Bristol Techno Nights

upcoming clubnight

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.

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Our recent techno recommendations

Sell out warning! The craze for AnExperience keeps swelling with an army of followers behind the ‘all tribes / all genres’ soundsystem experience. In advance of their dedicated June festival, they return to the Boxing Gym for the last time with 4 rooms bursting with everything from samba to jungle to gospel to acid, all run at utopia-inducing volume! AnExperience Festival ~ Warm up party at The Boxing Gym.

Sell out warning! Psychedelic prog and acid reign supreme as the Hypersoft boss helms the next Queerky! Fold regular + vinyl-connoisseur DJ TEETH brings a bag full of Belgian new beat, analogue synths and cosmic techno with a strong nod to 90s dance for unadulterated blissful club rapture til 4am. Queerky W/ DJ TEETH at Loco Klub.

Buckle in for Kankofski’s mind-bending experimental techno and Noods Radio’s Nahda serving industrial, SELN-affiliated dread. Local residents Mossambi and Vinda open and close the night with UK techno hybrids, all amplified by Exchange’s basement sub system for maximum wobble. This is how we do it! LAYA/TALA: Kankofski, Nahda, Mossambi at Exchange.

Sell out warning! Still reeling from Sully devastation, the Brew hosts another titanic pillar of 21st century junglism for a 3-hour tearout of fearless amen styles. Tim Reaper and Future Retro (RIP) are torchbearers for forward-facing rhythmical ingenuity, pushing the genre into a brave new soundworlds, and dancers into new demented feats of arm/leg flailing. Seasoning ✼ Tim Reaper , Severine at Strange Brew.

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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

“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

“Headlining the night is Tassid, joined by Smay, flying in from Switzerland, and Tio-Toni, flying over from Spain, for a special two-hour vinyl B2B. Chief303 from Outsider Records will be showcasing what they’ve been working on behind the scenes, while S.A.S bring the heat with a vinyl set not to be missed. We have Keep Bristol Techno doing a vinyl takeover, and local legend Dec0 kicking things off. Expect relentless techno through the Giggity Sounds soundsystem.”
From: Giggity Sounds x Outsider Records: A night of serious Techno

“Musically, the night moves with intention. Expect a multi genre journey that builds across the evening opening with piano house and breakbeat, shifting into hardcore, jungle and footwork, eventually moving into donk. As the night goes on, the energy pushes into harder styles and hard techno to close.”
From: APHRODITES ENCHANTED GARDEN

“Across our 12-hour Bank Holiday extended edition, we dive deep into artists who reinterpret and reshape the language of techno. Each act on the lineup approaches the genre from a distinct angle: pushing rhythm, atmosphere, and sound design into new territory. The result is a carefully curated journey through contemporary club music in its most forward-thinking forms.”
From: RTN 10⇒10