And so it came to pass. The Great Escape 2008. Regular readers will note that last year saw me being thrown out of a venue for invading the stage at a Gallows gig (at the invitation of Frank I hasten to add) and nearly being arrested for not leaving a venue when the organisers decided to 'change the crowd' for no real reason. Would this year be quite as eventful? Sit ye down and...over the course of many days...I'll tell ye...oh ar me 'arties (it was in Brighton so I've gone all pirate for a moment...blame the cider). DISCLAIMER: these are reviews in the loosest sense of the word...30+ bands in three days is a hell of a lot to take in...and even more to blog about...
First up Brighton's very own Doll and The Kicks. Doll (yes, that's her nom de plume) has a mighty voice, a gorgeous hybrid of Kate Bush, Lene Lovich and Gwen Stefani. The band's got a good half dozen classic new wavey tracks and the whole thing left me panting for more. Yes. Panting. I do love a good pant. So much so that I saw them later the very same day. And they were brilliant all over again. Cue more panting. Go, listen to them now and if you don't love them I'll give you your money back. Just cop a load of Pictures. Awesome. One of the highlights of the whole weekend. Twice.
There's a fair amount of dashing about with The Great Escape. With 30 venues and, in the words of The Two Ronnies, 'a packed programme', it's difficult to avoid spinning around like a top, agonising over whether to watch The Clam Lovers of Mars or Sodomising Jesus. Next we settled for the far more sensibly named Official Secrets Act. I'm getting shades of classic Costello here...clever, spikey late 70's pop. Bonus marks for the 'do do do...do do do...do do do' bit in Girl From The BBC. If there's any justice (NME style cheesey link ahoy) they won't remain a secret much longer (ouch...).
A mad dash saw us witness one or two tracks from Hot Rocket (on the pier...cool). Too little to make a valid comment but they seemed quite good. After a short break and a packet of nuts (I know how to live eh?) it was time for a glass of Eugene McGuiness. Witty and really rather lovable singer songwriter who raised more than one or two smiles with a clutch of songs about girls...and shoes...and more girls.
A mad dash saw us witness one or two tracks from Hot Rocket (on the pier...cool). Too little to make a valid comment but they seemed quite good. After a short break and a packet of nuts (I know how to live eh?) it was time for a glass of Eugene McGuiness. Witty and really rather lovable singer songwriter who raised more than one or two smiles with a clutch of songs about girls...and shoes...and more girls.
That's it for now. I can smell my tea cooking...and my head hurts...and the dog ate my homework...
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