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Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

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Bristol's Drum And Bass Scene

Is Stokes Croft a drum and bass Mecca?

Drum and bass in Bristol needs no bigger homes than Lakota and Blue Mountain. Both on the same street in Stokes Croft - they’ve continued Bristol’s drum n bass lineage from DJ Krust and Roni Size through to Intrigue Music and the more experimental UVB76 crew. Bristol’s place in the history of drum n bass is assured. Figureheads like DJ Die draw the line between the jungle and drum n bass scenes, jungle is key in Bristol - a city with so much Caribbean heritage, roots reggae’s influence on drum n bass comes through the language of jungle. But with both Lakota and Blue Mountain closing their doors soon to developers, is Bristol in a drum n bass crisis?

Drum and bass in Bristol encapsulates the genre in the wider world. Big venues play host to big acts with nights such as Bedlam, One Nation and Shit the Bed offering International stars including Pendulum, Chase and Status, Andy C and Noisia on a regular basis. In addition to this, alternative venues like the Dojo Lounge, Basement 45 and the Black Swan foster the rarefied sounds of dnb's many sub genres offering the city a unique depth to its plethora of drum and bass music. New years eve in Bristol clubs sees the city's venues rammed to the brim with all of the drum and bass's big players djing somewhere in Bristol.

Agro, Dissident and Mongrel offer dnb of a techy, dark variety while the bastion of the deeper sound, Intrigue, continues to push artists such as Marcus Intalex, Calibre and Fabio. Torque, straddling the line between dark and deep is a drum and bass monthly of significant recognition, hosting label nights and affiliated artists from Club Autonomic to Critical and Shogun Audio.

With drum and bass such a popular genre in Bristol, most clubs present dnb of some description at least once per month. Basement 45 has emerged as a consistent venue, with Torque, Abstraction and Nine Tree all on regular rotation at the club. Dojos plays host to the aforementioned Intrigue while Lab is home to Signal which runs as a bi-monthly event.

Of the larger venues Motion has a throng of events that are less frequent but larger in scale. Although many of these nights are multi-genre affairs, Run and Shit The Bed routinely promote dnb artists as their headline acts.

Lakota is another important dnb venue, housing Concrete Beat, Agro and since September 2010, Bedlam. Hospitality's residency at the Thekla ensures dnb is consistent fixture on the ship, while the rave-ready Black Swan is the spearhead for the harder jungle-tek sounds of the dnb genre.

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Our recent drum and bass recommendations

Sell out warning! AnExperience descends on the Boxing Gym with their own righteous take on amen culture, taking us back to 92-96 with an all-vinyl crew running pure junglist/hardcore/breakbeat euphoria through Scotland Yard’s ‘so loud it’s psychedelic’ soundsystem. 100% deconstructed-rave free zone across 5 arenas, it doesn’t get much bigger than this! AnExperience presents ~ A proper jungle night at The Boxing Gym.

Sell out warning! Still reeling from his 3 hour devastation of Strange Brew, Cirrina invites a titanic pillar of 21st century junglism to ditch his amen stripes and school us on cutting edge techno / 140 mutations. This is a new kinda Reaper, rocking the shit outta The Island with AM's dubby conquerer i-sha + Casino Flats & Fez the Kid's opening downtempo hypnotics. Cirrina Sessions w/ Tim Reaper , i-sha & residents at The Island.

Sell out warning! The Blanco spookfest spectacular reaches a witchy peak with this stacked secret location seance. Phreaking you the fuck out: the Rephlex-anointed god of bleep-funk beatdown LIVE w/ Chez and Smagghe sparring partner Mandfredas stirring the cauldron of wiry post-punk, slo-mo acid sludge and funk’d up techno. Nuttin' but synth-y curveballs inside for the anti-4/4 brigade! Club Blanco Halloween at Secret Location.

Sell out warning! Halloween sleaze incoming from LA legend and 808 maestro Egyptian Lover, bringing that dirty electro boogie funk to the halls of the undead alongside Gene on Earth’s technicolour minimal-tech inna first time head:head with Saoirse’s pummelling house. Sawmills Halloween - EGYPTIAN LOVER | GENE ON EARTH B2B SAOIRSE | SILQ | ++ at Sawmills.

More Photos of Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

Crowd at a drum and bass night in Bristol 2026

What our editors say

“The style of music they do is a mixture of garage, jungle and drum n bass blended live vocals and live punk rock metal guitar riffs creating a fusion similar to that of the prodigy or pendulum but with its own distinctive taste.”
From: New age Collective Crusty Raver tour

“Fabio & Grooverider return to Clock Factory Bristol this December for their Up Close & Personal Tour. For over 30 years, Fabio & Grooverider have stood at the very core of drum & bass. From the pirate airwaves and illegal raves of the late ’80s to their groundbreaking Rage residency in London, they helped shape jungle and D&B into the global force it is today. Their 14-year, award-winning BBC Radio 1 show gave early exposure to now-household names including Chase & Status, Wilkinson, Sub Focus, Pendulum, High Contrast and Calibre.”
From: Fabio & Grooverider: Up Close & Personal Tour

“Join us for what is our last ever event,for this we are at our spiritual home of Basement 45 in Bristol. We have legendary MC Harry Shotta and Bristols very own Axel boy headlining the night alongside a huge supporting lineup of artists including our resident and local djs. The night is spread over 2 rooms,with the main room focusing on drum and bass/dubstep and room 2 will covering ukg and house. Drinks offers will be available all night at one of Bristols premier underground venue. This one is not to be missed and sure to be our biggest event yet.”
From: Bass in the basement HARRY SHOTTA/AXEL BOY

“Joining him is Culprate, one of the UK’s most distinctive and technically accomplished electronic producers. First establishing himself through releases on Dubsaw and Inspected, his music moves effortlessly between heavy dubstep, drum and bass, intricate sound design and richly experimental electronica.”
From: Clock Factory Presents: Flux Pavilion & Culprate

“Bringing together some of the UK’s biggest female DJs and MCs, this collaboration is a celebration of the women pushing Drum & Bass, jungle and bass culture forward. From established names to some of the freshest talent coming through the scene. A true representation of some of the best talent in the music scene to date.”
From: GIRLS GOT BASS