Britannica defines post rock as a form of experimental rock that incorporates aspects of jazz and electronica, so what happened to the genre that was so popular in the 90s and 00s. Bands like Mogwai and Tortoise have gone quiet and local Bristol post-rock acts too. The problem with post-rock is that it’s so loosely defined, that it hasn’t really gone away or at all. Rather than decline, the term has just gone out of fashion. Post-rock lives on in the fusion-ready music of local Bristol acts like Ishmael ensemble. With many kids that would’ve been rockstars in the 90s, now making electronica - maybe we should call this post-post-rock now?
What we said in 2015
Right now Bristol’s post-rock and alternative rock scene is at it’s healthiest for years. In addition to some excellent local venues and consistently strong live bookings, we also have promoters like Simple Things purveying some of the boldest festival programming in the UK. Recent Simple Things events have paired post-rock headliners like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor with cutting edge electronic music and innovative techno producers. In terms of consistent Bristol venues for alternative rock - The Exchange, The Stag And Hounds and The Fleece (who’s past bookings include Thee Silver Mt Zion and Deerhoof) lead the way. The Thekla also makes solid bookings (past guests include 65daysofstatic, And So I Watch You From Afar) and annual ArcTanGent Festival is not to be missed.
Buy tickets for post-rock events in Bristol
Our recent post-rock recommendations
Long-running South Wales post-metal doomgazers The Death of (Her) Money whip your ears with a towering maelstrom of sludge dynamics and darkwave emotions atop a triple bill of ultra-heavy shoegaze. Big FFO: Neurosis, Jesu, Transmission0, Isis, Ocoai.
A night of Shoegaze delights
Colossal album launch for post-folk post-rockers Quade, graduating to tastemakers AD 93 (Coby Sey, Moin etc) and surely now into the hearts of all the heads outside BSX. Quade conjure a sound you didn’t know existed til the first note hits - think Slint playing a Deadwood baptism, or Talk Talk re-scoring Westworld and you’re almost there.
Quade launch their debut album 'Nacre' in style at The Island with support from O.G Jigg & Foot Foot.
Free entry?!?! Total no-brainer of an evening for the no-wave heads: local punk-jazz menaces Ex Agent launch their eagerly awaited first single at an unexpecting Lanes audience on a tsunami of boisterous sonic turbulence. Plus support from experimental post-folk troupe Minor Conflict and mutating improv-jazz cacophonists Big Fuss Ensemble. Bring yr own lampshade.
FREE ENTRY SHOW!
Halloween may be behind us but the transcendent post-folk of mega-multi-instrumentalist Bell Lungs is music to enchant the villagers to. A mesmeric smorgasbord of interwoven vocal harmonies, electric violin, finger picked guitar, instrumental loops, and more (and more and more). FFO Richard Dawson, Julia Holter, Julianna Barwick, This Is The Kit, Mellow Candle, Steven R. Smith
The Cube presents occult musical weirdness
More Photos of Post-Rock Gigs in Bristol
What our editors say
“Intense, dynamic post rock with tinges of psychedelia. A band that talks honestly about issues that mess with us all, Dreamcaster doesn’t try to define the problem but instead make you feel that you’re not alone. Forming in Early 2022 we promote honesty and transparency through a wave of post rock tunes. We are on a journey of free expression and musical experimentation, and they'd love to have you along for the ride.”
From: Nobody's Dad + Dreamcaster + Girls Night Out
“Having crashed between the historically testing pillars of renowned venues like The Fleece and SWX, they aim to tour, release and become dominant figures in the post rock scene.”
From: Foxhole + Elephants With Shotguns + Dystonia
“Enter the Noid returns with another Bristol debut for Mitsubishi Suicide - a London-based trio blending visceral screamo with post rock-styled breakdowns & a playful approach to emo hardcore. Having only started drip-feeding us music since late 2022, the band have been rapidly turning heads and amassing bookings across both sides of the Atlantic.”
From: Enter the Noid w/ Mitsubishi Suicide + more
“The acclaimed Missouri quartet, known for their theatrical style of introspective indie rock and blending of genres such as emo, math rock and post rock, come to exchange">Exchange on January 23rd, as part of a full UK tour celebrating 10 years since the release of their seminal and influential debut album 'The Albatross'.”
From: Foxing
“Austrian post black metal masters HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY announce their highly anticipated return to the U.K. in fall 2023. The band will be taking their unique mixture of black metal and post rock on the road for shows across Britain including their London return happening at The Underworld Camden on 14th November, with stops in Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow before concluding in Newcastle on 19th November. Joining their UK run fellow Austrian atmospheric black metal sensation ELLENDE and British black metal visionaries FEN.”
From: Harakiri For The Sky + ELLENDE + FEN