What's On / Bristol Gigs / post-rock

Post-Rock Gigs in Bristol

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Bristol's Post-rock Scene

What ever happened to post-rock?

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

Free entry / PWYC! Chamber folk/indie rock alchemists Lifter finally launch their long-awaited debut LP into the world alongside a host of local scene stalwarts. Fight your way to the front early for Foot Foot’s wizard-conjured baroque prog, Eva May’s choir-haunted soul ballads and velvety indie-folk revival from new kids English Weather. Pay-What-You-Can Entry - Bristol LIFTER celebrate vinyl release show with friends from the Bristol scene, drawing on the traditions of folk, math-rock and post-rock

Cuculi returns with pianist-composer Laurie Torres’ uniformly gorgeous post-minimalist piano pieces, shoulder-to-shoulder with multi-instrumentalist James Gow’s flickering cello, bass, and brass shapes. Seductive, intimate and mysterious FFO: Harold Budd, Duval Timothy, Ben Seretan. Subtle lo-fi piano experimentations from acclaimed Canadian artist

Ambient basement mid-weeker from three local faces including Kayla Painter collaborator Jilk, fusing post-rock guitar drone, lilting keys and bitcrushed glitch into kaleidoscopic soundscapes. Mercurial drift FFO: Boards of Canada, Venetian Snares, claire rousay, Roméo Poirier, Jan Jelinek. With Aztechsounds and Laughing At Oblivion

A delicious left-turn from those crazy IGH kids as they launch a new label for their rotating improv scene collabs and freewheeling live cuts! Grab their first release then dive into: postmodern percussion poetry from wayward bardist Sean Noonan (‘the punk-jazz Alan Lomax’), Horsefair’s potent post-rock convulsions and IGH’s ever-mutating house band packing a special bumper line-up. Celebration of first release + future regular !

What our editors say

“Neko Refreshed from a year's meditation and fuelled by a lethal combination of extra strong coffee and those lotus biscuits with the cream in the middle, Neko, the premier act to emerge from Bristol's thriving Japanese language post rock/electronica micro scene (population 1), released Windfall, their second EP, on 22 November 2024, following on from 2023 debut King Louie.”
From: Theo Vandenhoff

“swelt Following the release of their debut album 'Bones', swelt bring their fractured, slow-burning songs to Cafe Kino. Rooted in restraint and release, their sound channels '70s folk, slowcore and first-wave post rock. FFO: Sparklehorse, Acetone, Talk Talk, Low”
From: SWELT + RILEY/RADLEY + ESTHER POLLOCK

“Back for another Noid after a legendary sell-out date at Zed Alley in 2024, Mitsubishi Suicide return this March with their unique blend of visceral skramz, post rock-y interludes & a playful approach to emo/hardcore. Having laid low whilst members focused in on other projects (like 300SkullsandCounting & Most Things) the band are back with a new live show and a new lineup for 2026.”
From: Mitsubishi Suicide, Betrayers & You Are Drowning in Evil..

“Perry Frank is a one man project,based in Sardinia ,of ambient electronic post rock and drone , combining guitar and synth loops, with dreamy projections behind all the dreamy ,space music,textured soundscapes.”
From: Perry Frank+ Prior+Paper Clouds+Autostat

“BPSA returns with another night showcasing some of Bristols finest punk/hardcore/math/post rock to The Red Lion on Sunday the first of March. BPSA was born out of east Bristols DIY punk and hardcore scene with the aim of uniting people in Bristols musical community to stand against fascism, apartheid and the ongoing Genocide of the people of Palestine. All funds raised at our events are donated directly to displaced families in Gaza that are currently being supported by our friends at Bristol Palestine Alliance. Come along. Get involved. FREE PALESTINE”
From: BPSA PALESTINE FUNDRAISER