What's On / Bristol Gigs

Bristol Gigs

— All Bristol's Live Music

Buy tickets for Bristol's best gigs and live music.

Live music gig with great Bristol bands.

Bristol’s best gigs

Every week, the Headfirst editors trawl through all of the live music listings on the website and pick the best gigs for you to go to. Our event selections range from classical music concerts at St George’s Hall to smaller, local musician’s gigs at The Canteen or the Exchange.

Check out this week’s Bristol gig selections over on the Headfirst Facebook page and don’t forget to like us for ticket alerts and announcements about interesting bands coming to Bristol.

All tickets for this concert were sold through Headfirst Ticket Shop.

Tickets for Bristol gigs

In 2016, Headfirst Bristol launched an online ticket shop for live music events. Inspired by local cooperatives and community interest companies like the Bristol Cable and The Island, Headfirst provides an ethical and respectful place to buy tickets for gigs in Bristol. Our booking fees are low (usually 50p per ticket) and we strive to help support independent live music events as much as large concerts at venues like Bristol Beacon or Marble Factory.

Upcoming gigs in Bristol

Sat 26th April
Ian Prowse & Amsterdam at Lost Horizon
Thu 7th November
Kiran Leonard + Sunglasz Vendor at Sabrina 6 (Bristol Cruising Club)
— Sabrina 6 (Bristol Cruising Club)

Kiran Leonard + Sunglasz Vendor in Bristol Tickets

Tue 19th November
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 at The Trinity Centre
Thu 10th October
Kabaka Pyramid at The Trinity Centre
Sun 24th November
Sports Team at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Sports Team in Bristol Tickets

Live music venues in Bristol

Bristol’s gig venues play an essential and often overlooked role in the city’s music scene. A spectrum of venues provides a ladder for new bands and musical talent to ascend. DIY spaces like Dareshack and Strangebrew provide a testbed for the screaming synthesisers and the guitars that will undoubtedly become part of Bristol’s future. Check out Headfirst’s Bristol venues page to discover which kind of performances and concerts you can expect from each gig venue.

First live gig for one of Bristol's best guitarists.

Our editor's top live music recommendation

Sell out warning! Not jazz nor rock nor film music, fans just call it ‘Necks music’. That spine-tingling unwinding of instrumental textures and improvised magic - a once in a lifetime gig for those who’ve never witnessed. The Necks at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Zeke weld snot-punk fury and bluesy hard rock riffage into their own time-honoured brand of demolition derby hardcore. Ain’t nothing faster FFO: Poison Idea, Motorhead, Dicks, The Bronx, Supersuckers, Dwarves. ZEKE plus Zero Again and Split Dogs at Exchange.

Sell out warning! Everything Jim Jones touches turns to swampy gold. Now backed by a full horn section, he can still spew the finest punk rock blues and garage gospel with the swagger of the UK’s greatest undead Jerry Lee Lewis. Jim Jones All Stars at The Golden Lion.

They’re here, they’re queer, and they’re still furious; with eight years of raucous DIY protest punk under their belts there’s no excuse not to know and love Bristol’s own Menstrual Cramps. Blunt as fuck feminist anthems to batter a Nazi to FFO: Dream Nails, Lambrini Girls, Panic Shack, PUSSYLIQUOR. The Menstrual Cramps + Waco + GorZ at Moor Beer Co.

Recommended Gigs

Fri 29th November
Holy Youth Movement at Dareshack
Thu 31st October
SPECTRES + EX AGENT + JEROME at Rough Trade Bristol
Fri 6th December
Our Girl at Dareshack
Fri 25th October
Hang Massive at Lost Horizon
Thu 1st August
TOKKY HORROR at Lost Horizon
Mon 14th October
Great Lake Swimmers at The Louisiana
Fri 13th December
Half Happy at The Louisiana
Wed 6th November
Noahfinnce + special guest at The Fleece
Today
Stack Up Camp Out 2024 Weekend Festival at Hideaway Campsite, Northlew EX20 3PG
— Hideaway Campsite, Northlew EX20 3PG

Stack Up Camp Out 2024 Weekend Festival in Bristol Tickets

Gigs in Bristol today

Most of Headfirst’s visitors come to discover new bands and live music in Bristol. We’re proud to be Bristol’s most complete gig listings resource, complete with a full breakdown of gigs in Bristol today and tour dates for the next six months. A sterling selection of open mic nights (particularly along Gloucester Road), provide ample midweek entertainment for would-be talent scouts.

Sell out warning - buy tickets while you can!

Ya Freshness lets rip on the original rudeboy boss sound with a proper authentic, highly danceable take on classic Jamaican ska and UK two-tone culture. Expect ecstatic live energy, skanking feet, skronking brass and lyrical calls for unity. Essential FFO: the Skatalites, Prince Buster, the Special, Madness etc. YA FRESHNESS & THE BIG BOSS BAND at Cotham Parish Church, Cotham Road (top of St. Michael's Hill), Cotham, Bristol, BS6 6DR.

Sell out warning! A rapturous return for Bristol’s travelling post-post-punk / swamp-rock societal satire, careening back into our lives with their demeted disregard for personal health and conventional timing. This is biting and savage guitar Dada FFO: black midi, Fat White Family, Hey Colossus, PiL, the Birthday Party. LICE at Strange Brew.

Rapper announces our new Bristol gig guide on the microphone!
Sell out warning! Timeless vampiric post-punk / coldwave atmospherics: buzzsaw guitars, thundering bass, distorted electronics and Nico-worthy jaded melancholy. One of the greatest bands out there right now FFO: The Cure, Pink Turns Blue, The Danse Society, Boy Harsher, Forever Grey, She Past Away. LEBANON HANOVER at Strange Brew.

Trance-inducing DIY Yemeni troubadour music, skittering and grooving along on junkyard instruments fashioned by carpenter and bandleader Eyal El Wahab. El Khat twists traditional melodies into trash-heaps of psychedelic, funky wonderment FFO: Gaye Su Akyol, Habibi Funk, Altin Gün, Acid Arab, The Scorpios. Alpaca Presents | El Khat + Support at Crofters Rights.


Local bands and musicians

Local musicians are the lifeblood and new energy that constantly rejuvenates Bristol’s venues and performance spaces. Graduates from Bristol University’s Music course and BIMM provide regular injections of talent ranging from electronic music producers to classically trained pianists and orchestral musicians. Some of Bristol’s most successful bands are the first to point out that their inspiration comes from other local bands and gigs they’ve attended; with this in mind Headfirst is careful to include as much local talent as possible in it’s gig guide.

In addition to attending gigs you can also support Bristol’s musicians by buying their records from independent stores like Idle Hands Records, Shall Not Fade and Christmas Steps Records.