Bristol Dubstep

upcoming clubnight

Bristol's Dubstep Scene

You can’t spell Dubstep without Bristol

While the first word in Dubstep’s history might be DMZ, the second is surely Bristol. London is the birthplace but the Bristol dubstep sound must be its most iconic regional variant. Bristol acts like Pinch and Vex’d were instrumental in the early days as well as RSD // Rob Smith from Smith & Mighty who straddle Bristol’s trip-hop lineage and its dubstep future. Although this is cruelly left out of the Wiki page on dubstep - Bristol continued to play a huge part, defining an iconic sound sometimes known as ‘purple wow’ or wonky that included Joker, Gemmy, Jakes, Guido and Julio Bashmore through nights like Subloaded. While many of these artists are making house or other club music, their place in Bristol dubstep (and electronic music) history is secured.

What we said in 2015...
Presently dubstep in Bristol enjoys such stellar success that the only thorn in the genre's side is it's quantity. With such a saturated market it only becomes harder to find genuine talent amongst the endless bandwagon of tag alongs. Fortunately for Bristol, the boundaries are being pushed rather than retrodden and Bristol's own dubstep has gained international recognition.

Local talent has been the springboard for Bristol to become second only to London in the depth and range of the offerings of the sound. Joker, Gemmy, Pinch, RSD, Peverelist, Hyetal, Appleblim and Guido are but a few of Bristol's most prevalent exports, while arguably the city's most successful dubstep nights (Dubloaded and Applepips) are products of Bristol's own talent (Pinch and Appleblim) respectively.

The accessibility of dubstep's sound has seen it eclipse drum and bass in its hold over nightclubs and dubstep luminaries such as Skream, Benga and Plastician are regulars in the Bristol. Like drum and bass, the big acts are found at the huge, multi genre raves in Lakota and Motion (aka In:motion) while Bristol houses a mix of dedicated dubstep nights that operate in the mid-sized venues such as Thekla, Dojos, Basement 45 and The Croft.

Promoters such as Crazylegs have sought to expose the UK Funky side of dubstep, bringing artists like Joy Orbison, Deadboy and Roska to the masses. Subloaded at The Croft is another reliable source for forward-thinking dubstep.

Buy tickets for dubstep events in Bristol

Our recent dubstep recommendations

Flying the flag for proper dubstep these last 13 years, Foundation Audio are the Bristol DMZ heads’ go-to brand for unstoppable dread pressure. Flying in for the big buffday: pirate radio royalty N-Type, DJ Chefal and Youngsta will be giving the younguns an absolute schooling in golden eara dubs, testing RC1’s rumble pack to the absolute max. Hoods up heads down bassweight as it should be! Foundation Audio Powered by RC1 at Green Works.

Free entry (before 9:30)! So Carnival’s not not (not?) happening this year… at least one thing we’ll know for sure, there’ll be some St Paul’s heritage dubwise at The Canteen from Bristol’s Roots Ambassadors. Chewing Glass rig up the place with Ras Kama at the controls and Aqua Levi chanting down the mic as always. Unstoppable! Carnival Afterparty CGC Sound System Presents: NEGUS MELODY at The Canteen.

Resting on their much-deserved laurels after Marcellus Pittman tore some serious holes in Brewstory, Deep Street dial in a residents session with unstoppable b2b duo Jay L & Andy Mac exploring the sunshine dimensions of clublandia. Expect hard-dug cuts of soulful house, jazzed-out techno, string-laden diva disco and everything in between. Deep Street Summer Jam w/ Jay L & Andy Mac b2b all night at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! He’d hate us for this, but Vlad is this generation’s definitive DJ’s DJ (RIP Andrew Weatherall). Conjuring dark, hypnotic and psychedelic journeys of pan-genre, wrong-BPM eclecticism with two decks and a mixer... you just gotta witness this master at work! Blanco’s pulling power is infinite here: you’re damn lucky to see the grand Salon wizard crammed into such a likkle room. Club Blanco w/ Vladimir Ivkovic & Chez de Milo at The Love Inn.

More Photos of Bristol Dubstep

Crowd at a dubstep 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

“No Fixed Tempo is a multi-genre party accessible for everyone. Expect dubstep, garage, grime, jungle, hardcore and DnB all night long, with the energy and BPMs building as the night goes on. Made for the people skipping Boomtown this year, bringing together big energy, heavy sounds and good vibes! Come as you are. No Fixed Tempo, no fixed expectations. [A-Z] CUTMESUM.FLAC IZZLA ORCHID SHADDOWS SPINELLI BRAVO Free entry all night - no ticket needed.”
From: No Fixed Tempo: CUTMESUM.FLAC, IZZLA, ORCHID, SHADDOWS, SPINELLI BRAVO

“This summer, Deep Tempo are celebrating 7 years of championing the global Dubstep scene. What started as a passion project in the summer of 2019 has grown from the Deep Tempo Podcast into; Deep Tempo Records, the 140 Zine series, tape cassettes, Patreon-exclusive dubs, the Frozen Tempo label, an online community, events across the UK, Europe and Asia… and we’re probably leaving out a fair bit by stopping there. If you like proper Dubstep, join Deep Tempo and the gang for a £5 summer knees up skank. LINEUP TBA (SOON)”
From: 7 Years of Deep Tempo

“Jubel and The Full Moon are bringing together a hand-picked lineup of established selectors and local favourites, with a full day of DJs keeping your feet moving! Lineup: Shosh Kippo XDBR Bawler Femme Rouge Contraflow UK Garage, 140 & More! The Full Moon & Attic Bar 2PM-9PM Physical ID is required for entry to this event. If you do not have physical ID, you will be refused entry and a refund will not be provided for your ticket.”
From: Jubel Yard Party w/ Shosh, Kippo, XDBR & More

“We are fully taking over The Fox in BS2 0UT Outdoors we have the Half Broken Kru fine tuning the vwybez with an insane line up of pure sillyness. Meanwhile Vybe Voyage gear up to open the indoor venue for a serious dive into the UK underground. OUTSIDE 3pm till 11am HBK (full roster), Ogstan & Geronimo, Goosey, DJ Booty Shake, Princess Charming, Mazda Sport - bassline, donk, bounce, hardcore, dnb, jungle, footwork, hard-tek, gabber and many, many more. IIINSIDE 8pm till 1pm Alpengeist, Sounds of Fia, Jaymo, Diversion Crew, Phonetix - high energy drums, heavy dark rollers, grime, dubstep, garage, jungle, hardcore”
From: Half Broken Kru x Vybe Voyage - Multi Genre Madness