The Great Escape has announced the first artists for TGE 2027, and for First Fifty, the festival’s live launch night across East London on Thursday 12 November 2026. Tickets for each First Fifty show start from £7.50 and are on sale now.
The one night showcase is the first look at the acts confirmed for Brighton next May, bringing emerging talent from the UK, Ireland, Australia, France, Nigeria and the US into intimate rooms. The bill stretches from indie, alternative, punk and pop to electronic, folk, trip hop and rap.
First Fifty will take over seven East London venues: Oslo, Moth Club, The Shacklewell Arms, Sebright Arms, Folklore, Paper Dress Vintage and The Victoria. That is a tighter map than last year’s First Fifty London shows, which ran across eight rooms including The George Tavern and The Jago.
Each bill is presented by a music platform, with Ticketmaster New Music, DIY Neu Nights, So Young, Dork, Clash, BBC Introducing and Ones to Watch all hosting. Oslo is 16+, while the other six venues are 18+.
Named so far for First Fifty and The Great Escape 2027 are Abbie Gordon, Angelface, Aubory Bugg, Bathing Suits, Casual Smart, chest., Chiderah, Compost Compost Compost, Die Twice, Dumbhead, Esmeralda Road, Gianna, Half Star, J Casa, Jordan Joy, Pack of Animals, Shrink, simon a., Spanish Horses, State of Grace, Tesni and Xanadu. BBC Introducing still has more names to add at Paper Dress Vintage.
The venue by venue First Fifty line-up for Thursday 12 November is:
Ticketmaster New Music at Oslo, 1A Amhurst Road, E8 1JB (16+)
Esmeralda Road, Xanadu, Pack of Animals, Jordan Joy
DIY Neu Nights at Moth Club, Valette Street, E9 6NU (18+)
Compost Compost Compost, Dumbhead, Die Twice
So Young at The Shacklewell Arms, 71 Shacklewell Lane, E8 2EB (18+)
State of Grace, Spanish Horses, Angelface
Dork at Sebright Arms, 31-35 Coate Street, E2 9AG (18+)
Bathing Suits, chest., Shrink
Clash at Folklore, 186 Hackney Road, E2 7QL (18+)
Half Star, Tesni, Casual Smart
BBC Introducing at Paper Dress Vintage, 352a Mare Street, E8 1HR (18+)
simon a., J Casa, Chiderah, plus more to be announced
Ones to Watch at The Victoria, 451 Queensbridge Road, E8 3AS (18+)
Aubory Bugg, Gianna, Abbie Gordon
Oslo’s night is built around Belfast indie fusion band Esmeralda Road, London five piece Xanadu, psychedelic rock and roll six piece Pack of Animals, and Irish singer songwriter Jordan Joy. DIY Neu Nights pairs electro acoustic trio Compost Compost Compost with Melbourne trip hop trio Dumbhead and alt rockers Die Twice.
So Young’s Shacklewell Arms bill features Irish indie artist State of Grace, indie rock band Spanish Horses and Scottish folk dream pop band Angelface. Dork returns to Sebright Arms with Leeds electronic noise pop band Bathing Suits, Parisian post punk quintet chest. and London singer songwriter Shrink.
Clash’s Folklore show brings alt rock trio Half Star, Welsh singer songwriter Tesni and Cardiff five piece Casual Smart. BBC Introducing’s Paper Dress Vintage line-up includes Walthamstow rapper simon a., rapper and producer J Casa, and Nigerian singer songwriter Chiderah. Ones to Watch closes the map at The Victoria with Nashville singer songwriter Aubory Bugg, alt pop artist Gianna and Scottish singer songwriter Abbie Gordon.
The Great Escape 2027 runs from 12 to 15 May in Brighton, with more than 450 up and coming artists across 35+ walkable venues plus the TGE conference. Festival tickets are on sale now at greatescapefestival.com.
Add as a preferred source