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 join our weekly email list for ticket alerts and announcements about interesting bands coming to Bristol including our biggest venues like SWX.

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 65p 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

Wed 3rd December
Saffron Emerging Artist Showcase at Rough Trade Bristol
Fri 9th October
The Lemonheads at Electric Bristol
Tue 3rd March
The Wave Pictures at Strange Brew
Fri 27th March
Joan Shelley at Strange Brew
Sun 14th December
Jazz in the Loft - Dennis Rollins at The Tobacco Factory

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 Lost Horizon 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

Gorgeous folk-noir awash with bowed chamber strings and otherworldly harmonies. Aussie sister duo Charm of Finches summon an indie-baroque heartache of epic proportions FFO: Kate Bush, Gillian Welch, Agnes Obel, Sufjan Stevens. Charm of Finches at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Unhinged psychedelic garage punk from Porto meets Japan’s most delirious heavy-prog outfits in a truly insane double-bill from the combined cosmic powers of Velvet Echoes and Extra Terrestrial. An outer-limits aural feast FFO: Mars Volta, Ruins, Acid Mothers Temple, Osees, Ty Segall, Frankie and the Witch Fingers. Sunflowers + Green Milk From The Planet Orange at The Croft.

Grab your Stetson and a Thatchers tinnie and prepare to sway with Brek Recs’ prolific poster boys summoning West Country boogie ballads from the mysterious slackersphere. Americana-flecked indie rock bops FFO: Parquet Courts, MJ Lenderman, Big Thief, Courtney Barnett, Ratboys. Langkamer at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! The last truly legendary Oi band (bite me) affront you with their lovable, yobbish and hooky-as-hell brand of delinquent streetpunk for the very last time. Historical tearjerker FFO: The Business, Angelic Upstarts, Red Alert, The Bruisers. HARD SKIN plus supports at Exchange.

Recommended Gigs

Sat 15th November
Night Swimming at Thekla
Fri 14th November
Poly-Math at Rough Trade Bristol
— Rough Trade Bristol

Poly-Math in Bristol Tickets

Fri 6th February
Yann Tiersen at Bristol Beacon
Sun 12th April
Frank Turner at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Frank Turner in Bristol Tickets

Tue 24th February
Cam at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Cam in Bristol Tickets

Sun 16th November
THE FÊTE OF BRISTOL at Rough Trade Bristol
Sat 21st February
John Blek at The Louisiana
Tue 28th April
Andy McKee at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Andy McKee 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!

A quadruple bill of oddball sonics for Mouthfeel’s Xmas shubz at The Cube. In the mix: Kar Pouzi’s melding baritone sax and electronix, Copper Sounds’ epic sonic sculpture meets electro-acoustic mastery, Jo Hellier’s operatic melodrama, and Raina Greifer’s grotesque festive cabaret. Freax to the front! Mouthfeel XMAS Party at The Cube.

Exchange and Spesh Sub Records lay on a sweet seasonal spread of label faves, feat emo anthemists Don’t Worry, dark dreampoppers Soot Sprite, folk-punk poster boys Toodles, plus traditional post-gig karaoke so you can yowl festive bangers into the night. It’s like the indie punk office Christmas party of your dreams (don’t leave Fat Paul alone with the photocopier). Specialist Subject - Festive Party with Toodles, Soot Sprite.. at Exchange.

Rapper announces our new Bristol gig guide on the microphone!
Sell out warning! Enigmatic New York singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson brings her latest batch of catharsis ballads – spanning motherhood, heartbreak, and hard-won clarity – to an intimate subterranean show in the Exchange’s newly refurbed basement. Trauma processing as songwriting FFO: Torres, S.G. Goodman, Hand Habits, boygenius. Laura Stevenson at Exchange.

Free entry! Degenerates to the front! Hotly tipped Liverpudlian five-piece Gen and The Degenerates lead Exchange on a swaggering dance against late-capitalist disillusionment, doomscroll dystopia and TikTok misogyny through pure garage-punk ecstasy. Wry queer anthems FFO: Amyl & the Sniffers, Lambrini Girls, Crawlers, Warmduscher. Gen and The Degenerates at Exchange.


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.