Brighton is home to more than 200 bands playing 30 venues around the city for three days of the best in new music this weekend.

The Great Escape started early on Wednesday night, with a one-off launch gig by the fantastic We Are Scientists in a packed and sweaty Barfly.

The real festival started on Thursday afternoon, heralded by a flood of text messages about secret gigs that made you wonder whether anyone actually had a day job.

It was clear where most people wanted to be on Thursday night, as the queue outside Audio to see The Young Knives was already snaking around the block at 7pm.

The heavyweight Leicestershire trio may look like unlikely pop stars, but they had energy in spades, in a set drawing both from their Mercury Music Prize-nominated debut and its potential album of 2008 follow-up.

With Norway's Ida Maria mixing sultry looks with indie guitar smarts, and the experimental noise of Birmingham's Johnny Foreigner both building up the energy before the headliners, it was certainly the venue to be at.

Unfortunately, the smoking ban meant those popping outside between acts for a quick drag suddenly discovered they would have to join the back of the very long queue to get back in again.

The atmosphere was a little quieter in Chris T-T's headlining Arc show, following on from his packed secret gig that afternoon, but it was proof you could still hear great music away from the main drag.

By 11pm the queue was already building to an estimated five times the Barfly's capacity for The Ting Tings' 1.30am show.

The Go! Team also had at least 200 people queueing outside the Concorde 2 by 11.30pm, entertained by fire-breathing stilt-walkers.

When the band came on stage at 1am to play what our reviewer Ben Miller described as "the funnest set he's ever seen", frontwoman Ninja looked like she was going to cry as she thanked the crowd for coming to see them.

By 10.30am on Friday the first Great Escape text had come through and it looked like it was kicking off again at noon at the Barfly.

  • by guide reviewers Duncan Hall, Ben Miller, Tim Norman and Nione Meakin