The Great Escape to tomorrow

Posted on May 19, 2024 by henry tapper

At the suggestion of various friends, I’d purchase last year a ticket to a three day music festival in Brighton – the Great Escape. It finished last night, or more properly early this morning when some of us were tucked up watching or listening to the boxing.

I doubt there is much cross-over between the music of tomorrow and the boxing of today though one of the many performers (the Australian  Go Jo) had us performing physical jerks to his muscular music. The music of boxing is not progressive (witness ring-walks) while fighting has thankfully died out as a  pass-time of audiences. However, I like both boxing and music so did not stay to the musical end last night.

The big idea of the Great Escape is to bring musicians from around the world together to perform live to audiences which mill around the streets and lanes of Brighton hunting down talent with ears and eyes wide open.

There are many venues, from marquees on the beach, to still consecrated churches. There are clubs and pubs and a hub on Jubilee St (yest that one Nick Cave fans).

I spent much of my evenings in the Unitarian Church on New Street, listening to solo artists for the main part, the beach tents featured today Australians, I saw French, Dutch , American and Japanese artists.

Behind the joy of performance, the artists have commercial purpose – “which is why they tend to play out of their skin”  (Andrew Young told me this). The musicians are called delegates and have a conference – principally on the Thursday – where they meet up with music industry big-wigs to get a contract, publicity – sort gigs – that kind of thing (which I know nothing about). They hope that the A and R men (as they used to be called) come to their gigs while they get on with enjoying a few days by the seaside.

Brighton’s town centre is clogged not just with busy punters but with boho performers , with black bags on their backs , bags concealing guitars and drums and keyboards and it makes you feel like you are 20 something and not a 40 year veteran of the pension industry. Even though you are and aren’t,

I saw a lot of bands, walked a lot of miles and even did some physical jerks. There is always a pension angle so I have to report that I found myself standing next to one of the (pro-tem) Directors of TPF, bumped into a pretty hip young LCP actuary and spent a good few hours with a former DWP Government actuary and a current director of the PPF. I failed to bump into my favorite left-wing pension policy maker though we were both on Brighton pier failing to get into Horatios.

But to the music. I guess there is an unhealthy fetish amongst the crowd to pretend they are discovering the next big thing. Myles Smith played a set on Thursday before being featured on Later with Jules Holland last night. He’s playing gigs at Omeara’s tonight and tomorrow, as are sisters Sarah and  from Amsterdam on Tuesday,

There you are- you see- suddenly I think I am some half-cut Radio 6 DJ – which is what happens at the Great Escape. And I guess I should include some music on this blog so here is Tamaraibi , performing with Ryan in a church. I did a few clips to remind me of what I was enjoying, you might get something of the Great Escape if you click through.

The Great Escape is not a Rewind to the past, it’s about the New Music that’s around today and some of the stuff we listened to, will be around tomorrow.

About henry tapper

Founder of the Pension PlayPen,, partner of Stella, father of Olly . I am the Pension Plowman
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