The Great Escape consumed Brighton (and us) once again: four days spent between venues, pubs, churches and seafront stages as hundreds of artists played across the city.

This year, the unofficial Alt Alt Escape programme once again ran alongside (and at times beyond) the official festival, with over 750 unofficial shows across the city next to 450 official performances. A huge shout-out goes to Flip Top Head’s Bowie Bartlett, whose annual non-official schedule spreadsheet has become essential survival gear for anyone attempting to navigate it all.

With that being said, here’s what we caught across four drizzly, dazzling, delirious days, starting with Wednesday.

The opening act of a stacked weekend, caught on a whim among a bustling crowd at Komedia Studio, were North Wales’ indie/alt-rock outfit Cyn Cwsg. Their set drifted between upbeat indie tracks and long, winding guitar solos that had a subtle 90s britpop style about them. Described as 'hallucinatory pop,' the four-piece blended dreaminess with harmony-soaked rock that maintained an upbeat energy throughout. Their lyrics, which alternated effortlessly between Welsh and English, added warmth and personality to the performance and were delivered with a theatrical flair reminiscent of Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker. Full of character and understated charm, Cyn Cwsg provided a perfect introduction to the formidable chaos of The Great Escape Festival weekend. (IW)

Shortly afterwards came Micah Sage, all the way from Calgary, Canada, whose charming confidence and infectious sense of joy instantly lifted the room. Armed with a bubble gun while the band sported funky bright pink sunglasses, her set carried a playful warmth that felt impossible not to get swept up in. The hazy pink glow filling the venue perfectly matched the wholesome energy coming from the stage, and there was a noticeable sense of lightheartedness radiating throughout the crowd. Blending elements of alt-pop, dream-pop and bedroom pop, Micah Sage paired dreamy instrumentals with raw, relatable storytelling. (IW)

Later, at an unofficial show at Volks, Goodbye continued to ease us into festival mode with their blend of dreamy indie and shoegaze haze. Rhythmic drumming and tightly locked basslines grounded Megan Wheeler's soaring vocals. An early snapped snare halted the set before guitarist Alfie Beer led a rendition of Happy Birthday for Megan, their manager and Brighton icon. “A bit early in the festival for audience participation,” he joked, though the room sang along regardless thanks to many friends making up the crowd. Tracks from this year’s brilliant debut EP These Things Take Time sat alongside newer material that felt looser and more expansive, hinting at a sound still actively unfolding and blooming. (MS)

We stayed put for ladylike, whose folk-leaning post-rock unfolded patiently through delicate acoustic guitar lines, warm bass tones and layered arrangements that felt simultaneously loose and intricate. Their songs take their time, with crescendos that slowly expand with warmth and distortion. New cuts were interspersed with singles from their debut EP It’s a Pleasure of Mine, to Know You’re Fine, including personal favourite ‘Sour Carol, I’, where call-and-response vocals gradually built into a swelling, overflowing wall of sound, its lyrical ambiguity its most powerful play. After the show, the band were travelling to perform in Paris and returning to Brighton a day later for their official Great Escape appearance - the kind of movement the manic month of May thrives on. (MS)

Brighton-based Lonnie Gunn headlined the opening day at The Hope & Ruin and provided an unrelenting energy that refused to waver, keeping the packed out room enticed with her hook-heavy, dynamic and multi-dimensional set. Coming off several successful support slots with the likes of Kim Gordon and Lime Garden, Lonnie Gunn deserves all the hype she is receiving with her band providing a tight and captivating performance, as if they were playing the O2 Arena. The tracks ruminate on previous love affairs and universal struggles that are delivered with a sincere angst and grit that is only heightened by the tones dialled in from the guitars and bassist, and diverse vocal parameters with an EQ-filtered mic giving it a lo-fi variation to help emulate the recordings of her current releases. Recent single ‘EX GF’ was a highlight of the set with a dynamic and formidable rhythm section sitting underneath a truly mean set of guitar and bass parts in the chorus, fluctuating between stabs and a submitting half-time that had the entire room under its spell. (BW)

Finally, over at Concorde 2, Brighton-based Lemonsuckr’s blend of post-punk and alt-rock demanded the crowd’s attention from the opening bassline of ‘Sedated', taken from last year’s H.E.A.T EP. As the first of three performances they would play across the weekend, the band arrived with boundless energy from the outset. Frontman Guy Ferris exuded confidence throughout, pairing commanding vocals with natural showmanship as he weaved between band members before disappearing into the audience midway through the set. Their new single ‘Stain’ was met enthusiastically by the crowd, sustaining the already electric atmosphere as audience members danced along. Such a fearless approach to crowd interaction made it one of the most memorable sets of the weekend, and left us eagerly anticipating the release of their forthcoming EP in June. Artist Spotlight coming soon. (IW)

More coming soon.