of sheer melody, but these were fleeting before the onslaught began. After half an hour the set was over, and we were out in the cold dark again before the next band took to the stage.

This gives me a slight moment to explain where the gig was being held. Under the Bridge isn’t a normal gig venue. It’s a rehearsal space by night, but by day it’s a space where children have music lessons and take their music exams. In the morning it is also used as a venue for a baby/toddler music group. I used to be a regular there and the group was run by one Jackie Case. Jackie is one of those amazing people who run music groups for children because they believe that all children should be exposed to music. I hadn’t been to once since my daughter was three, or four, years old so it was odd to be back in a place where previously I’d sat with other Mums and Dads, bashed some bongos and sang Raffi’s banger “Baby Beluga”. I wondered if anyone performing had been through these doors as a kid and what Jackie would think if she knew…

Gutted are a crust punk band. (As with everyone else) Their set was just in the red and raging. They had real stage presence. Each member owned their space and made an intimidating sight. The highlight was the bassist in a full gas mask, head banging with dreads flying everywhere. Out of everyone who has played so far Gutted were my least favourite. That isn’t a slight against them, but [brick] were a tighter unit with slightly better songs. Also, I’d been listening to the debut [brick] EP, so I recognised a few things in their set. I don’t think Gutted have recorded anything, so far, so I was taking them as I saw them. Saying that Gutted are definitely something I would see again and hopefully they’ll come down again as they 100% put on a show.

The final act was Sublux. Weirdly they were the calmer of the four bands, but their rhythm section was probably the tightest. It was very shouty punk and synth/noise effects thrown in for good measure. I’d played their debut EP a few times in the days leading up to the gig and I think they played “Flooded” and “Burn the Witch”, the latter being the star of their set. I would like to see them again, and in a proper venue, as I think their sound needed a bit more tweaking from a sound desk more than the others. When they finished it was time to leave and head home.

As I was approaching the exit one of the people running the show stopped us and said, “I think you’d like to go down there” and pointed to a back room (where instruments were storied during the day). “What’s down there? ” I asked “I think you should find out…” they replied in a very clam tone. So, absolutely bricking it, I walked down the short corridor and was presented with a confusing scene. All the punks who had been moshing, shouting and shoving themselves silly were now sitting on the floor with faces like Hindu cows. They were facing two people on chairs. One had an acoustic guitar and the other some kind of box file looking thing that was emitting a glorious drone. On a little table in front of them were some cassette players, effects pedals and some sampler thing that had flashing lights on it. The music was folk. I don’t mind 2006 era acoustic warrior songwriter folk, but proper English folk music full of “Twas”, “bonny” and “true loves”. It was the most jarring performance of the night. Partly because it was the most subdued. There was an air of a séance or a cult meeting about it. The first song lasted about 10-minutes and was a version of “Low Down in the Broom”. It was beautiful and disconcerting at the same time. The nearest I could put it down to be a pastoral Throbbing Gristle. The drone was beautifully crafted and really hit you in your stomach. I’d love to hear them again. After half and hour, and a couple more songs, it was all over. I never found out who they were on the night, but now I know they were Agwain.

On the train ride home, I thought about the quality music I’d seen and where TGE can go in the future and if it’s needed at all. At it’s heart TGE is about music, bands connecting with promoters and PRs to help get their music out to the widest audience and, hopefully, get paid for their art, but the main TGE showcases feel bloated and self-important. The alt stages are where it’s at. That’s where you’ll see your new favourite band AND get to talk to them after (if you so wish). Events like [brick house] are vital to a town that has a strong DIY ethic and for £10 you can’t complain about value for money. And at the end of the day, as Declan Haughain said, “It’s all about the enjoyment. “