The Big Pink were forced to cut their headline set at Brighton‘s Great Escape festival short last night (May 15) due to time constraints.
Despite topping the bill at the festival’s Digital venue, the band played for just over 30 minutes before being told they had to end their set. They then rushed straight into fan favourite ‘Dominos’.
Before that, the band had successfully played ‘Too Young To Love’ and ‘Tonight’, along with single ‘Velvet’, which proved to be another singalong highlight. Band members Milo Cordell and Akiko Matsuura had also taken time out to watch newcomers The Cabin Fever play the nearby Horatio’s venue earlier in the evening.
Meanwhile, US duo Sleigh Bells caused havoc during their headline performance at the Concorde 2 venue by getting the crowd to invade the stage during final song ‘Crown On The Ground’. With minimal security at the venue, staff were forced to chase those members of the audience who did make it past them around the stage, while the Brooklyn duo carried on playing the track regardless.
Across town, Groove Armada ended day three of the festival at the Corn Exchange venue by headlining to a buoyant crowd despite coming on more than thirty minutes late. The band drew easily the biggest queue of the entire festival outside the venue, and played an energetic hour-long set mainly showcasing tracks from their new album ‘Black Light’, closing with crowd favourite ‘Superstylin”.
Earlier in the day, Detroit Social Club played a half-hour set in the compact Queens Hotel, with The Chapman Family‘s visceral post-punk providing a thrilling mid-afternoon highlight at the same venue shortly after. Lead singer Kingsley Chapman was in energetic form throughout – throwing himself around the tiny stage and throttling himself with the microphone lead before jokingly berating Brighton‘s sandless beach, situated just across the road from the venue.
Sunderland newcomers Frankie And The Heartstrings also played a memorable mid-evening gig at Audio, opening with ‘Possibilities’. The five-piece – fronted by Frankie Francis – stormed through the likes of ‘Tender’ and ‘I Want You Back’ before ending with a climactic version of ‘Fragile’. That track saw the singer climb onto the band’s amps and hang onto the ceiling whilst serenading the delighted crowd.
Playing at the Concorde 2 venue, Marina And The Diamonds showcased her debut album ‘The Family Jewels’, with single ‘I Am Not A Robot’ proving the highlight, whilst Broken Social Scene drew an impressive number of people to the NME-curated stage at the Corn Exchange. Californians Ganglians battled sound problems during their set on the Uncut-curated bill at the Pavilion Theatre, but persevered enough to win the crowd over, while Wild Palms and teenagersintokyo also both put in well-received sets at Digital earlier in the day.