10 acts not to miss at The Alt Escape
For as long as The Great Escape has existed, the Brighton music scene has found a way to make it its own. While the festival is often written off as being too industry-heavy, the city offers up a community-focused section option with no eye-watering entry fee, just entertainment for all.
In the years since, both the official and alternative escape has grown. In 2024, when a mass boycott of the official festival led to over a third of the lineup dropping out, local venues opened up their doors and ushered them in, ensuring that the music could continue without the corporate evil.
Ever since, punters have realised why do one and not the other? If you do have a wristband, the Alt Escape can sit beautifully alongside the main event. But if you don’t, you can basically enjoy an entire free weekend festival simply dipping from local spot to local spot.
Not just spotlighting acts from the Brighton areas, major names also often take up an Alt Escape spot, playing to rooms far smaller than they’re used to for a moment of intimacy. Or, if the crowd at the official festival is too still and boring with all the industry folk, the alt can promise some more energy.
10 acts not to miss at The Alt Escape in Brighton:
Enjoyable Listens
The Great Escape weekend can get hectic. With so many places, so many places you could be, and so many industry types holding pints pretending to have fun or pretending to network, it can be a lot.
Would you like to escape for a moment for a laugh? Get away for a little giggle?
Enjoyable Listens can provide that, along with endlessly catchy tunes that will be stuck in your head all day. Truly a live act that needs to be seen to be believed, once you’ve caught them once, chances are you’ll enter the cult of reoffenders, swiftly swelling the crowds.
Recently rejuvenated into a whole band affair, and with new track ‘The Terror’ as a taster of a new era to come, the appeal is brighter than ever.
15/05/26 – Grand Central, 15:20
Veronica
One of the most staggering voices you’ll hear in a while, Brighton-based but Italian-born artist Veronica is basically like if a Botticelli painting came to life with the voice of an angel in tow.
Accompanied by keys, bass and now with a drum machine, the textures of her songs are so interesting against her classically beautiful vocals. With a range that will instantly give you goosebumps, her lyrical musings on love and loss will coax them out, too. In particular, ‘As Dancers’ is a standout track, reflecting on an old love with so much tenderness and heart that it will make you want to text your ex.
16/05/26 – Rossi, 19:00
Hutch
The true darlings of the scene, it’s surely illegal to be in the city for any amount of time and not catch hometown heroes, Hutch.
The band are slowly but surely becoming the worst-kept secret of the area as their 1960s and ’70s-inspired twang is too infectious to contain. With flavours of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and beyond, the harmonies are tight, the guitar lines are hot, and the lyrics are whimsical as hell.
As always, they’re putting in an absolute shift over the festival. With a whole bunch of chances to catch them at venues that don’t require a wristband, you have no excuse.
15/05/26 – Location TBD, 20:30
16/05/26 – West Hill Hall, 20:10
16/05/26 – The Oak, 21:15
San Vito
Taking over The Pipeline on the Sunday once the main festival is over, San Vito isn’t just performing, but has curated his own showcase lineup. Always with the energy of a kind of satanic messiah, like a David Lynch creation or an offspring of Nick Cave, he’s the perfect choice for a gothic sabbath.
With tunes that stray from slow, seductive ballads into pure punk ragers, one thing that is guaranteed is that San Vito treats any one of his songs with the same devotion to his artistry. It’s rare you ever just get a normal gig from him – there’s almost always something else in tow, whether it be performance artists or a live painter. So as the post-festival blues settle in, shake them off right here.
17/05/26 – The Pipeline, 13:00-21:00
Soft Top
Another darling of the Brighton scene is Soft Top’s Miles Goodall. If you’ve seen any Brighton-based band perform anywhere else, whether it be up in Manchester or over in France, chances are Goodall is the one driving them and getting them there on time. As well as being a cornerstone of the scene as the most trusted tour manager, he’s also one of the city’s finest musicians.
Currently racing towards the release of his debut album, Soft Top have been sharing some of their best tracks to date lately with ‘Waiting Game’ and ‘Paving Stones’. Each one perfectly captures the band’s unique sound that sits somewhere between Paul McCartney’s whimsy and Father John Misty’s suave. With cellos, clarinets and more, the sonics are lush and cinematic, providing a perfect antidote for a festival hangover.
14/05/26 – Rossi, 15:00
16/05/26 – Pink Moon, 17:00
16/05/26 – Mesmerist, 18:30
Bat Milk
Tender compositions, louder compositions, audio clippings and more – Bat Milk are quickly becoming one of the most interesting Brighton acts around as they cut their teeth and hone their sound more and more.
Only playing their first gig in August 2025, watching them still feels like watching a band figuring things out in the best and most exciting way. The potential and power is already clear, so too is the emotional impact of their music, but they still have that thrilling looseness that makes each set feel distinct, or like watching history form in front of your eyes. An act that are sure to quickly rise through the ranks – get to know them early.
16/05/26 – Rossi, 14:00
The Actors, 19:00
Fiddlers Elbow, 21:30
Getner
At Far Out’s sold-out Old Blue Last gig, Getner kicked things off and had the room shaking before the doors were even really open. Without even a single song out, plenty of people would have voted them the winners of the night as they brought rage to the stage.
Forming in Manchester but with half of the band coming from Ireland, they’re informed by the grand musical traditions of the Emerald Isle and the glorious north, fuelling their political lyricism from both sides. Quickly building a reputation as a must-see live band before sharing any recorded work, they’re set on doing things the old-fashioned way, as they’re more than secure in their ability to blow the crowds away and make fans face-to-face.
15/05/26 – The Bootlegger, 17:30
Modern Woman
Earlier this year, Modern Woman put out one of the best debut albums of 2026 so far, so seeing it live should be a requirement.
They recently sold out The Lexington in London, and their monthly Spotify listeners have quickly swollen to well over 40k, so putting them in the humble 160 capacity Bootlegger is a major underplay. But that’s part of the joy of these festivals.
Bringing the band back to simplicity and giving audiences a chance to get to know their music in the exact kind of intimate settings that are always destined to forge a connection, we have no doubt at all that a track like ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’ is going to sound more impactful than ever in the smaller space.
14/05/26 – The Bootlegger, 17:30
Maximilian
Thoughtful songwriting, a gorgeous folk energy, rock and roll energy lifts and a voice that sits somewhere between Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith? You get all of that with Maximilian.
Having just put out his new EP, Diurnals, Maximilian’s music has taken a more folk-focused turn than his debut album, Surrender. But now, as the two projects sit side by side in his live set, they co-exist in a beautiful and tender show led by his rich vocals.
Anyone I’ve taken to see his show has left a fan. Another act that sits as a true sparkling jewel in Brighton’s crown as one of the UK’s best musical cities, you’d be amiss not to catch him.
13/05/26 – Hope and Ruin, 19:30
Location TBD, 16:30
ELLiS-D
Crowned Far Out’s ‘Live Musician of The Year’ for 2025, ELLiS-D played more shows than we thought was even humanly possible as he raced his way around the world with both Fat Dog and his own project.
Whenever anyone asks me for a gig recommendation, the first thing I’ll do is see where ELLiS-D is about to pop up. His work sounds amazing on tape, with his EP Spill being a 2025 standout, but it’s on the stage where he shines best, as his compositions’ teasing stops and starts are thrilling live, and his band is surely one of the tightest around.
As another Brighton gem, the home town crowds are sure to come out for these shows and make them rowdy. If it were up to us, we’d suggest the secret second set…
15/05/26 – The Oak, 18:15
Location TBD, 00:30
