Bright lights and bright minds in Brighton

My camera is amazing

The Great Escape came and went. It was a really fun weekend and even though interesting comments and statements were rare and everything the panels discussed I already knew*, I did still learn. And it was nice to notice that I really do know something about what I'm doing and even the top players aren't that much more knowledgeable, they just have the years of experience and reputation behind them. The thing where you put the knowledge into action and make something of it. This was more of a trial run though and next year, if I go, I'll get much more out of it.

*For bands to be ready for a label they need to practice, write songs, play gigs and have a fan base. If they want to work with a brand they should do their research and find a brand with the right image. Oh, and bands are brands too. All fascinating bits of information if you've never really been near anything music industry related and are a bit simple and clueless, but pretty self-explanatory to everyone else.

Despite there being millions of gigs all through the weekend, we only saw a handful of them. Our own night took up all of Friday night and during the days we went to the conferences rather than watch some band we've never heard of. So we only pretty much had Thursday and Saturday nights to check out some live music.

On Thursday the highlight of the night was Kids In Glass Houses despite the front man's very geeky-in-an-uncool-way t-shirt. Come on, bands, look like a band! They had energy, they had attitude and they had catchy punk rock tunes. Their sound is quite American which for anyone who knows me is a sure sign that I'll like it. Very enjoyable to watch too. I really also liked the venue they were playing, Concorde 2. Magner's cider was only £3,80/pint which for a Finn is very impressive and exciting!

I'll just skip right to Saturday since I feel I've highlighted our bands' greatness enough already. I have nothing to add. They're great. They're always great. They even might have been a bit greater than before. And they look like bands. And they are: The Manic Shine, Violet Bones and iremembertapes.

Saturday we hunted down a band called Billy Vincent because someone knew someone who knew someone or something. They were instantly likable and their music made me happy. The last song really made the night. I'm a sucker for some violin and folky sounds, though, and may have let that affect my judgement. Not to mention that they looked good.

Such attractive lads

After that we headed down to a launderette with our new friends from The Icarus Youth to catch a band called The Computers. There we were climbing on washing machines and watching this amazing group of punkrock dudes ooze pure energy and thrills. They should, however, get some hairstylin' tips from Jedward; their cool rockabilly quiffs were pretty much ruined after 15 seconds into their set. That was very possibly the coolest gig I've ever been to!

YYYEEEEAAAAHHH!

Crammed in.