Teenage Joans Lead First Wave of Performers For The Great Escape 2026

Teenage Joans will make the long haul to Brighton next year to perform for the industry at The Great Escape – the UK’s premier showcase event.

Announced overnight, the Adelaide pop-punk duo are part of the first wave of performers, a 50-strong collection of rising artists from around the globe.

They include French multi-instrumentalist Max Baby, Irish indie-pop producer Annie-Dog, sibling electronic duo SISTRA, and soul singer-songwriter Ava Joe.

That first wave of artists will get two bites of the cherry. They’re all invited to perform at FIRST FIFTY live launch, to roll out across eight venues in East London on Thursday, November 13th, 2025.

There, Teenage Joans will hit the stage for an evening of music hosted by Ticketmaster New Music, on a lineup that features SISTRA and Ava Joe.

The twosome of Tahlia Borg (vocals/drums) and Cahli Blakers (vocals/guitars), Teenage Joans enjoyed a breakthrough by winning triple j unearthed high in 2020; several of their songs have cracked triple j’s Hottest 100 countdowns; and their 2021 debut EP Taste Of Me won a record seven categories at the 2021 SAM Awards.

Their debut album The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest dropped in 2023, and earned an ARIA Award nomination for best heavy album.

The UK trip is nothing out of the ordinary for Teenage Joans, who’ve toured Australia and the US with the likes of Foo Fighters, Sleeping With Sirens, Sum 41, Noahfinnce, Amy Shark, Pale Waves, Ball Park Music, The Chats and more.

They’ve performed at the AIR Awards and a slew of festival stages, including Good Things, Unify, SXSW Austin, Splendour In The Grass, Groovin The Moo, Laneway Festival and Spin Off, with “more to come,” reps say.

The pair recently shared the single “My Heart’s Dead!,” the followup to “Sweet and Slow”. They’re currently on the road, completing a national regional tour with Slowly Slowly, coming just weeks after an August tour with Canada’s PUP.

More than 450 “up-and-coming artists and hotly tipped talent” will perform at TGE, from May 13-16 in Brighton, England.

Set up in 2006, TGE has cemented its position as the UK’s leading showcase event and conference, presented 80kms down the M23 from London. The 2025 edition boasted performances by Rizzle Kicks, Pete Doherty, Skunk Anansie and many others.