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Bristol music scene

Hi, can anyone tell me what the music scene is like there?

Are there any indie clubs? Do touring bands usually have a Bristol date?
...and is there a nice mix or does one genre dominate?

Cheers!

Reply 1

db

17

I found Bristol to be very Indie orientated compared to back home. I'm prettysure you'll find something that you like though, it just might take a while.

Reply 2

majikthise

Faaar too much indie. Bleargh.

Reply 3

stepheh

12

i like indie [=

have they got many indie clubs?

Reply 4

Rui

10

Various indie clubs about - there's pretty much a decent indie place to go to every weekday.

Biggish bands generally include a stop in Bristol. Usually at the Academy, which is a good venue for gigs - it's small, good sound quality and attracts big bands. Others play at the Anson Rooms in the SU, which is a pretty poor venue in truth, or sometimes the Fleece and Firkin, the Louisiana or The Trinity. Loads of smaller places around too.

If any of you are into heavy metal, I personally recommend Wedgie's on a Friday night.

Reply 5

WokSz

17

Is there like a post-hardcore/emo scene in Bristol? and do any bands, like Saosin, Thrice and Underoath tour there?

Reply 6

village_gossip

4

Talking about the music in Bristol I thought that I might as well ask although I don't think that anyone will know the answer because it's so obscure. Are there any steel bands in the city of Bristol that people can join to play as a hobby? Coming from London there are loads but I don't think that there are many in the rest of the country.
Also while we're asking what the scenes like for different types of music...is there much of a caribbean music scene? (as in reggae/ska/calypso/soca)

Reply 7

Angelharpist

13

Rui

Various indie clubs about - there's pretty much a decent indie place to go to every weekday.

Biggish bands generally include a stop in Bristol. Usually at the Academy, which is a good venue for gigs - it's small, good sound quality and attracts big bands. Others play at the Anson Rooms in the SU, which is a pretty poor venue in truth, or sometimes the Fleece and Firkin, the Louisiana or The Trinity. Loads of smaller places around too.

If any of you are into heavy metal, I personally recommend Wedgie's on a Friday night.

Your sarcasm does not go unnoticed... :P

Reply 8

majikthise

WokSz

Is there like a post-hardcore/emo scene in Bristol? and do any bands, like Saosin, Thrice and Underoath tour there?

To be honest I havn't seen many "emo kids" around, at least no where near as many as in Norwich. That probably doesn't mean anything though, Bristol has loads of different venues playing all sorts of music (any city that plays host to the bonzo dog doo-dah band has got to be pretty diverse!) so you should be fine.

Reply 9

Fazorme

The uni has a very anti-emo vice, the student papers etc often make jokes/attacks on 'emo' and it's a common insult, along with 'rah'!

Whilst at Bristol I've been to see (amongst others) The Root, Pendulum, Cooper Temple Clause, Mr Scruff, DJ Shadow and I'm seeing Guillemots soon.

I missed OPM last term = gutted :wink:

Reply 10

majikthise

Everyone (by which read: approximatly 50% of the 15-30 year olds) in Norwich rips the piss out of emos pretty much constantly, but there's still a healthy population of them around.

Reply 11

WokSz

17

I'm more into Hardcore, so I was wondering what the scene was like cause her in Geneva it's dead. I'm surrounded by House loving freaks :wink:

.

Reply 12

Amrito-Dorito

not much of a hardcore scene, but a good variety of hardhouse. ive played a fiw gigs up here myself... but mostly house lol.

bristol generally has a very good clubbing scene imo.

Reply 13

majikthise

Different kind of hardcore!
(I think. Probably just made myself look stoopud again.)

Reply 14

WokSz

17

No, you're right. I meant hardcore as in rock, not trance stuff :wink:

.

bands like Bane and stuff.

Reply 15

Tidasquall

Your best bet is Shelter, thats quite a small club and it doesnt get much of a crowd on a friday night, the old DJ was awesome, he used to play stuff like underoath, saosin, Taking back sunday, alexisonfire, he played a dash of indie and some ska and punk like less than jake, reel big fish, offspring, etc. The new friday dj plays more metal, stuff like disturbed, Pantera, not really my type of music, they do play a variety of rock though. Saturday nights at shelter used to be mainly indie based but with the new dj its a lot more metal based. The other place to go to for alternative music is the bierkeller on a friday night, they play a lot of metal, a bit of emo and punk. Theres also the second room at propaganda in panache, on a wednesday night, I've been there far too many times though, its not as good as the keller. oh yeah, need to answer the touring part, many emo bands miss bristol, BUT the Taste of Chaos tour happens in Cardiff which is only 40 mins away by train, I went to the last one and bands such as Saosin, taking back sunday, underoath, alexisonfire play that. On a random note, I have seen quite a few scene kids around on the weekend, a lot of them just happen to be under age and so cant get into places like shelter lol...

Reply 16

theclassical

OP

1

Thanks all

Bristol seems perfect: Indie abundance and Emo distaste.

Honestly hope I get in.

Reply 17

Truman

3

Visted Bristol today and it seemed lively and vibrant. Passed the academy and saw bowling for soup were playing!

Reply 18

Peppercorn

Ok, I think this needs clearing up.

From what I've experienced, Bristol is excellent for ska, psytrance, drum & bass, indie and reggae. Most gigs are advertised in the Bristol Ticket Shop in Broadmead (See www.bristolticketshop.co.uk). Reggaewise, join the reggae society, you'll get an e-mail telling you about at least 2 or 3 reggae nights every week.

Lesser-known punk/ska/hardcore can be found in all kinds of small venues around.

The metal scene appears to be **** at first, and, truth be told, it's not great, but it's surviving, and the Bierkeller put up some good bands from time to time.

Generally, well-known bands do have a Bristol date, unless they're so big that they only play stadiums. If you HAVE to see bands that big, Cardiff's close enough.

Jazz is, as per usual, a case of finding the good pubs scattered around Bristol. But, in general, the Old Duke is reliable, and Colston Hall hosts a lot of the bigger jazz bands (Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Snowboy and Polar Bear are all playing there in the coming months).

UK Hip-Hop is thriving here, spread largely by word of mouth and flyers, much like the countless trance, house, d&b etc. nights, so keep your eyes on the billboards.

As for Classical Music, the Victoria Rooms have free concerts every Wednesday lunchtime, most of which are well worth seeing. Colston Hall has good evenings, but I'd say the best place for classical (and jazz too, for that matter) in Bristol is St. George's, on Brandon Hill, just off Park St.

Other venues worth checking out, either for venue quality or because of the great bands that play there: The Croft, Fiddlers, The Fleece, Bierkeller, Carling Academy, Trinity Centre, Native (club), Cooler (club), The Arc (bar), Mr Wolf's (small, cosy noodle bar and live music), The Prom...

I'm sure you'll all find many more yourself.

Reply 19

majikthise

Peppercorn

From what I've experienced, Bristol is excellent for ska, psytrance, drum & bass, indie and reggae.

Where are the main psy-trance places?
Up until now I've mostly been going to gigs and places like the keller, but if I ever hear linkin park or that pantera song again I might hang myself.

Bristol music scene

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