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.
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Other key indie venues in Bristol include The Cooler, Start The Bus and The Thekla all with regular bands and live music.