The Great Escape Festival

Brighton's music scene always revolves around The Great Escape Festival (TGE), that huge multi-venue showcase that takes over the city every May. It’s where you catch the next big thing, spanning everything from Rock and Indie to Hip-Hop and Drum and Bass. TGE is essentially a paid event spread across various venues, designed to highlight new talent. If you’ve been following the local buzz, you know that Hastings band Kid Kapichi has become a staple of the festival, often generating some of the most anticipated sets. We recently saw a photo dump circulating online that reminded everyone just how much energy they bring to the stage, consistently being described as 'amazing' by attendees.

Their history with TGE is pretty solid, showing their progression through the scene. Back in 2022, when the festival ran from May 11th to the 14th, Kid Kapichi was confirmed to play on the final day, May 14th. That year, the festival had its usual growing pains—like difficulties getting into the most popular gigs and some sound issues reported at certain venues—but the anticipation for acts like Kid Kapichi was clearly high. Fast forward to the May 2025 edition, and while the band has evolved, transitioning from a quartet to a duo, their presence was still strongly felt. Frontman Jack Wilson even popped up at the 'alternative escape', joining the punk band Murderers Are Optimists for a set at the Freemasons in Hove, proving they still engage with the grassroots side of the event.

It’s clear they maintain a strong connection to Brighton outside of the official festival circuit too. Just last year, on March 28, 2024, Kid Kapichi kicked off their UK tour with a sold-out show right here at Concorde 2. They delivered a massive 19-song setlist, pulling heavily from their album There Goes The Neighbourhood. The photographs from that night, taken by Sara-Louise Bowrey, captured the intensity. Interestingly, the support acts that night included Dead Pony, who themselves generated one of the best mosh pits during TGE 2023. This kind of local history and consistent performance, whether on the main TGE stages or in smaller venues, shows why Kid Kapichi remains such a talked-about name whenever the festival rolls around.