The Great Escape festival review – Say Lou Lou, Ella Eyre and Kelis 10/05/14

As a music journalist I am very conscious that it’s highly unprofessional to ever write an article that’s not in 3rd person. So I should never refer to my own feelings, reactions and always be as unbiased as possible. But for this review, I couldn’t care less. I will be referring to my own feelings, reactions and the fact that Kelis is my favourite artist ever, will unquestionably be noticeable in this review. If this setup becomes too overwhelming for you, I’m sorry – just see this as a diary entry from me. And with the best seats in the house for the sold out night, this is only review you will need to read of the festival.
“How does he know he had the best seats in the house?” you may ask, but that’s only because KELIS made me her personal guest so my +1 and I we’re in the VIP section, front row, right to the left of the stage (but we’ll get to that later).

 

At around 8pm the first of the support acts of the gig; Say Lou Lou – a twin sister duo from Sweden. I’d never heard of them before but they were a fantastic way to kick start the show. The Brighton crowd loved them and so did I, every song they performed was catchy, their energy was incredible and their accents are adorable!

Listen to one of my favourite songs they performed on the night ‘Julian’ below. You’re welcome!

Next up on the stage was Ella Eyre and man she killed it. She completely shut it down. I knew she’d put on a good show because her performance at the Brit awards earlier this year in February alongside Bastille and Rudimental was a show stopper, but she exceeded all my expectations. Her voice was incredible and so was her presence on stage. Ella, who provided the vocals to the #1 hit ‘Waiting All Night’ was kicking and bouncing and swinging her hair throughout her whole set, giving life to all of the music lovers in front of her who were jumping and bouncing right back.


Ella is undeniably an upcoming artist to watch out for, and thanks to her show has gained a new fan that will be buying her new single "If I Go" when it’s released in June and recommends you to buy it too. 

Listen to Ella's brilliant song 'Deeper' here!

 


The time is five minutes to ten and the queen makes her presence on stage. Finally! Kelis waltzes on stage and I’m cheering and yelling ‘QUEEN’ like mad while being consoled by my friend because I can’t believe how gorgeous she looks. Starting her show off with a piece of Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ (which would later be repeated twice in the show). Kelis gives a warm welcome to the audience before singing her song “Breakfast” which I instantly got up on my feet to sing and dance to. Her 2004 hit song “Millionaire” was next and that seemed to be a favourite of the crowd because everyone in The Dome was jumping and singing to it, I even spotted Ella Eyre and her team jamming to it too.




Because where I was sat was so close to the stage and I was dancing like crazy Kelis spotted me. ‘Oh hey, I know you’ Kelis cheerfully says while smiling and pointing at me. I died on the spot. Then (I still can’t believe that this happened) THE QUEEN paused her show to tell the whole audience of the sold out venue – a story about me! As soon as she started her story ‘ok so I really like Instagram’... I knew where the story was heading. The reason I was at the show, in the VIP section was ultimately because Kelis made me her ‘personal guest’ to this show via me pleading with her on Instagram to add another UK tour date out of fear of not being able to see her for this tour. Being the goddess that she is – Kelis made it happen and added me to the list for the show!




As the whole audience was looking over and cheering for me (I live for the Applause) and Kelis was still telling the story of how she notices me when I comment on her pictures, I was shaking and in a state of shock thinking, is this really happening? After the speech and direct eye contact from me to Kelis she began singing “Friday Fish Fry” to me and I sang it right back! I was extremely close to somersaulting onto the stage to do a little duet .The show was really an enjoyable one and I loved every single second of it. During her performance of “Trick Me” the queen cheekily asks the audience, ‘Brighton can you whine?’ while demonstrating how it should be done.




“My motive for tonight is that I bought a new dress and I want to have a good time in it," Kelis joked to the audience. And I’m sure that motive was met, because with her band playing besides her, screaming fans in front of her, it’s pretty certain we all had a great time. The renditions of her old songs such as “Acapella” “Milkshake” and “Lil Star” went down a treat with the audience. It’s hard for me to pick a favourite performance of the show because I loved them all and would ruthlessly cheer after every song.




As Kelis wrapped up what had become the best night of my life, it was made even better as just as she was leaving the stage, Kelis looked up to me, pointed and said “And I’ll speak to you later,” winked at me then left the stage to a chorus of cheering that went on for a while.


All hail queen Kelis!

11/10