The Great Escape: day two, Various venues, Brighton

Anyone doubting the vitality of the UK's live scene should have spent the weekend in Brighton, where 328 acts performed in 73 venues. At 7.30pm on Friday, half an hour before they are due on stage, there is a queue along Brighton seafront of punters eager to see White Lies, one of the buzz-bands of the night. Despite their name, they are dressed in black and when the keyboards swirl, the drums pound and dry ice blows, it is like the Second Coming of Joy Division - third if you count the similarly 1981-ish Editors.

Everyone is studiously avoiding the Ting Tings now they are No 1, and the proverbial two men and a dog have turned up to see the Pack AD, a female blues-rock duo from Vancouver. Drummer Maya Miller, with shades of Meg White, drags behind the beat while singer/guitarist Becky Black screeches like Janis Joplin taught to sing by Björk. As the raw, powerful sound fills the air, the room fills up - what the pair lack in finesse they make up in brute force and trailer-trash charisma.

Preston's Team Waterpolo purvey a thrillingly primitive electronic pop. Realising that every great band should have a theme song, they start with Welcome to Team Waterpolo, featuring joint lead vocals. Problem is, how to sell this noise, caught as it is between indie and new rave.

The Yeasayer gig is predictably rammed. "It's a pale imitation of prog," moans one punter. They do look very 1972 Old Grey Whistle Test, yet their Afrobeat meanders like a krautrock Fela Kuti and sends the crowd into raptures.


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