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 16th September
'Welcome to Bristol' Jam Night at The Full Moon & Attic Bar
Tue 10th November
Nashville At Heart at The Trinity Centre
Tue 3rd November
Horse Jumper Of Love at Strange Brew

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

British folk iconoclast Chris Wood graces the candlelit hush of John Wesley’s New Room. His everyday epics sketch sharp-edged portraits of England’s many overlooked lives, from empty nests to minor league football teams to tragedies of industrial decay. Acute compassion ballads FFO: Martin Carthy, Karine Polwart, Billy Bragg, Richard Dawson. Chris Wood at John Wesley’s New Room.

Sell out warning! Granny’s Attic craft a mischievous folk playground, weaving original tunes into centuries-old reels and laments with effortless virtuosity. Crisp melodies, playful textures, and infectious energy celebrate the living, breathing pulse of the folk tradition. Joyous foot-stomping magic FFO: Jack Rutter, Eliza Carthy, Salt House. Granny's Attic - Greenbank Folk Club at St Anne's Church, Eastville.

Marauding Norsemen Agabas charge into town wielding their self-coined ‘deathjazz’: a pummeling uptempo rawk engine with a thrash gallop, horn blasts strafing through the noise, and shredding throat growls atop a storm of riffs and rhythms. A cataclysmic ruin ritual FFO: Kvelertak, Imperial Triumphant, Slipknot, Converge. AGABAS at Exchange.

Sell out warning! Microtonal, instrumental, math rock meets minimalist sax-drone like La Monte Young producing Battles or Black Midi covering Beefheart. Horse Lords play with energetic algorithmic precision and daring influences - Caribbean rhythmic scales, bastardised Americana blues, blasts of bagpipes. Big WTF moment if you're new here... Horse Lords at Moor Beer Co.

Recommended Gigs

Fri 6th November
Simple Things Opening Party at Shredenhams
Thu 3rd September
Tyler Ballgame at The Trinity Centre
Tue 17th November
Poison Ruin at Rough Trade Bristol
— Rough Trade Bristol

Poison Ruin in Bristol Tickets

Tue 6th October
Tantra & Khayal at The Wardrobe Theatre
— The Wardrobe Theatre

Tantra & Khayal in Bristol Tickets

Sun 13th September
Kuribo Jams at Bristol Beacon
Fri 5th February
Haken at The Trinity Centre
— The Trinity Centre

Haken in Bristol Tickets

Sat 12th September
SouthWest Rhythm 1st Birthday - WINTLE & more at Black horse ( Garden )
Thu 10th December
Fenne Lily + Support TBC at Strange Brew

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! Crazed cumbia meets mutant surf, acid champeta and retro-future radiophonic SFX via Bogotá’s most notorious supergroup (ft. Meridian Brothers mastermind Eblis Alvarez). Astonishingly strange new instrumental worlds FFO: Romperayo, Dengue Dengue Dengue!, Ondatrópica, Frente Cumbiero, Fumaça Preta. Los Pirañas at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! NYC songwriter-improviser Wendy Eisenberg brings their wildly eclectic twang to town, transforming plainspoken reflections on time and love into weirdo torchsongs. After years of shredding improv with Bill Orcutt, Eisenberg’s live show promises an unpredictable blend of cosmic country and leftfield experimentation FFO: Richard Dawson, Judee Sill, Smog, Ora Cogan. Wendy Eisenberg at The Louisiana.

Rapper announces our new Bristol gig guide on the microphone!
Sell out warning! A Halloween oldie revamped! Two heavyweight purveyors of the midnight mood live-score Nosferatu in a creaky proto-horror symphony of shadows and smoke. Industrial folk-sludge enigma Circuit des Yeux merges with slowcore legend Alan Sparhawk (of Low fame) for a meeting of slow-burning indie grandeur and silent-era nightmare fuel. Circuit des Yeux feat. Alan Sparhawk presents Nosferatu - Score at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Precision-engineered post-rock swoon from Manchester trio Shaking Hands, who wind their spring tight with frenetic percussion, wiry guitar lines and thunderous bass before unleashing rhythmic rapture. Enchanting FFO: Women, Field Music, Acetone, Ulrika Spacek. Shaking Hand at The Louisiana.


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.