Every November, The Great Escape kicks off with First Fifty, a one-night East London takeover where the future of music plays tiny, sweaty venues before the Brighton chaos begins. For 2025, Dork are throwing our weight behind the lineup at Sebright Arms, and we're not messing about. We've got The Itch (pictured), Really Good Time and SLAG - three acts with absolutely nothing in common except being very, very good and mildly unhinged. Ahead of the gig, we asked each band a few questions. Here's what went down.
THE ITCH: EXISTENTIAL POP AND UNDISCLOSED PLANS
The Itch are Georgia Hardy and Simon Tyrie, a duo with a knack for turning disco melancholy into something weirdly euphoric. Their latest track 'Space in the Cab' is a vocoder-drenched love letter to the UK's fading nightlife and the people left dancing in the wreckage.
"We are Georgia and Simon. We write, record and produce The Itch's music," they explain. "Ben Hambro, Charlie Meyrick and Louis Haynes are our live band – our limbs and our spice."
They're currently "about to take pics for something we aren't allowed to announce yet", and when asked what they're working on, all they'll say is: "UNDISCLOSED." Cryptic behaviour, but we respect the drama.
They've done Brighton before – kind of. "We usually go to the Alt Escape; we played in a sweaty basement last year for an unofficial last-minute late-night party. The people who could get in had a lot of fun."
When not making music, Georgia is deep into Eastward on Switch. Simon, meanwhile, is writing "about how the cultural significance of the burger in American culture represents the rise and fall of capitalism and the American dream."
They want you to know there's a space in the cab. Take the hint.
REALLY GOOD TIME: JUMPSUITS, DOOM-SPIRALS AND BOB DYLAN ON PAWN STARS
Dublin's Really Good Time are here to make you dance, sweat and spiral. Their new single 'Shit One' is part post-punk breakdown, part club banger, and entirely feral. The mood? Everything's on fire, and the bin man's DJing.
"I'm writing this from a Dublin bus," says frontman Wastefellow, "on the way to return a defective space heater. The bus is really full, like packed. I'm standing with nothing to hold onto, but because it's so crammed, I'm supported by the combined weight of the passengers around me. It's helpful, but also a reminder of my own existence as a flesh and blood human body that is ultimately destined to decay and die." So yeah. Vibes.
The band – Wastefellow, Jacque le Coque and Ado Tornado – say they're finishing off some new material "that feels like the result of boiling down what we've been doing as a live band into its primal elements – like a really good stock that is probably a little poisonous." They're about to start mixing "a song about Bob Dylan appearing on an episode of Pawn Stars."
This will be their first time playing The Great Escape, though they have been to Brighton before – for a festival called The Greatest Cape. "We assumed it would be fashion-focused… we genuinely didn't see a single cape. That was a relief. We wear jumpsuits on stage – capes would be a tripping hazard. We value the safety of our audience."
Their ideal seaside activity? "Last time we were in Bray, we tried to encourage Ado to put his feet in the water. He's kind of afraid of the ocean because he saw Jaws at a very young age. We were doing it in a supportive way, not in a bullying way."
SLAG: MURDER VICTIMS, EXTREME WINDSURFING & ZERO INFORMATION
Brighton's SLAG are loud, queer, stylish, chaotic and absolutely not here for your (our) boring questions. At last year's Great Escape, they played six shows in three days. Frontwoman Amelie says, "By the end, all the skin had ripped out from under my fingernails on my left hand and I couldn't speak a word to save my life." Goals.
The lineup includes Amelie (guitar and vocals), Seb (keys), Luke (drums), Freya (bass), and Dan (guitar). When we catch them, they're prepping for Halloween: "I'm working on my murder victim costume and I've just turned Seb into a skeleton."
The current focus? "Wardrobe mainly." Outside of music, they enjoy "various yarn crafts while watching daytime television."
They live in Brighton and recommend you visit the Green Door Store. Their go-to seaside activity is "extreme windsurfing." When asked if there's anything else they'd like people to know, they reply: "As little as possible."
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WHEN & WHERE?
Dork presents: First Fifty at Sebright Arms 📍 Sebright Arms, London 📅 13th November 2025 🎤 The Itch, Really Good Time, SLAG 🎫 Tickets available via The Great Escape Three bands. Maximum weirdness. No capes. Be there.
