The Great Escape was a music festival held at Newington Armory, located within Sydney Olympic Park that took place in 2006 and 2007. Initially held over the Easter long weekend for the first two events, in 2008 it was announced the festival would take place on the Labour Day weekend, however the event was cancelled 2 months from the date due to poor ticket sales . It evolved from the 2005 Cockatoo Island Music Festival. The music and other attractions run over three full days (Good Friday to Easter Sunday in 2006–07), with some patrons camping from Thursday evening to Monday morning. Punters could attend either for the full weekend camping, purchase a 3-day pass and commute each day or attend a single day. Many acts also played the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival the same weekend, however The Great Escape line-up is more diverse featuring pop, hip hop, electronic and rock acts that would not fit into a Blues and Roots line-up. In addition to musical acts, there is also a wide range of other features such as comedy acts, bingo and trivia, conspiracy theory talks and yoga. There is no immediate future for the Great Escape at this point, but organisers are confident it will be resurrected in the near future.
Artist lineups Friday 14 April 2006 The Village Green The Grove Riverside Big Top The Tin Shed, Bunker 8 Cabaret, Ping Pong ClubSigur Rós Silverchair Something for Kate The Beautiful Girls Wolf & Cub Slightly StoopidAfro Moses Waiting For Guinness Blue King Brown Mia Dyson Hawksley Workman Dave Graney & Clare Moore Hat Fitz Tim Ireland Melanie HorsnellStephen Cummings Martha Wainwright The Darling Downs Dobacoracol Arabesk Declan Kelly Freeway Angus and Julia Stone Sam ShinazziThe Herd DJ Skoob TZU Koolism Def Wish Cast DJ Prince V Hermitude Combat Wombat Local Knowledge The Fumes The CamelsLeanne Paris Band Botanics The Pedestrians DJ Jack Shit Uncle Ho Toydeath Layer The Zion Band The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon Garry Who Gary Bradbury Bruce Griffiths Mickey Gee The Red Paintings The Dawn Collective Joel Plaskett Pony Club massacre
Saturday 15 April 2006 The Village Green The Grove Riverside Big Top The Tin Shed, Bunker 8 Cabaret, Ping Pong ClubThe Black Keys Femi Kuti Juan De Macro's Afro Cuban Allstars Eskimo Joe Daara J Slightly StoopidKid Confucius Rastawookie Entropic Andy Clockwise Liz Martin Joel Plaskett Jesse Younan Watussi Brain CampaeuHawksley Workman Rodrigo Y Gabriela The Girls From The Clouds The Audreys Blue King Brown The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon Panda Durbeyfield Laura ImbrugliaPaul Mac The Bird The Red Eyes Endorphin Butterfingers The Vasco Era The McMenamins Those Bloody MckennasCasual Projects Johnny G & The E Types Lordz of the Fly DJ Jack Shit Rica Tetas Coda Jackie Loeb Jason Ryder Mark My Words Adam Moulds Zombie Ghost Train Mr Bamboo Lucie Thorne Fondula The Afterset
Sunday 16 April 2006 The Village Green The Grove Riverside Big Top The Tin Shed, Bunker 8 Cabaret, Ping Pong ClubDonavon Frankenreiter Bernard Fanning Xavier Rudd Lior Clare Bowditch & The Feeding SetNeville Staples' Specials Cornerstone Roots King Tide Josh Pyke Paul Greene Perry Keyes Lucie Thorne Matt Englebrecht The Paper Scissors NardoBob Evans Joel Plaskett Butterfly 9 Ash Grunwald Jackie Orszacky Andrew Morris The Devoted Few Brendan Welsh TecomaDecoder Ring The Mountain Goats Expatriate Hawksley Workman Epicure Old Man River Wallspace British IndiaThe Van Superheavyweights True Live DJ Jack Shit Showa 44 Zombie Ghost Train Bev Killick Chris Radburn Jonas Holt Dave Jory Holidays on Ice The Sins The Handsome Young Strangers Ollo Dane Tucquet
Friday 6 April 2007 The Village Green Riverside The Terrace The Tin Shed Bunker 8 Cabaret, T-BarWolfmother Hilltop Hoods The Vines Ben Kweller Amos LeeWaiting For Guinness Blue King Brown Rastawookie Kaki King Dan Kelly & The Alpha-Males Damien Dempsey Nibs Van Der SpuyFourplay Angus & Julia Stone The Sins Holly Throsby Joel Plaskett Melanie Horsnell Genevieve Maynard & The TallboysThe Exploders Expatriate Deerhoof The Mares Iain Archer Ooh La La Wallspace Bertie Blackman Toydeath Emergency! Emergency!Vulgargrad Spooky Men's Chorale Aleks & The Ramps Greta Gertler & The Extroverts DJ Jack Shit Regal Frenzie Trevor Parkee
Saturday 7 April 2007 The Village Green Riverside The Terrace The Tin Shed Bunker 8 Cabaret, T-BarJohn Butler Trio Missy Higgins Ziggy Marley Little Birdy Bob EvansThe Bird Lee "Scratch" Perry The Magic Numbers Bliss N Eso King Tide The Flairz Kaki KingKaki King Blue King Brown Waiting For Guinness Coda Damien Dempsey Joel Plaskett Donna Hewitt + Julian KnowlesAstronomy Class Macromantics The Panda Band Children Collide Sparkadia The Paper Scissors Whiskey Go Gos Wons Phreely Cuthbert and the NightwalkersVulgargrad Spooky Men's Choral Aleks & The Ramps Greta Gertler & The Extroverts DJ Jack Shit Jamie Lloyd & Jim Polar Somatik
Sunday 8 April 2007 The Village Green Riverside The Terrace The Tin Shed Bunker 8 Cabaret, T-BarThe Roots The Living End Gomez Fat Freddy's Drop The Fumes Ryan ShawFishbone Johnny G & The E Types Flogging Molly The Lemonheads Lou Rhodes Darren Hanlon TanzieAlice Russell Waiting For Guinness Damien Dempsey Carla Werner The White Buffalo Joel PlaskettStick Figures True Live The Cops The Temper Trap Operator Please Hermitude Bridezilla Slingshot WalrusVulgargrad Spooky Men's Choral Aleks & The Ramps Greta Gertler & The Extroverts DJ Jack Shit TM Juke DJ Fitchie GSAN
Gogol Bordello were advertised to play but were forced to cancel their Australian tour when visa issues prevented some members entering the country. Johnny G & The E Types played in their allotted time.
2008 The announced 2008 event featured a line-up which included Supergrass, Black Francis, Paul Kelly, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Peter Combe, Ladytron, Faker & The Panics, but it was called off on 8 August, just days after single day passes were sold in addition to weekend passes.
External links http://www.thegreatescape.net.au/