The Great Escape: Our Top Six Picks
By R. Loxley
The Great Escape is here, and we’ve been digging to bring you six unmissable acts. If you or anyone you know is heading to Brighton this week, consider this your cheat sheet to some of the most exciting artists playing this year’s festival.
And if you’re not lucky enough to be going then why not check them out from the comfort of your own home right now?
Heavy Lungs - Wednesday, 9:15pm - Patterns Downstairs
We first started hearing the buzz about Heavy Lungs in the noise rock crowd. Then Caviar landed, and it’s some of the most colossal, bombastic, and hilarious punk we’ve heard in ages.
We caught them live at The Lexington not long after, and Danny Nedelko is a frontman of the highest order. Charismatic, unhinged, and an absolute blast to watch. The whole band is tight, loud, and refreshingly no-frills: four lads making an absolute racket. Sweaty, chaotic, and full of charm - a guaranteed party and the perfect way to kick off your festival.
Shooting Daggers - Wednesday, 10:15pm - Prince Albert
We first caught Shooting Daggers at 15 Years of Chaos at the Camden Underworld, and they absolutely stole the room. A queercore trio made up of female and non-binary immigrants, they channel rage, humour, tenderness, and wild joy into something both raw and surprisingly intricate. It sounds exactly like the Riot Grrrl era in the best way: proper songs full of harmonies, hooks, political bite, and real chemistry.
Their energy is phenomenal live - sarcastic and snarky, but full of emotional range. There’s more going on here than three-chord fury. Shooting Daggers deserve to go far.
Chloe Slater - Thursday, 9:15pm - The Beach - The Deep End
Chloe Slater’s Love Me Please EP dropped back in February, and her talent is undeniable. This set at The Great Escape could well be one of those rare chances to say “I saw her back when…”
Her songs veer between boomed-out, huge choruses and soft, observant monologues about what it’s like to be a young woman in 2025. Chloe captures the material conditions and emotional landscapes of youth with urgency, and we’d put money on her debut album being a big deal when it comes. Definitely one to watch.
Zetra - Friday, 8:45pm - Volks
Sherwood’s whole mission is about reigniting that teenage feeling of wonder when you stumble across a band that blows your mind, and Zetra are that band. With smoke machines and black metal face paint, Zetra deal in transportive mystique and spellbinding symbolism, through gothic synthwave, glacial melodies, and massive, emotional swells.
They sit within the metal community, but they’re tender, dreamy, and meditative. If you don’t already identify as a goth, seeing Zetra might just awaken something in you. The Portal has opened, the Darkness is calling.
HONESTY - Friday, 11:15pm - Brighthelm
HONESTY’s debut album U R HERE is one of the most emotionally resonant records we’ve heard in a long time, sitting somewhere between a band and a loose-knit collective of electronic producers, with a wide range of guest vocalists and collaborators, with every track bound by emotional weight.
It’s rare to hear this much heart in electronic music. If you want to be moved while your bones shake to the bass, go and see HONESTY.
deBasement - Saturday, 8:15pm - Chalk
If you’re after subtlety, keep walking. But if you want to end your festival in a euphoric, face-melting blur, deBasement are the one. Their self-titled debut EP is pure chaos in the best way - rave music cranked to eleven, laced with sarcasm, swagger, and ironic bombast.
These beats bang. It’s all-in, all the-time, over-the-top, and knowingly ridiculous. Go dance your face off.
