The Joy of The Great Escape’s Alternative Stages!
Matisse Moretti – At The Font
The Festival
With an elevated stage above the bar in a converted chapel and ‘God is a DJ’ as a subheading – The Font was the place to be at this year’s Alternative Great Escape – in my humble opinion!
This was a repeat gig for me, having spent three day’s at The Brighton Rock n Roll Circus show in 2024, but this year we had the added treat of the stage being transported to overlook the venue from above the bar – lit up beautifully with fairy lights and festooned with greenery. I loved the new set up and it added a really interesting perspective for the photography. Brought to fruition by the awesome promoter Kick Out The Jams and sponsored by Milk-The Garage Radio Show – the line up for 2025 was another four day extravaganza of musical talent across an eclectic array of genres.
Sadly I was only able to join in the fun for the Wednesday and Friday. But in those two days, limited a little in time due to inconvenient train timetables, I was completely captivated by 15 very individual acts.
Ultimately The Great Escape, an annual four day music festival taking place in many locations across Brighton, is a celebration of grass roots music and independent venues. But alongside this, the festival also includes more established acts in larger spaces. However, for me, the more exciting aspect is always The Alternative Escape – gigs throughout the city showcasing emerging artists with no wristband required.
Shooting for Brighton and Hove News and accompanied by my regular partner in crime and talented writer/artist – reviewer Yiskah S Kemp, I was also asked to include write ups on some of the bands along with my photos. The publication had a team covering the festival over the four days carefully co-ordinated by our wonderful music editor Nick Linazasoro. For information on many of the performers head to the link to read all of the reviews – day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4. There are is a multitude of beautiful musicians to discover there. And from my personal perspective, here are a few selected images of, and links to, the fantastic fifteen acts that I was privileged to experience this year!
The Bands
Wrex, Toy Parlour, Slumber, Hollows, Yuke, Gen & the Degenerates, Vigilantes, Korda Korder, Matisse Moretti, Night Swimming, The Fiends, BE N!CE, Forgetting the Future, Bayboards, Angelica Mode
Do explore and support these artists – whether it’s becoming part of the live music scene community, or connecting with the artists online, it all helps to ensure that we can continue to enjoy this art form in its many guises.
Photography Stuff
And as my usual post script – a few notes on my photography for this event. I was armed with my usual pack of the Canon EOS R mirrorless, 85mm 1.2 and 35mm 1.8 lenses. Then I had two very different experiences on the two days I covered. This was due to changes in the stage lighting.
The first day included no spots on the performers so this was a huge challenge. Keeping my ISO mostly on 6400 and my f-stop on 2.8 I managed to capture some sharp images through timing my shots carefully to align with a moving coloured light. In post production I did have to juggle the noise reduction/clarity very carefully.
The second day was much easier as there were white lights, and I had also developed my pattern of movements to capture varied framing. I was able to up my f-stop to 4 sometimes 5.6 enabling more whole band captures. There were some really interesting performances to capture as well. With thought towards stage presence, audience interaction and dressing for the occasion this was a really fun shoot!
Low Light – Day 1 – Gen & the Degenerates
