A Chat With Mama’s Kevin Moore

The jubilee edition went well, and Moore and his team realized that they had to keep the momentum going.

Pollstar’s European News Correspondent traveled to Brighton for the 11th Great Escape to find out if they succeeded. The 2016 edition attracted 3,500 delegates and 16,500 festivalgoers, which matches last year’s numbers.

“We have no short-term ambition to grow any bigger than that. We’re comfortable with its size, there’s a lot going on,” Moore said. Hence changes aren’t aimed at achieving growth but rather efficiency. In 2016 the registration area moved to Brighton’s central square, which was closed off from traffic to host all kinds of events, outdoor performances, street food stalls and street parties. This area, called Jubilee Square, had been the Great Escape’s unofficial center for years. The 2016 edition established it as the festival’s new hub.

“All new things we try out are aimed at adding value for the people coming,” Moore said. Such as lowering the age restriction from 18 to 16 and introducing a new wristband so pub staff could identify the different age groups. “There’s such an appetite for new music, and as an 18-plus event we weren’t catering to the newest of new music fans.”

A new venue was added: the Sallis Benney Theatre. The Latest Music Bar, which had always been included in the fringe activities surrounding TGE, is now part of the core festival program, and there’s a returnee as well: Horatio’s, at the end of Brighton pier, which couldn’t be used in the past years because of restoration work. The addition of spaces doesn’t mean that more acts will be playing TGE. “We’re still hovering around that 450 mark,” said Moore. “What we’d rather do is offer bands to play more shows and increase the chances of being recognized by as many fans, businesses, agents, record labels as possible. A lot of bands come from very far away to perform at The Great Escape.” Brighton has a strong venue network, and during the Great Escape spaces that aren’t known for hosting live music events get a chance to shine in that capacity.

There’s only one bummer: no mid-sized venue with a 1,000 to 1,200 people capacity. There’s the Concorde 2, which holds about 600 people. The next venue up is the Brighton Dome, which holds 1,800. That’s quite a jump to make for a touring band trying to build up an audience. To Moore, that’s the wider issue with venues closing. “It offers less opportunity for bands to build their own careers and take control of it. If you’re a band that is playing a 600-cap space you want to move up to, say, 1,000-cap. You don’t want to have to move up to, say, 2,000-cap, because you’ll lose a lot of money, or the show just won’t work, and that can put you back a number of years.” The Hippodrome comes to mind, “the missing piece,” as Moore puts it. Academy Music Group owns the longstanding venue, which has been empty since 2007.

Between 1901 and 1964 it was the most important variety theatre on the Sussex coast, enjoying a nationwide reputation. It has since mainly served as bingo hall, which may be the only activity quiet enough so as not to disturb nearby residents. In 2013, a meeting was held to determine whether the venue should be converted into a cinema. Speaking of cinema: another addition to this year’s Great Escape is the partnership with Raindance film festival, treating TGE attendants to a new film each day. Seeing that both events operate in the space of showcasing new talent, albeit in different fields, Moore would like to expand the partnership.