Dork Radio

Live

Live 24/7

Dork Radio

Live Review

Vlure, Swim School, Malady and more kick of The Great Escape at Dork's pier-end showcase

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside, oh we do like to be…100 metres out at sea? That’s right, Dear Reader, for this year’s Great Escape we took over Horatio’s, the best (and only) pub at the end of Brighton pier.

Words:Jake Hawkes

Photos:Em Marcovecchio

The long walk battling high winds and angry seagulls is more than worth it when Swim School step onto the stage. The sunset shining through the pub window provides the kind of light show most bands pay good money for, and they take ample advantage. Woozy guitar anthems are the perfect opener for the weekend and win the crowd over in record time. As the set goes on, things get deceptively heavy and, by the time ‘Let Me Inside Your Head’ is played, well over half the room is singing along.

Next up: Malady. The Londoners burst straight in with ‘Famous Last Words’, the almost dubstep bassline lending a unique flavour that marks them out as more than just another indie band. A pause between songs lets frontman Percy Cobbinah ask the really important question. “Does anyone know the Arsenal Tottenham score?” he shouts with a grin. A crowd member kindly gives a swift rundown of just how badly Arsenal are doing before the band launch back into it. As the songs begin to build into a perfectly constructed wall of noise and the crowd starts moving, it all clicks into place. The whole set is well received, but closer ‘London, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down’ nearly blows the roof off.

From London to LA, Kills Birds aren’t here to mess around. Their tight grunge-revivalism shows the crowd exactly why Dave Grohl and Kim Gordon have both recently stepped forward as celebrity fans (no, neither of them are at the gig, we checked).

As we are on a pier jutting into the English Channel, we’re closer than most to France. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for French post-punkers Unschooling to pop over for a quick set. Armed with more spiky guitar hooks and jagged instrumentals than you can shake a seagull at, the crowd lap it up and the energy barely drops throughout.

Closing the stage are Glasgow five-piece Vlure. It’s their only show of the weekend and they act like it, swinging shirtless from the ceiling as their synth-heavy bangers shake the walls apart. ‘Show Me How To Love’ gets the crowd pogoing within 30 seconds and the atmosphere is more like an illegal warehouse rave at 2am than a pub with three real ales on tap. It’s 30 minutes of tight, white-knuckle adrenaline, and by the time closing track ‘Euphoria’ rolls around everyone at the venue is sweating more than they have in months.

“We might be the best live band in the country,” they joke towards the end of their set. For our money they might well be telling the truth.

Vlure, Swim School, Malady and more kick of The Great Escape at Dork's pier-end showcase

Dork 100 does The Great Escape 2025, feat. SOFY, piri & tommy, Lynks and more

Buzz bands, popsters and "an artist waggling a dildo around" - here's the BIG Dork report from The Great Escape 2023

This is what went down when Dork and Chess Club Records teamed up for a packed showcase at The Great Escape

Dork's The Great Escape showcase shuts down Brighton Pier with Lime Garden, English Teacher and more

Believe the hype - The Last Dinner Party attract queues round the block at The Great Escape

Three days, hundreds of artists and a beach - here's the best of what we saw at this year's The Great Escape

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! Here's what went down at The Great Escape 2019

Here's all the best bands we saw at this year's Great Escape

Vlure, Swim School, Malady and more kick of The Great Escape at Dork's pier-end showcase

More Live Reviews

Dork 100 does The Great Escape 2025, feat. SOFY, piri &amp; tommy, Lynks and more

Buzz bands, popsters and "an artist waggling a dildo around" - here's the BIG Dork report from The Great Escape 2023

This is what went down when Dork and Chess Club Records teamed up for a packed showcase at The Great Escape

Dork's The Great Escape showcase shuts down Brighton Pier with Lime Garden, English Teacher and more

Believe the hype - The Last Dinner Party attract queues round the block at The Great Escape

Three days, hundreds of artists and a beach - here's the best of what we saw at this year's The Great Escape

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! Here's what went down at The Great Escape 2019

Here's all the best bands we saw at this year's Great Escape

Dork 100 does The Great Escape 2025, feat. SOFY, piri & tommy, Lynks and more