What's On / Bristol Nightlife / drum and bass

Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

upcoming clubnight

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.

Buy tickets for drum and bass events in Bristol

Our recent drum and bass recommendations

Free entry! Borai and dontforgettogohome always bring the heat with their journeys through new skool / old skool rave-inspired sounds – expect a turbocharged mix of jungle, hardcore and hard house with JPEG’s fierce AF bruk-out breakbeat stylings. Always an essential destination for fans of Mani Festo, Denham Audio, I. Jordon, and L Major. Harder Than House: JPEG / dontforgettogohome / Borai at The Crown.

Boundary-burning Bangladeshi dubwise madness from Raf Reza, chopping up string-heavy soundtracks with bass-heavy trip-hop and amen breaks into live euphoric club siren-ades. Sounds like Maral jamming with Asian Dub Foundation to us + there’s two of Glasgow’s finest spinning druggy downtempo and chuggy house – ETN defiantly delivering once again here! Escalator To Nowhere: Raf Reza , DJ Peanut & Pigeon Steve, Chukwudi at Strange Brew.

You can’t spell ragga jungle without Congo Natty. Hell, you can’t even spell jungle. Forging the wickedest sound for almost 40 years now, the original Rebel MC crash lands at Lost Horizon, perfectly paired with Kaya Fyah’s soulful vocals soaring over pure dnb demolition + Anna Prank’s rock solid old skool stylings. Ruff and tuff! CONGO NATTY at Lost Horizon.

Green Work’s solid gold source of hard’n’fast rave antics throws its biggest bash yet. Salt & Pepper are pulling out all the hardtek stops with 4 rigs pushing 160+ BPM for 12 relentless hours! Browse the daytime market to the pumping tribe stylings of Nakkore, before you submit to escalating after-dark hardstyle mania from Indecline and more. Absolute no-brainer for the Bangface/Balter/Frenchtek loving fiends! Full Day Underground Party

More Photos of Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

Crowd at a drum and bass night in Bristol 2026

What our editors say

“Join us for our August bank holiday event back at our spiritual home of Basement 45 in Btistol. We welcome back multi award winning mc HARRY SHOTTA as our headline act plus a huge supporting lineup. In the the main room we have drum n bass and jungle all night and in room 2 we have 140 and dubstep from colour of sound. DNB JUNGLE 140 DUBSTEP @ BASEMENT 45 FROM £6”
From: Bass in the basement HARRY SHOTTA

“We’re back at Clock Factory Bristol for our FREE RAVE Summer Series. All summer long we’re dedicating Friday nights showcasing some of the finest bass music talent around - completely FREE. Stressing over festival and day-party prices? Don’t fear - we’ve got you covered. Friday 7th August, we bring together a mixed drum & bass curation taking you through the raw sounds of jungle, minimal and dancefloor, featuring Bladerunner + MC Felon, VISLA & Siren.”
From: Rave • Bladerunner + MC Felon, VISLA & Siren

“We’re back at Clock Factory Bristol for our FREE RAVE Summer Series. All summer long we’re dedicating Friday nights showcasing some of the finest bass music talent around - completely FREE. Stressing over festival and day-party prices? Don’t fear - we’ve got you covered. Friday 31st July, we welcome the legendary Congo Natty back to the club for a live show. Renowned for blending Rastafarian culture, reggae vocals, and heavy basslines, he is a foundational figure in ragga-jungle.”
From: Rave

“30 Years of Fatman D comes to Bristol. The first two events have blown up massively and now it’s time for Lakota gardens. We’ve got a full stack of headliners giving you the full range of jump up, Old school and heavy hitters.”
From: Blurred: 30 Yrs Fatman D | Lakota XL Day Rave

“A celebration of queerness; through music, dancing and joy! Room 1 (powered by Riggy Stardust): Hard, fast and gay! Our Room 1 DJs and soundsystem will have you shaking ass to the sounds of 4x4, hard bounce, tekno with loud unapologetic energy! 10-11 AMZ 11-12 Hauswife b2b THEO-3 12-1 Bendy Wendy 1-2 Bimini (DJ set) 2-3 Agent Scully b2b Miss Bee Spinner Room 2: Dark, moody and queer - our lineup will guide you effortlessly through the murky depths of breaks, DnB and jungle, soundtracking Lakota’s most atmospheric space, the Moon Club. 11-12 AERIAL 12-1 Deselecta 1-2 sn8pe 2-3 Kabya”
From: GAY AS F*CK with BIMINI