Bristol Techno Nights

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Bristol's Techno Scene

Techno is a big deal in Bristol, book the right names or build a strong enough reputation and you’re gonna need a seriously big club to keep everyone happy. And so Bristol has Motion, masterfully converted into a 1200+ capacity nightclub from derelict warehouse via a skatepark. If Motion is Bristol’s techno castle then there’s no denying Just Jack is king. Reigning for over a decade, Just Jack have enough programming muscle to pull names like Ricardo Villalobos and Omar S. If there’s a secret to the ultimate big-room techno experience, then Motion knows it.

On the other hand, if there’s a secret to healthy techno scene, then Bristol has totally nailed it. While tickets for Just Jack, Apex and Tribe of Frog may sell in their thousands, some of Bristol’s most forward thinking techno nights have capacities for just one or two hundred. The Prison Cells at The Island have become an unlikely home to some of the most adventurous dance music in Bristol. Promoters like Room 237 and Timedance are putting out challenging and thought-provoking line-ups with past guests including the likes of Surgeon, Untold, Asusu and Helena Hauff.

If techno had a spiritual home in Bristol, it would be Lakota. With 4 rooms, a back-to-basics yard and a pair of coroners courtrooms for larger events, Lakota is Bristol’s ultimate techno playground. The venue has found favour with pervasive promoters including the electro-techno focused Get Born and bass techno masters Wide Eyes.

Amongst the city’s resident house music djs, many of Bristol’s best techno djs regularly play Bristol’s smaller clubs and bars. Dojos, The Love Inn, The Doghouse and the Small Horse Inn to name a few.

Buy tickets for techno events in Bristol

Our recent techno recommendations

Razor-sharp club futurism at its finest! Local spinner Severine has been busy carving out the Bristol circuit with discombobulated rhythms delivered in a thrillingly uncanny, disorienting style. Their latest venture brings together Rhyw and Yushh – two of the slickest selectors shaping sleek, contemporary club sounds FFO: Timedance, Livity Sound, CCL, Wisdom Teeth, Fever AM. Forma: Rhyw, Yushh, Dom Carlo & severine at The Island.

A humble giant of 90s Detroit’s fertile crescent, Patrick Russell answers The Probe’s call for deeper than deep machine funk and dubterranean 4/4. The Bunker resident’s gonna wash the walls in eerie textures and oddball syncopation alongside Sunju Hargun’s Space Lab appropriate trips thru acid, deep trance, and South Asian spiritual ambient. Free your mind and your legs will follow. The Probe & space•lab : Patrick Russell , Sunju Hargun & Rizla at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Seize your chance to reach post-tropical audio/visual enlightenment inside a vast industrial timber yard. It’s a dream lineup: the masked heroes of Lima folk futurism Dengue Dengue Dengue wrestle ethereal Latinx ambassador El Búho in a blissful explosion of digital cumbia. With Worldwide FM’s globally adored Coco Maria and Bushbby serving sonidero, bossa and dancehall heat for afters. El Búho | Dengue Dengue Dengue | Coco María | Bushbby | AUKA at Sawmills.

The local chameleons are back for unpredictable, forward club sounds under the railway arches. Shmael spins chopped‑and‑screwed electronix and slo‑mo rap, Side Eye boss Sadsugar rattles bass-heavy brain cells with sparring partner Dudeman, whilst Amaia digs deep in a cauldron of sub-driven wax oddities. All profits are heading to Sunduq al Sudan’s to help with their grassroots mutual aid work. Side Eye w/ shmael, sadsugar b2b Dudeman & amaia at The Cider Box Tap Room.

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What our editors say

“The return of Bristol's newest techno party, old heads playing fresh sounds moving from deep tech vibes and organic progressive house from Bobby B ( UNHU/Delicious) and James D (Delicious)to mix master Washer(UNHU) lifting the dance with his epic set builds. Then Barcelona based LINA brings high energy techno built on rising tension and powerful drops, to be followed by Roots and Outlier's (Delicious) intensely grindy funky techno, and the proper whirlwind soul soaring ride that is Whalts, original founding member of legendary UNHU sound system. It finishes with Saxon James' dark, compulsive and slightly psy tech sounds...probably the best DJ you hadn't heard of that you'll see all year.”
From: Delicious House and Techno

“✦Ska punk✦ ✦Punk✦ ✦Balkan✦ ✦Tekno✦ ✦Frenchcore✦ ✦Immersive Cabaret✦ THE GREAT HALL Jungle Dub Happy Hardcore Jungle techno Jungle Dnb THE ABANDONED CIRCUS GROUNDS ✨Tekno/Techno ✨Bouncy bangers! ✨Prog ✨Tribe ✨Lots of 303s and Doofs!!”
From: Contraband Circus + Upside Sound Day & Night Party

“Founder of London based techno party ’don’t’ alongside many label forays like super rythm trax and Hornsley Hardcore, Jerome hill has proven himself as one of the most unpredictable acts in dance music. Alongside him Bristol stalwart Ellie stokes joins us.”
From: Late Dery: Jerome Hill + Ellie Stokes

“Hailing from Italy but now based in Spain the enigmatic QUEST, has built a formidable reputation over recent years. An ever-curious selector with a diggers mentality, his wide ranging taste leans toward the sexy, gritty and eclectic. He can effortlessly weave between house, techno, EBM, hip-hop, electro and beyond. With no two sets ever the same, he keeps things both equally unpredictable & captivating. We can’t wait to see him work his magic in such an intimate setting, alongside Danielle.”
From: Soft Raw presents Quest & Danielle

“Floorplan is not your ordinary techno act: they're on a mission to spread a message of love. Since Detroit techno pioneer Robert Hood invited his daughter Lyric to join him under the Floorplan name in 2016, they've been sweeping the scene with gospel-infused, hard-hitting techno that moves you.”
From: Document Presents: Floorplan, Kenny Dope & more