The Great Escape kicks off in a state of disarray amid boycott
Amid a major backlash regarding sponsorship from Barclays, Brighton’s The Great Escape festival kicked off in a state of disarray. The festival’s official app, which usually excitedly signals hundreds of sets beginning across the city, was instead busy with announcements of acts pulling out. By the end of day one, a third of the lineup had cancelled their sets.
Among the biggest dropouts were Soft Play, who said, “We do not support genocide. We stand with the people of Palestine and support the BDS movement”. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement is a nonviolent protest organisation that organises action; the mass withdrawal from the festival is a targeted part of that.
However, the mass action around the festival didn’t feel reflected on the ground. The first day of the event was busy, with queues for buzzy emerging acts like Mary In The Junkyard, Joe & The Shitboys, and Battlesnakes weaving far out of the venues and stretching beyond their capacity, with ticket holders being turned away. It seemed that, with fewer acts playing, the crowd was more concentrated in a smaller number of venues.
While hundreds of acts have now pulled out, and more names are still being added to that list, the festival itself is already sold out, with ticket sales predating the first rumblings of the boycott movement. While there are no present statistics on official turnout, busy rooms for names like Brogeal for their Horatios set or the packed-out Chalk for Wunderhorse seemed to suggest that festival goers who had already bought tickets still came out.
Nevertheless, as more names quit the festival at the last minute, there was a tangible sense of confusion and chaos as ticket holders went to sets only to find the band they came to see were absent. “Surely the fact that the day will have been logistical chaos should be making the festival think,” a member of the public told Far Out during an alt-escape set.
In light of the dropouts, entire venues pulled the plug on their stages, including Daltons, who have now switched to only hosting non-affiliated sets. Similarly, Revenge released a statement after cancelling their stage, stating: “We have been put in a very difficult position, given the several months of planning and a significant amount of financial investment into large events such as this.”
“I feel bad for the venues,” one attendee, Stewart, told Far Out as we stood outside Hope and Ruin. “At the end of the day, music still needs help and funding. Obviously, I don’t agree with what’s going on, but also, don’t want to see these places go bust.” The bands we spoke to at the festival also cited a similar stance of nuanced solidarity.
As Stewart went upstairs to see Full Flower Moon Band at the official Great Escape event, the downstairs bar was busy with an alt-escape lineup, requiring no ticket but suggested a donation to a Palestine fundraiser. As hometown heroes Hutch took to the stage, they demonised the festival when they said, “Good job everyone not going to official Great Escape shows. Fuck that shit. It’s way more fun here anyway.”
Managing to get the crowd to dance, which is a tough ask over at the industry-heavy official festival, no one in the room would have disagreed that the energy was markedly better at the unaffiliated events. The same can be said for The New Eves show at Daltons, having pulled out of the official lineup. The much-hyped emerging group has played seven shows over the course of the festival, all set up by alternative promotors.
“It’s great to see so many people come together to boycott Barclays and draw attention to the collective discomfort people feel about their sponsorship,” another alt-escape attendee told Far Out, but their comment captured the other, opposing sense of sadness for the bands involved and the burden placed on new acts to take action, losing out on fees and perhaps effecting their connections with major bookers or venues. This is particularly pertinent given the Barclays sponsorship is indirect, via Live Nation, and many other events with the exact same sponsorship package are going ahead as planned.
“It would have been better to see more of the headliners pull back from this gig as opposed to the financial loss being burdened by majority DIY bands,” they continued, addressing the fact that many of the biggest names on the lineup have stayed silent on the issue. On the flip side, another audience member summed up the issue with a concise and impassioned comment, “Music shouldn’t cost people’s lives.”
For those affected by this topic and would like to provide vital aid to people in Israel and Gaza, The British Red Cross are accepting donations. Visit the website here.
