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

Thu 10th September
Shallowater at The Louisiana
Tue 24th November
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats at The Trinity Centre
Thu 8th October
Ben Ellis at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Ben Ellis 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 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

Radical troubadour Grace Petrie brings her unique brand of fist-in-the-air protest folk to a rapturous St George's, examining social and political issues of austerity-ravaged modern Britain with Bragg-approved anthems of solidarity and solace. 21st century icon FFO: Frank Turner, Laura Jane Grace, Kirsty MacColl, Onsind. Grace Petrie - Bristol at St George's Bristol.

Sell out warning! Manchester’s peerless renegades of post-punk funk who’ve distilled everything from post-disco to Brazilian jazz into a sound that spawned a generation of bands like the Rapture or Sink Ya Teeth. Sounding revitalised 40 years in, they revisit two stone-cold classic LPs in a no-brainer nostalgiafest FFO Liquid Liquid, ESG, Talking Heads, New Order, !!!, LCD Soundsystem. A Certain Ratio at Exchange.

In an unmissable encounter of two souls, Ablaye Cissoko’s kora weaves ancient echoes through French accordion virtuoso Cyrille Brotto’s haunting drones. Their delicate interplay crafts a storytelling journey through grief, crafting ancient narratives into contemporary soundscapes. Ablaye Cissoko & Cyrille Brotto at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Deadly double billing of gothic croon and club-ready darkwave pulse from two of the best nocturnal operators around. She Past Away’s anthemic gloom and mesmeric Turkish poetry meets Actors new wave synth bounce and irresistible male/female vocal attack in this unbeatable post-modern post-punk romance FFO: Sisters of Mercy, Molchat Doma, Clan of Xymox, Drab Majesty. SHE PAST AWAY + ACTORS at Strange Brew.

Recommended Gigs

Wed 30th September
Lauren Auder at The Louisiana
Fri 30th October
Cut Capers at Electric Bristol
— Electric Bristol

Cut Capers in Bristol Tickets

Thu 12th November
Elephant Sessions at The Trinity Centre
Tue 20th October
Allie X at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Allie X in Bristol Tickets

Mon 19th October
Beth Orton at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Beth Orton in Bristol Tickets

Sun 6th September
MISSIO at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

MISSIO 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!

Sell out warning! Recently department My Dying Bride legend in small cap church gig with our favourite local chamber goths Dead Space Chamber Music? Whatever this dream is, please don't wake us up! Dark Alchemy VII at Church of St Thomas the Martyr.

Sell out warning! Shit-splattered Czech goregrind greats come to shower you in punishing riffs, hella catchy cricket vocals and digestive tract samples. What else do you need to know? Big goofy scat metal fun incoming FFO: Spasm, Ahumado Granujo, Impetigo, Dead Infection, Rompeprop. Gutalax at Exchange.

Rapper announces our new Bristol gig guide on the microphone!
Sell out warning! Breakfest for breakfast! Breakfest for lunch! Breakfest for dinner! The loveable slacker rock slingers are ready for another round and by gum, our tastebuds are already tingling, with heavy-duty post-punk supergroup The None, carnivalesque Cornish psych-folkers Blind Yeo, and soft rock master balladeer Polhawan among the early sign ups for this year’s all-day hootenanny. Breakfest 2026 at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Post-hardcore pit-starters Drug Church unleash fiercely cutting punk-poetry at Bristol’s own house of sonic worship! Cast yourself into a storm of driving guitar churn, brooding atmospherics, unshakable hooks and Patrick Kindlon’s stacked vocal yelps – this is a rugged AF force FFO: Turnstile, Mannequin Pussy, The Jesus Lizard, Bad Religion. Drug Church at The Trinity Centre.


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.