Billboard U.K. Take Over The Great Escape With Live Sets from English Teacher, Westside Cowboy, More

Billboard U.K. Live headed to The Great Escape on Friday (May 16) with a stellar lineup of emerging new artists.

Taking over the Deep End stage at the TGE Beach site, the Billboard U.K. Live stage played a key role in The Great Escape’s programming. The event, held in Brighton annually, kicks off the U.K.’s festival season with a number of global acts heading to the seaside for days of music, networking, conferences and more.

A number of big name artists performed at the festival across the four-day event, with The Libertines frontman Pete Doherty, Rizzle Kicks, Skunk Anansie and The Horrors all heading down to the city on the south coast.

Over on the Billboard U.K. Live stage, RIP Magic – dubbed London’s “buzziest buzz band” by The Guardian – opened proceedings with a set of intense, genre-bending electronica, and offered a chance for punters to hear the band’s music in a live setting. As it stands, the band has yet to release any music officially online, with hype building via their performances and live clips on YouTube.

Westside Cowboy drew a packed tent as fans jostled to catch a glimpse of the band that recently won Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition. With just two songs released so far, the Manchester-based band pulled a full-house in their third and final set of the festival, airing unreleased material and new single “Shells.”

In their second consecutive year at The Great Escape, My First Time brought sharp songwriting and an energetic stage presence in their set. Soon after, Liverpool-formed band Courting aired cuts from their new album Lust for Life, Or: ‘How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story’ in a fun, frenetic set. The electronic rock outfit are set to play a number of festivals this summer, including the upcoming BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend.

Rising group RabbitFoot, whose set showcased baroque-pop to pummeling electronic synth lines, showcased a theatrical, personable approach to their songs. Daffo, who is set to support Blondshell on their upcoming U.S. tour, featured indie-rock material with bite in what was their first live show in the U.K.

Leeds’ English Teacher closed the stage in their return to The Great Escape festival, this time as headliners of a major stage. The group won the 2024 Mercury Prize with debut album This Could Be Texas, and proved how the U.K.’s grassroots scene is continually producing stellar acts, and why it must be protected and treasured.

The set featured much of the material from that LP, with “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab,” “Nearly Daffodils” and “Broken Biscuits” all being played, and a poignant “Albert Road” closing the show’s set. The band are poised to play a number of headline shows in the U.K. this coming autumn.