Bristol on a Wednesday night ?

Hello,

I'm coming to visit Bristol University next week and i'll be staying one night between Wed. and Thursday. I am planning to go out on this Wed. to get a feeling on Bristol night scene. I know that Syndicate has a decent indie night (Ramshackle?) but are there any better places which I should visit during my one night stay?. I do love indie but I prefer old skool indie (Smiths, Stone Roses, Joy Division etc..), however I don't mind having a good laugh in a cheesy student hangout. Therefore, should I go to the Syndicate ? is this the best night for having a good night and listening to decent indie music ? What else is happening in Bristol on a Wed. night ? Are there any specific areas where I can go bar crawling or should I head straight to a certain club/bar ?

Thanks in Advance

Roy

Reply 1

ellabella

well if you come on thurs you should deffo go to stutter at start the bus! start the bus is quite a pretentious venue though (but def the kinda night you would hear joy division/long blondes/foals/smiths/death cab for cutie/klaxons/LCD Soundsystem). exepsnive drinks, about £5 for a double. but i would say i prefer the crowd at stutter to the crowd at propaganda. they are more pretentious but less cheesy (obviously a massive over generalisation but thats the general vibe). expect to see girls in vintage dresses/brooches and boys in skinny jeans and long cardigans. on the 12th it's Filthy Dukes (Live) + Ox Eagle Lion Man (Live). http://www.myspace.com/club_stutter

propaganda at syndicate (weds) is more cheesy indie. artic monkeys, muse, that kinda thng. http://www.thepropaganda.co.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=30
i personally cant stand dj dan. he thinks he is the ****. he is not. (he is also ramshackle dj @ carling academy on fri which is prob why you thought it was called ramshackle). cheap drinks though (£2.50 doubles), expect to see a lot of students very drunk, more a 'boys in band t-shirts/jeans' and 'girls in short skirts/tight jeans' (again, massive stereotyping there). easy place to pull if thats what youre after!

i think both the above are £4 entry.

for indie on a weds i dont really know what else to suggest. thekla (club on a boat) sometimes does indie nights but it's ltj bukem this weds (D&B) which i;m guessing isnt your thing?

if you want non-indie suggestions for a weds night i could find more out for you. but if youre dead set on indie i think propaganda is prob your only option

University of Bristol

Bristol

Reply 2

Roy123

Hey Ellabella, thank you vey much for your reply.

Well, im going to be in Bristol only for Wed night so unfortunatley I won't be able to visit the Slutter Club. Besides, even though indie is my main thing I don't mind going to places which play good soul house music, electro, trance (not psy though), acid house, progressive house or even the occasional cheesy music (as long as the place is a very good laugh with very beautiful and friendly ppl lol). I am a music head but if i'm only one night in Bristol, i'd rather go to the best place with the best atmosphere. The "Propaganda" night seems like a good laugh from what you describe despite the cheesy indie they play. However, what else is going on next Wed. in Bristol ? Are there better places which I should go to ? (Doesn't have to be indie but D&B is indeed really NOT my thing lol)

Thanks in advance

Roy

P.S - Doesn't this DJ Dan play any Stone Roses or Smiths during his set ? Only contemporary indie ? If I go there, ill probably request "I wanna be adored" or "Still ill" lol, hope he plays them if i ask and if I go of course :smile:

Reply 3

ellabella

you're welcome

there's Groove On @ Dojo - "House, electro, techno and breaks with resident Tommy Rio."
dojo is quite a good club, although kind of grimey in places and quite expensive (~£5 double). some nights there will be a bunch of rude boys, some nights it's all friendly studenty types. i've never been to groove on so i cant say what i think it would be on that night, however, it's promoted by a guy who i know tends to run the more friendly, studenty, hip nights so in all likelyhood there won't be too many rude boys. i dont know what you're into substances wise, but if you're looking for a less druggy night you should go to propaganda as that tends to be filled with mainly drunk people. if you dont mind that kind of thing then head to dojo. i would definitely, without doubt, go to dojo, as i prefer the music and i prefer the crowd. i could understand if propaganda at syndicate is more your thing though!

i'm not sure so you should check this out, but there used to be a cheese night on in bristol called wedgies. last i heard it was at bierkeller. you couldnt pay me to go there though, so i dont know details. i';ve heard its a laugh if youre into cheese music and very drunk students.

as for what dj dan might play... it's possible... he seems to want to appeal to sort of indie types (excuse my stereotyping again!) and a lot of people who are into indie are into the stone roses. he does take suggestions whereas at dojo the DJs probably have their whole set figured out and wont welcome suggestions

other than that i can suggest you google these clubs to see what's on: native, timbuk2, the croft

Reply 4

ellabella

nice bars that play indieish music:

-the elbow rooms on park street, quite expensive cocktails (£5) but they do 2for1 cocktails from 5-8 pm and deals on shooters, and im sure beer aint as expensive. dance floor upstairs and usually a young, indieish crowd

-the woods, on a side street off park st (forgot the name of the road but has natwest cashpoint on corner and its the turning after the coop as you come from the bottom of park street. the side street is between that coop and the spar). also quite expensive, but nice garden, generally an older (late 20s/early 30s) crowd and nice smoking area. about £3 for a single, £5 for a double. and i noticed when i went there on sat they played some old rock classics (and further down that road is the tube, a basement club which would probably play music in the electronic genre. you could always pass it and ask what's on that night. dojo's (the place i mentioned above with the night "groove on" is close to here, it's off park row, past the petrol station)

pubs that probably don't play indie music but are good anyway:
-the white hart is opposite the woods and it's quite cheap. mixed crowd, some chavs, some older drunkards and some indie/raver students!

-or if you want a cheap drink there's the weatherspoons on park street (called the berkley), generally quite a young crowd, generally drunken students, i'd say less of an "indie" crowd

-or the commercial rooms (another weatherspoons, so cheap) on corn street, which is in the centre of town, nearer syndicate. usually an older crowd with a few younguns

again, obviously massive sterotyping with the crowds

oh yeah and if u wanna know more about bristol music go on hijack (a music/culture forum for bristol - hijackbristol.co.uk). they chat a lot about random bristol things (e.g. best cafe's, bars, etc) and also a lot of weird threads on random ****. most ppl on there are into alternative music like dubstep, D&B, breaks, electro, techno, psytrance and not many people into "indie" (esp not cheesy indie!) but it's a good place to find out what's on. i warn you- they are a bit... weird!

Reply 5

Roy123

Hey Ellabella, Thanks again for your help.

Even though I'm not a cheesy indie fan but more into all the old skool Manchester scene, I think my best bet for one night in Bristol would be the propoganda after all. I'm coming to Bristol to see whether or not I want to study there for the MSc in Economics and Finance. I have been offered a place already and because i'm coming from abroad and never been to Bristol, I think it would be smart to check the place before I accept the offer :smile:

. At the same time, i'm going to visit Leeds and Manchester, where I have also been made an offer for their MSc programmes. At the end of my "road trip", i'll have to decide on the university which suits my needs the most. Of course, the main factors are academic prestige and employability but it is extremely important for me to spend my time in a place where I will enjoy myself too in terms of social life and great nightlife.

I sincerely hope that Bristol is a vibrant city which has a lot to offer besides having a prestigious institution. From what u point out, it seems that there is a decent music scene in Bristol catering most tastes. I just would like to know, are the main nightlife spots in Bristol concentrated on a relatively small area or are they spread out ? Are the places you mentioned within walking distance to one another or is a taxi necassary ? Out of curiosity, do you see many ppl during the nights out in the the nighlife hangouts (corn street, whiteladies road, park street etc.. (I did my homework lol) ) ?

In any case, I have a flight to catch this evening to London so i'm going to pack my bag. You have been very helpful and I liked all the "massive sterotyping" as it made the picture clearer to me lol.

Have a great day

Roy

Reply 6

ellabella

Roy123

again you're welcome :smile:

yeah i would say they are kind of spread out... you've got stokes croft for alternative D&B/trance/electro/dubstep/raves, which is about 20 mins from baldwin street (the centre - which everyone calls "the fountains" - opposite the hippodrome and where the number 8/9 bus stops from the train station). park st is actually off baldwin st but it's a massive hill so you could end up walking 10 mins to get to a bar/club at the top. syndicate is about 5 mins from "the fountains". there are also bars on whiteladies road, which carries on if you walk up park st but it would take at least 40 mins from "the fountains". then you've got all the free parties/raves and the black swan pub (grotty but interesting) which usually happen around easton but idk if that's your scene anyway! u might need taxis depending on from where to where you're travelling and where you're staying!

print off a map is my suggestion :smile:

and ask the friendly people of bristol. some are not so friendly, but you get that in any city... obv

as for recognising people - yes you do get to know a few faces especially if u go to club nights which attract the same crowds. if you go to propaganda and see a really tall guy with loads of curly hair, his name is jeff and he is lovely (although he is a legend round bristol and met many people so he prob doesnt remember me).

you're very right in that "Bristol is a vibrant city which has a lot to offer besides having a prestigious institution. From what u point out, it seems that there is a decent music scene in Bristol catering most taste" - sums it up competely! i love bristol, dont think i could have chosen a better place. but then again, manchester has a great music scene too, and a brilliant bus service, i hear. busses in bristol are rubbish.

oh yeah and look a few threads down at the thread i made about terry's bristolian language lessons - you might need it for translation :p:

nah not really a lot of people from bristol (esp at student nights) dont speak like that but its a laugh to watch anyway

best of luck
xxx

Reply 7

Origami Bullets

There might be something on at the Carling Academy or Thekla - they both have live bands playing a lot, both Indie and other genres (mainly rock / metal)