Thursday at The Great Escape 2025
Words by Willow Shields, Photographs by Briony Graham-Rudd and Rosie Carne
Thursday at The Great Escape, unfortunately, started as so many days in England do. With grey skies and silky sort of humidity that breeds annoyance, even in the most loving of us. However, the city was a-buzz with industry folk and punters, brushing shoulders on small pavements and making nice over cold fresh pints. My Thursday started with a takeaway coffee and clipped conversation in the back of a taxi. Running late…
The first band of the day were weathered friends of the mag Balancing Act. Having toured extensively through the UK and Europe in the last year or so, they’ve gained quite the cult following. Seeming to settle into their harmonious rhythm almost instantly, they began their set with ‘Before I Shoot’. The Soundwaves Great Escape Beach Stage was full of eager ears, who too were foregoing the porridge and starting their day with a hefty helping of Balancing Act. They went on to treat the audience to some new material with energetic prescenses with stern faces attached to them, a stand out was a new single titled ‘Scar’ which will be “out next week,” (22nd May). Their set ended on ‘All Yours’ which even got some of the less enthused characters to sing along.
Our next stop was to see Luvcat at Chalk. Her first comment after striding onto the stage was “there’s a lot of faces in here,” with a voice honey. Having played her first show with her band as it is now, and relatively kicked off her career, in Brighton for The Great Escape the year prior, she said “Brighton will always be magical, thank you.” Opening with her newest single ‘Lipstick,’ instantly enthralled the audience. Her vocal range is so astounding I am sure she can’t be human. The eyes of the crowd in Chalk were sparkling with reflections of Luvcat and she serenaded us with gothic romance songs about “a wife slowly poisoning her husband” “no, you shouldn’t cheer that.” To say that Luvcat was a highlight of Thursday would be a total understatement. She put me in such a daze that I didn’t stop thinking about her until my head hit my pillow in the early hours. That’s magic, and that’s Luvcat.
Rosie Carne Report:
Opening with the theme from match of the day and the headliner band piling onto the stage with the energy you can expect from Falmer stadium on match day. Welly began with ‘It’s Not Like This in France.’ A tale you can read a more in-depth review of by Willow here. They’ve passed their GCSE’s but it feels like they’ve fast tracked to a masters degree with how tight they are live. They have the chemistry of people who know each other like family, and you can hear it live. Not to mention, there was the addition of a special guest of stage; a stoic, beautiful girl playing the triangle and other such things. We heard through the grapevine that Welly were also bringing new tracks to the table. They did not disappoint. ‘Act Your Age’ brought a raucous energy, with a taste of things to come in the future of Welly. ‘Welcome to the family’ makes us want to be welcomed to the family. They ended their set with Welly classics in ‘Shopping’ and ‘Me and Your Mates’ the crowd shouting the lyrics back at them.
Picture Parlour headlined The Great Escape Soundwaves stage and they were met with a full tent of people cheering them on when they arrived on stage. Frontwoman Katherine Parlour wore a fur coat that I kept expecting to be discarded, but it never was and that shows a level of mental strength I haven’t seen in any of their musical peers. Their sound is akin to sparkling water in a deep blue ocean, but there’s something blood red lurking in the deep. The crowd begged for more and cheered at any opportunity, the folded arms crowd were nowhere to be seen for Picture Parlour’s set. Just people who wanted to be there, having a little boogie.
