Our guide to help you prepare your Plans A, B and C across one of the year’s busiest weekends of music.

The Great Escape returns to Brighton this week and we can’t wait for the action to begin. Every year, the festival brings together over 400 of the brightest new music acts from the world over, requisitioning every music venue in the city along with pretty much anywhere else you can set up a PA and a bar, serving up a constant stream of shows among which you are sure to find your newest obsessions. Running from Wednesday 15^th May, the festival really kicks into full swing on Thursday, with wall-to-wall music running from around noon until the small hours. Most stages take the form of showcases organised by a range of labels, broadcasters and brands, and among all that we will be running our own stage on Saturday night at the centrally located Revenge.

There are also ‘Alt Escape’ events to look out for, running parallel to the festival. These shows are free to all, including non-ticketholders, and often provide the chance to catch someone you might miss another day because of the inevitable clashes that spring up all weekend. To keep tabs on these unofficial shows, it will be easiest to check band pages, where the most up-to-date info will continue to feed out as the week goes on.

With over 400 acts to choose from, it is a formidable task to plot a course through it all, and any veteran of the festival will advise you that the best practice is to have a Plan A, B and C on hand at any given moment, along with an open mind to letting something unexpected capture your imagination… after all that’s what the festival is all about. Here’s a look at some of the acts we’re most excited to see at the festival, including some familiar favourites and some new discoveries.

Wednesday

With the festival getting off to a modest start, there are a handful of shows to choose from for anyone heading down to get the party started early. At Patterns’ downstairs room – one of the festival’s most immersive spaces – psych janglers Holiday Ghosts, on at 18.15, are a reliable live favourite of ours who are always worth catching. Then, you can head over to the TGE Beach (yes, that is a clutch of stages set up literally on the beach) to see the awe-inspiring songwriter Junior Brother (19.15), who has just announced his third album, ‘The End’, for release this September. Then at the Paganini Ballroom, entered via the side of The Old Ship Hotel, you can catch the bubblegum indie of Lonnie Gunn (22.15) as part of a BBC Introducing showcase. You’re probably best off getting an early night after that because it’s about to get busy…

Thursday

Here’s where it gets a little more complicated, with over twelve hours of music to dart between. At 13.30, Viennese electro-indie four-piece Gardens play the The Hope and Ruin, one of those venues where you could in theory reliably camp out for the entirety of the festival, given the consistent quality of their bills from year to year. Alternatively, you could head down to the Beach for Disgusting Sisters (also on at 13.30) who broke out last November with their unhinged, Delta 5-esque Speedy Wunderground single ‘Killing it’. At 14.15, Mari Mathias brings her magical Welsh-language folk to the Paganini Ballroom, while at 14.30, another of Vienna’s bright new exports, jangle rockers Laundromat Chicks, take the stage at the Hope and Ruin.

“Hagstone rock” quartet (their term) The New Eves will be high on a lot of must-see lists having made a splash with the first two singles of their debut album, ‘The New Eve Is Rising’, which releases this August. Longtime fans of the band will doubtless want to catch their scintillating set again, while their recent signing to Transgressive will have put them on the watchlist of many more festivalgoers this year. Their official festival showcase is on Friday at CHALK at 18.15, but you can also catch them at unofficial events including on Thursday at Pipeline at 17.30 and then at Alphabet at 20.00.

Also on Thursday evening, Hachiku, part of the Melbourne scene that coalesced around Courtney Barnett’s recently closed label Milk!, plays Green Door Store at 19.15, fresh off the release of her charming new album ‘The Joys of Being Pure At Heart’. Later in the evening, there is the very compelling opportunity to catch Baroque punk folk ten-piece Bishopskin perform live in an actual church (One Church, 22.15), surely an indelible immersion into their music. If you want to set up a church-setting double bill, you should also catch Clara Mann, who plays the Unitarian Church at 21.15 and whose newly released debut album ‘Rift’ is a minimalistic folk delight.

Also at 21.15, The Orchestra (For Now) bring their explosive yet meticulous set to Horatio’s at the end of Brighton Pier… be advised this place fills up fast, especially for bands like this. Complicating matters further, Mancherster dream rocker TTSSFU is on at the same time at Green Door Store, while Blood Wizard, who headlined our recent party at the Sebright Arms, is on at Manchester Street Arts Club at 21.30. The night then continues to offer great shows, including the transcendental, heart-searing Pem, on at Dust at 23.15, the precocious, epic Man/Woman/Chainsaw at Charles Street Tap, also at 23.15, Brighton breakout group big long sun, who delighted at the Great Escape pre-party we ran last week, playing Pink Moon at midnight, and the Windmill’s wonky rap genius Black Fondu downstairs at Patterns at 00.15.

Friday

The schedule doesn’t let up for the rest of the weekend, with Friday lurching into action immediately with clashing sets from 6 Music’s alt-jazz darling corto.alto (Fabrica, 12.15) and  Hard of Hearing favourites ladylike (The Beach, 12.30) kicking off the day’s music. We’re keen to catch Dutch DIY five-piece The Klittens at the Paganini Ballroom at 13.30 and are hoping also to get to see the chaotic sleaze country experience that is HONK at the Beach at 14.30.

This year, it seems the festival have consciously elected to give everyone a breather in the mid-afternoon, with shows thinning out a little. On Friday, one of the key sets to catch in this gap will be RIP Magic, the new project from Marco Pini of Glows and Sorry, which has been generating a well-deserved buzz at London shows among those lucky enough to catch it. RIP Magic play the Beach at 16.15.

If we’ve already gotten our New Eves fix, we might duck their set at CHALK to see Ugly at Players at 18.15. The group having become one of the country’s most unique and exciting groups since their amazing reinvention as an art-folk sextet. There’s a second chance to catch Laundromat Chicks at 19.15 at the Beach, but we’re also keeping an eye on The Slow Country at Manchester Street Arts Club at the same time, having been captivated by the folk-tinged indie gold of their first two singles, released over the past few months.  For anyone wanting to let loose because, well it’s Friday night at one of the biggest festivals of the year, Mandrake Handshake are poised to get the party started in suitably cosmic fashion with their set at 21.15 at Horatio’s. The evening then trails towards the choice between Getdown Services at Revenge at 21.40 and Opal Mag at Alphabet around 21.30, before English Teacher take the stage at the Beach at 22.15. Then, as the night begins to wind down, we’re looking at a choice between the sparkling indie of pencil at Pipeline (23.00), Kuntessa’s anarchic pop party at Waterbear (23.30), a second chance to catch Gardens at Komedia (23.15) and Ava Gore and Ethan P. Flynn’s brilliant project Silver Gore at The Prince Albert (23.30).

Saturday

On Saturday, we’re excited to be running our own official stage at the festival for the first time. Our action kicks off at 16.15, so there’s some time before then for anyone looking to really pack out their final day at the festival. ladylike and Hachiku will both be playing again for those who missed them in the preceding days, the former at Horatio’s at 13.10 while the latter are down the road at The Beach at 13.40. The pull of Horatio’s is looking strong that day, with London pop shoegazers Hank following ladylike at 14.15. Another Hard of Hearing favourite, Skydaddy, is also on early afternoon, bringing his wryly observed and richly orchestrated set to The Prince Albert at 14.30, and if you have time to squeeze in one more, make it ELLiS·D at The Prince Albert at 15.30.

From 16.15, our stage at Revenge kicks into life, with a set from wing!, who recently caught our attention joining the illustrious alumni of the annual Slow Dance compilations. At 17.15, they are followed by Icelandic noise-pop experimentalists Spacestation for a set that, from previous experience, is sure to be truly transportative. Rabbitfoot (18.15) bring a taste of the meticulously arranged and conceptually ambitious pop emanating from the Windmill via London’s foremost music schools, while SULK offer something a little more fierce and electrified an hour later. Velvetine will be well suited to the smoky club atmosphere with their gothic take on dream rock, before, at 21.15, Alien Chicks headline with what is sure to be a scorching set off the back of the release of their new EP ‘Forbidden Fruit’.

If you’re not absolutely exhausted by this point the well done! As you prepare for the festival, it is vital to allow yourself time for a breather between all these shows and the trips between venues, either walking or running depending on how tight those changeovers are looking. Closing out the night, there’s another chance to catch ladylike, who play The Prince Albert at 23.30, and you can also try and get into Ugly’s set at Horatio’s at 00.15. We’ll also be looking at racing over to the Beach to catch Lynks’ return to the stage after a brief break, a show that will surely make for a euphoric and messy close to the weekend’s action.

We’ll be sharing our curated guide to the full schedule on socials this week, along with any updates about our own stage. With just one day to go, we’re raring to go, with this year’s lineup being one of the most jam-packed we can remember. See you in Brighton.