Sam Thomson

If you lined up the 300 or so acts who travelled to Brighton for the Great Escape against a wall it could be difficult to tell many of them apart.

While most bands treat the Great Escape as a showcase for their best work and an opportunity to win new fans, British Sea Power once again went against the grain of conventional wisdom and used their appearance to test-drive work-in-progress material.

It was a bit of a risk lining up Peter Doherty and his band Babyshambles for a secret gig.

Johnny Flynn And The Sussex Wit turned out to be just Johnny Flynn, but no one was complaining.

“Screw this, let’s go somewhere else.” In true British urban festival style, our original plans were sunk by long queues, heavy drizzle and the lead weight of impatience.

It may not look like much – a skeletal floppy disk covered in tracing paper – but it could well change the world.

Three men have put their life savings on the line to form a new company after their former employer closed down.

COMPANY PROFILE: You would imagine that in this age of Tasers, unmanned military drones and precisionguided smart missiles, there isn’t much call for anything as old fashioned as swords.

Enjoying cricket from the comfort of a deckchair will remain a pleasure in Sussex after the club's new chief executive revealed scaled-back plans for its historical home.

Now that even “alternative” station BBC Six Music has sold its soul to the daytime playlist devil, you wonder why bands like The Wave Pictures even bother.