Great Escape 2016

[adequate8]

anybody going? few of us making the trip down from up North, not sure what to expect really! So much on it seems like carnage!

How many venues are there?
Is it easy enough to get around (walkable?)

any tips on do/donts would be appreciated

[DaveyGravy]

This year will be my third year. Great festival and permanently marked on my calendar to go every year now!

I'm not sure how many venues there are. They have most of the same ones each year, but I think some change each year. If I had to guess, I'd say there's probably 10-15 venues, but there may be more. But you may find that you tend to end up in the same ones again and again. There's maybe a couple of venues a bit further out but all are generally dotted around the middle of the town and walkable from one another.

As for tips, it's worth having a bit of a plan as to where you're going and who you want to see, as you can find yourself wandering about a bit aimlessly otherwise! Most of the venues are easy enough to find, but there are a few that are pretty well tucked away and it can be trickier to figure out where they are. Sign up for the free text update service (this is usally advertised closer to the time of the festival), as there are often 'secret' gigs by bigger bands. If you really want to make sure you see a band, make sure you get there early as some of the venues are tiny and reach capacity pretty quickly. This particularly applies for the 'secret' gigs, as they generally don't stay secret for long! Be prepared to spend a fair bit of time queuing and try not to get annoyed by the people with 'delegate' tickets who just walk straight in, when you've been queuing for half an hour!

Brighton is a great place and Great Escape has a very unique atmosphere. Definitely one of the highlights of my year, each year I've been.

[seantizz]

If you're up for a read, then take a look at my eFestivals review from last year's Great Escape... 

I'm sure, as a delegate last year, the two queues stuff is incredibly frustrating.. but for the sheer amount of bands you get to see at the festival, it's an amazing experience...

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/greatescape/2015/review-overview.shtml

Sean

[DaveyGravy]

That was a good read Sean. I thought it summed up the atmosphere and feel of the festival well. We even saw one of the same bands as you - Admiral Fallow. And I felt kind of pleased to see that even with your 'awkward and slightly guilty' use of the delegate pass, you didn't manage to get into Songhoy Blues, when us 'normal' punters did!  (all be it, we got there early and had to hide in the bar during the previous bands performance, as it very much wasn't to our taste!)

[Guy Incognito]

If anyone has any (preferably 2) tickets for the Songhoy Blue show on the 20th of May up for sale then please drop me a message!

[oysterboy]

I have booked tickets for Great Escape, and now am a little intimidated by the line-up. May I know what the approx. capacity for the venues are, and how early do you have to be to get into the shows? Is it worth paying the 8quid extra for some of the gigs?

Thank you!

[DaveyGravy]

No point being intimidated by it. Just find the stuff you want to see and go for it, but accept that you might miss some of it. The stuff you really want to see, make sure you get there nice and early, maybe take in the band that are on before. It's really not easy to tell what will be full and what won't. Sometimes you can walk straight into a venue when the band is started. Sometimes they're full half an hour before a band is due to start. That's kind of half the fun, you might not be able to get into a venue to see a band you like, but you just head to the next closest venue and may stumble across something you end up liking even more. It is noticable that venues get fuller and harder to get in to, later into the night. If you do decide to go to one of the 'secret' shows, you will have to get there very early. We queued from about an hour before hand, to see The Macabees show, last year, and got in no problem, but there was a lot of people that got turned away as there was more people queing than there was capacity in the venue.

No idea what the specific venue capacities are, but they vary greatly. For example, the Corn Exchange and Concorde 2 can hold a few thousand each, but places like Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, or Patterns, will be lucky to hold 100 people. Generally bands are well matched to the venues they are in. Smaller bands play smaller venues, bigger bands play bigger venues.

As for the £8 gigs, there's only one a night, I think? And I think they may well be sold out by now. They're only worth it if you want to see the bands, I guess, and they don't clash with anything else you want to see. I've never bothered with them, the last couple of years I've been, but I do have tickets for the Songhoy Blues show this year - but I may end up not going, now the schedule has been announced, as they start the same time as Band of Skulls finish (who I definitely want to see), and they are in venues at opposite ends of town.

[DaveyGravy]

I find the way the schedule is listed on the Great Escape website a bit unhelpful, so I've been putting it all into 'Clashfinder' - which turns out to be quite a large task! Anyway, finished Thursday's line up so far, with the rest to follow hopefully later this week. If anyone is interested: http:///s/ge2016/

[Ben97]

I know it's extremely late but does anyone have any tips on hotels for the festival? Currently looking at the official one but it's £500 for 3 nights. 

[ShumbaSharky]

Hotels in Brighton are always expensive, so you're probably best trying airbnb (rent a whole flat if you want) or there's a number of backpackers (Journeys, Baggies, Grapevine)

[adequate8]

On 19 April 2016 at 9:41 AM, DaveyGravy said:

I find the way the schedule is listed on the Great Escape website a bit unhelpful, so I've been putting it all into 'Clashfinder' - which turns out to be quite a large task! Anyway, finished Thursday's line up so far, with the rest to follow hopefully later this week. If anyone is interested: http:///s/ge2016/

 

thanks for this!

Over the past weeks I've been listening to the official spotify playlist of the line up (took a while) and made a few notes of bands playing. Will be sure to make a plan closer to the time. 

Noticed there's 5 'to be confirmed' on the line up, were these the 'secret sets' last year?

[DaveyGravy]

15 hours ago, adequate8 said:

 

Noticed there's 5 'to be confirmed' on the line up, were these the 'secret sets' last year?

I think so, although I think they may have squeezed a few others in, in slots that weren't announced too.

[adequate8]

1 minute ago, DaveyGravy said:

I think so, although I think they may have squeezed a few others in, in slots that weren't announced too.

Thanks, what's the best way to be kept in the loop? Heard there's a text service or something?

[DaveyGravy]

Text service is the only way, I think. Other than if you follow a band on Twitter, or Facebook, or similar and they make an announcement before hand.

[adequate8]

how slim are chances to get involved wiht the amazon secret set (temper trap)? ive registered but god knows how many people try.

Same goes for the Q closing party, we taking hours queueing?

[DaveyGravy]

Not really sure about the Temper Trap gig. They did a similar thing last year (or possibly the year before?), with Paul Weller playing a similar set. You had to register online beforehand, like this time, and then everyone that registered got sent a message the day before saying they had to be at a certain location, the next morning, and it was first come first served, on tickets. We didn't bother trying to get the tickets as it was early (8:00am or something stupid like that!) and we actually stay slightly out of town, so it was pretty impossible for us to get there that early and would probably been a wasted journey anyway. Not sure about the Temper Trap gig this year, but I think the Weller gig was in the Doc Martins store, so would maybe only be 50-100 capapcity, so you'd want to be queuing early when they release the tickets.

As for the Q closing party, I think this is what the Maccabees did last year. Pretty sure that was a Q sponsored thing and was on the last night. We started queuing over an hour before it opened and got in. But there was a massive queue by the time the doors opened and I would think a lot of people got turned away.