What's On in Bristol

Gig guide & event listings

Events in Bristol

Made famous by the legendary Lakota, Bristol's warehouse events are the keystone to the city's clubbing culture. These no-frills venues are the place to see Bristol's house and techno at it's best. If you need addmission to forthcoming warehouse parties, you can buy Dare2 tickets here.

Bristol's local and trusted what's on guide.

Events in Bristol

Headfirst is Bristol's leading gig guide with a freshly launched online ticket shop. We work directly with the city's promoters to provide the most up-to-date guide what's on in Bristol you'll find. The events calendar includes all events happening in Bristol tonight and for the forthcoming weekend. If you're a musician, band member or club night organiser be sure to add your event to the Headfirst Bristol calendar.

Sun 6th July
SAINT SENARA at The Ill Repute
Fri 17th October
Erotic Secrets of Pompeii at Rough Trade Bristol
Sun 19th October
Naima Bock at Bristol Folk House
— Bristol Folk House

Naima Bock in Bristol Tickets

Fri 17th October
MF Tomlinson at Bristol Beacon
Mon 22nd September
Rachael Dadd & Oak Choir at The Wardrobe Theatre
Wed 17th September
'really big really clever' at The Louisiana

Gig Tickets

Bristol has always had it's fair share of what's on resources. While paper-based listings magazines like Venue and forums like Hijack Bristol favoured certain musical niches, Headfirst was Bristol's first truly comprehensive what's on resource. Our listings not only go far into the future (click on a date in the calendar) but also provide some great last minute resources. If you're planning a night out at short notice please see our list of live music tonight and events listings for this weekend.

Venues like Bristol Beacon and Thekla usually get most of the attention when Bristol's gigs are discussed online. Headfirst aims to put the focus on Bristols smaller live music venues. Here, you can buy tickets for concerts at Bristol's Louisiana and Exchange or browse our entire Bristol gig list.

Sat 27th September
Scott Lavene at The Louisiana
Wed 29th October
Asere at Bristol Beacon
— Bristol Beacon

Asere in Bristol Tickets

Wed 12th November
Bahamas + special guests at Strange Brew
Thu 31st July
The Jungle Giants at The Fleece
Mon 15th December
James Yorkston at Strange Brew
Tue 21st October
Gurriers + special guests at Strange Brew

What's On: Featured Bristol Events

Tickets for our event recommendations

Sell-out warning! Nottingham’s freak-pop melodrama merchants Divorce bring their luminous tonic to Trinity. Serving up a smorgasbord of bitter and bright bedroom ditties that draw you in with an inviting glow then punt you right in the feelings. Unmissable FFO: Mitski, Black Country, New Road, Indigo De Souza, Grizzly Bear. DIVORCE at The Trinity Centre.

Sell out warning! Last chance to see the baroque existentialism of Porridge Radio! Fresh off a farewell tour announcement, the oft-transcendent Brighton band’s final Bristol show is unmissable. The formula is tried and true: Dana Margolin’s grimly combustible poetry of the everyday stacks up until set ablaze by her band’s serrated post-punk arrangements. Don’t miss the swan song of one of the UK’s most vital bands of the past decade. Porridge Radio at The Trinity Centre.

Folklore for the dancefloor! Buenos Aires’s digi-cumbia pioneer Chancha Via Circuito brings the Latinx bass melting pot for Movimientos' 20th birthday with all species of cumbia, South American folk, dub, dembow and environmental sounds reaching a fevered frenzy. Unmissable FFO: Meridian Brothers, El Búho, Dengue Dengue Dengue!, King Coya, Nicola Cruz. Movimientos 20: Chancha Via Circuito at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Two of psychedelia’s most distant travelers unite for a live visionquest of unknown dimensions. Gong’s expansive, esoteric jazz fusion fuses with the gonzo electro druids of HENGE for a crop-circle generating, third-eye opening evening that’ll alter the very space-time fabric of the Trinity and all within it. Reserve your spot on this flying teapot well before take-off. Gong x HENGE at The Trinity Centre.

Live music and gigs recommended by our music team

Sell out warning! The lushest triple harmonies in all of alt-folk mixed with delicate pluckings of harp, banjo and viola. Lady Maisery’s triumphant paeans for joy are utterly captivating FFO: Bella Hardy, Jackie Oates, The Rheingans Sisters. Lady Maisery at The Mount Without.

Calling all fuzz-fiends! On Mono returns with a second full-frontal blast of post-punk, shoegaze, and alt chaos. Noir-punk wrecking crew Grandma’s House headline the two-stage Exchange takeover - a wall-to-wall delirium featuring Bureau De Change, DYE, WYR, and more TBA. Buy-on-sight FFO: Witching Waves, Dry Cleaning, Enola Gay, Just Mustard. On Mono at Exchange.

Sell out warning! Not jazz nor rock nor film music, fans just call it ‘Necks music’: that spine-tingling unwinding of instrumental textures and improvised magic. A once in a lifetime gig for those who’ve never witnessed; for those that have, you can never see the same set twice…. The Necks at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Mali blues master, electrifying the Saharan desert like his father before him. Vieux Farka Touré’s blistering guitar-funk-roots-rock fusion and wizened vocals are the sound of a star being born. Outstanding musical wonder to behold FFO: Tinariwen, Tamikrest, Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangare, Bombino. Vieux Farka Toure at The Lantern.

Buy Bristol Gig Tickets

Headfirst is the most objective Bristol gig guide on the internet. With no editorial to write, bands to interview or advertisers to please, we can focus on creating the best music listings & ticket shop this side of the Avon. From Bristol University’s music graduates playing a concert at St Georges Hall to an intimate gig at The Louisiana - we believe these events are what make Bristol special.

Bristol Nightlife & Nightclubs

Electronic music produced in Bristol has a knack of rewriting the rules and penetrating the international club scene. From Tectonic to Apple Pips to Eats Everything & Arkist - Headfirst has seen Bristol’s music scene grow and evolve since our humble beginnings in 2008. Now Headfirst is working with Bristol’s best dance music promoters and providing a secure place to buy tickets for Bristol club nights. While Motion may catch most of the attention, Headfirst is the place to buy tickets for all Bristol's clubnights and maybe even the next Alfresco Disco party. Over the coming months we'll be adding buy tickets buttons to many of our what's on listings.

From Headfirst's Ticket Shop

Sat 12th July
XXXCESS: PRIDE AFTER DARK at Lakota
Sat 27th September
UG25 Opening: Ghetts + More at The Underground
Fri 19th September
Bushbaby at Thekla
Sat 25th October
Hospitality x  Halloween Carnival of the Dead at The Prospect Building
Fri 18th July
A Night At The Musicals at Thekla
Sun 17th August
Teachings in Dub x Trinity Day party at The Trinity Centre
Sat 4th October
Bed By 10pm at Lakota
Fri 11th July
1tbsp, Killian + special guest at Strange Brew
Fri 12th September
Flexout X Vandal at The Coroner's Court
— The Coroner's Court

Flexout X Vandal Tickets

Bristol Experimental Music

The Headfirst music guide originally emerged from Bristol's blossoming experimental scene and our humble beginnings were as a what's on guide for Bristol's weirdest and most unconventional events.