Indie Gigs in Bristol

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Bristol's Indie Scene

Bristol has a decent spread of indie venues for both big names (keep your eye on the O2 Academy listings) and local up-and-coming indie bands. Perhaps the most important mid-sized indie venue is The Louisiana whose "played-here-before-they-were-really-famous" list boasts Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, Fleet Foxes and Muse.

What’s become of Indie music? For many of a certain generation the early 2000s were the peak of indie music here in Bristol and in the UK as a whole. Not to be confused with the association of independent music (although indie does stand for ‘independent music’) indie came out of the 80s DIY scene and peaked in the 00s mainstream with acts like the Strokes and the Libertines. So where is indie now? Now indie in Bristol might just amount to clubnights like Ramshackle, and we have the decline of grassroots music venues to blame maybe. So while independent music might always be around, the genre formerly known as indie might be dead!

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Our recent indie recommendations

Woi oi! Iconic 'ardkore action incoming from the unrivaled Moving Shadow fold! Reinforced / Altern8 / Shut Up And Dance heads will already have their tickets of course. For everyone else: breakbeat ravestalgia doesn’t come much ruffer than 2 Bad Mice, chopping samples and bombing tha bass like it was the Second Summer of Love all over again. 2 Bad Mice + Friends at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Harakiri are the only band you need on your post-black sky chariot riding mix. Triumphant melody barely disguising soul-wrenching trauma, blistering blast-beats; BM purists beware, this is pure catharsis stitched with post-rock, post-hardcore, grunge and skramz DNA. With Denmark's impossibly mournful Sunken opening things up, ethereal awakenings await disciples of: Alcest, Deafheaven, Drudkh, WitTR. Harakiri for the Sky & Sunken at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! You’ve never heard pipes like this! Queer futurism from visionary bagpiper Malin Lewis, playing self-made instruments and the world’s first wooden Lindsay Chanter. Malin channels their pipes and drones to form a layered, shifting sonic language that lives between binaries. Malin Lewis at The Jam Jar.

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.

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What our editors say

“Having fun is a form of art, and Ciao Lucifer have mastered it like no other. This Amsterdam duo wears the label 'feel-good band' with pride. Since their high school days these two friends have made music, and since a few years as Ciao Lucifer: the indie pop project in which they tackle life's hardships with cheerful music. Their danceable, sunny tunes exist for one purpose only: to escape bleak reality, and dance away your demons. A kind of exorcism ritual, but with more kazoo.”
From: Ciao Lucifer

“Rowena Wise is a Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter whose work balances beauty and mess with rare emotional precision, drawing from 60s folk storytelling while grounded in indie rock, garage pop and alt-folk. Raised in Margaret River, Western Australia, by a luthier father and a Chicago-born folk musician mother, Wise moved to Melbourne at 18 to forge her own path.”
From: ROWENA WISE

“Lonely Mountain are brothers Archie & Finlay Johnson, an independent folk duo from the North Wales coast. Rooted in traditional and indie folk, storytelling and a love of the outdoors, their music is shaped by family sailing adventures, mountain landscapes and a DIY approach to recording and producing their songs. From filming live music on the mountain above their home to building a community of like-minded adventurers through social media, everything they do is created close to home. Following two EPs, the brothers bring their original folk music on a UK Winter tour ahead of their debut album, due early 2027.”
From: Lonely Mountain

“As the former frontman of the indie rock band Wild Beasts, his solo work features a more intimate, downtempo, and alternative singer-songwriter style, defined by his distinct operatic countertenor vocal delivery.”
From: Hayden Thorpe

“Hey Pixies’ spot-on renditions and high-energy performances have made waves (of mutilation), leading to sold-out shows and festival appearances across the UK and Ireland. Expect to be mesmerized by indie anthems like “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Here Comes Your Man,” “Debaser,” and “Where Is My Mind?” With over 40 songs in their setlist, surprises are guaranteed. More than a tribute, Hey Pixies celebrate the legacy of indie rock legends with passion and precision.”
From: Hey Pixies