Great Escape Thursday

Thursday
Mercifully the rain encountered on the way out of Essex had cleared away by the time we got to Brighton... After a brief detour round Brighton we found the campsite and got the tent up before heading off to the ticket exchange. Wristbanded up we wondered along the sea-front for the first gig of the fest, a "secret" show by Chris TT at Arc. It was a pretty good start to the weekend, some good songs in their short set. It was then a short walk to the pier where we caught Hot Rocket at Horatios and had a saveloy and chips. Very English seaside resort!

The main business of the evening started at Digital with Eugene McGuinness and Broken Records. Eugene McGuinness was OK, but in a crowded market of acoustic singer/songwriters there was little to mark him out from the crowd. Broken Records, however, were excellent. They played an intense set with all 6 members playing fast but tight. Due to play on all three days of the fest, and with a string of summer dates lined up, they will certainly prove to be one of the festival bands of the year.

The evening ended at the Pavilion Theatre where there was still space to sit on the floor to enjoy the Americana of AA Bondy. Another acoustic singer/songwriter, AA Bondy gave more than a nod to "Tom Joad" era Bruce Springsteen and was all the better for doing so. Sunset Rubdown drew a bigger crowd for their set, and all present were treated to one of the standouts of the fest as Spencer Krug and co were on top form. The manic indie pop of their two albums to date transferred well to the Brighton stage. The highlight for me was Winged/Wicked Things.

Closing the night were the excellent Okkervil River. Finally beginning to get the credit they deserve on this side of the pond, they blasted through a set that drew heavily from the last couple of albums as might be expected. The President's Dead was a definite stand-out, but with the band clearly in good form they had the, by now packed, crowd enjoying every song.