WHATS ON / BRISTOL / TODAY

Live Music and Gigs Tonight

One of the best things aboute Bristol's live music scene is that every day is different. Use the event listings on this page (see left hand column) to plan your day in Bristol. Headfirst includes the entire spectrum of bands playing in Bristol today - from local folk and jazz gigs to large concerts at venues like Colston Hall and Start The Bus get ready for a musical journey.

Most of today's gigs start around 8pm so be sure to catch an early dinner to avoid missing the music. Many of the gigs to the left are free to attend, some request a donation in the bucket and others will require advanced tickets. To guarantee entry, we suggest always buying tickets in advance from our ticket shop.

Tonight's Clubnights & Nightlife

Like every other day of the week, there are clubnights in Bristol happening this evening. Bars with regular late licenses and regular djs include The Small Horse Inn and The Love Inn - both extremely busy on weekends. Thursday, Friday and Saturday see the bulk of Bristol's club events when huge venues like Motion and Lakota open their doors to punters. To make this page, we've collected all of the clubnights happening tonight this can be found beneath today's gig listings in the left hand column.

Bristol Poetry Festival

Now in it's second revamped year - Bristol Poetry Festival 2020 returns with renewed energy and already-sold out events. Kicking off this week, here are our picks for poetry lovers, literary novices and families of book lovers. View the full programme here: https://www.lyrafest.com/ -------------------------------------- 1. Simon Armitage Live An illustrious opening: the UK's poet laureate comes to Will's Memorial Building for a reading and discussion of his acclaimed works. 🎫 Tickets for Friday 13th March: hdfst.uk/E60857 -------------------------------------- 2. Bristol Poetry Fest Final w/ Danez Smith Some of the most vital and morally urgent spoken-word you'll ever witness: Danez Smith supposedly brought Harry Headfirst to tears 2 years ago at Arnolfini! 🎫 Tickets for Sat 14th March: hdfst.uk/E60940 -------------------------------------- 3. Poetry and Music for Climate Action Zena Edwards leads a poetical call for our planet curated by local performance poetry stables Raise the Bar and The Hip Yak Poetry Shack. 🎫 Tickets for Mon 16th March: hdfst.uk/E61105 -------------------------------------- 4. Stephen Sexton + Bad Betty Press An evening of readings from the radical UK voices of Bad Betty Press including Gboyega Odunbanjo, Charlotte Geater and Jake Wild Hall - Poet. 🎫 Tickets for Friday 30th March hdfst.uk/E61057 -------------------------------------- 5. Stage to Page Writing Workshop (w/ Amy Acre) Already a spoken word or performance artist? Award-winning writer Amy Acre will help mould your ideas into publishable works. 🎫 Tickets for Sat 21st March: hdfst.uk/E61113

Bristol Poetry Festival

Now in it's second revamped year - Bristol Poetry Festival 2020 returns with renewed energy and already-sold out events. Kicking off this week, here are our picks for poetry lovers, literary novices and families of book lovers. View the full programme here: https://www.lyrafest.com/ -------------------------------------- 1. Simon Armitage Live An illustrious opening: the UK's poet laureate comes to Will's Memorial Building for a reading and discussion of his acclaimed works. 🎫 Tickets for Friday 13th March: hdfst.uk/E60857 -------------------------------------- 2. Bristol Poetry Fest Final w/ Danez Smith Some of the most vital and morally urgent spoken-word you'll ever witness: Danez Smith supposedly brought Harry Headfirst to tears 2 years ago at Arnolfini! 🎫 Tickets for Sat 14th March: hdfst.uk/E60940 -------------------------------------- 3. Poetry and Music for Climate Action Zena Edwards leads a poetical call for our planet curated by local performance poetry stables Raise the Bar and The Hip Yak Poetry Shack. 🎫 Tickets for Mon 16th March: hdfst.uk/E61105 -------------------------------------- 4. Stephen Sexton + Bad Betty Press An evening of readings from the radical UK voices of Bad Betty Press including Gboyega Odunbanjo, Charlotte Geater and Jake Wild Hall - Poet. 🎫 Tickets for Friday 30th March hdfst.uk/E61057 -------------------------------------- 5. Stage to Page Writing Workshop (w/ Amy Acre) Already a spoken word or performance artist? Award-winning writer Amy Acre will help mould your ideas into publishable works. 🎫 Tickets for Sat 21st March: hdfst.uk/E61113

Independent Venue Week in Bristol

LIVE MUSIC NEEDS YOU - This week is Independent Venue Week, support your local venues and get to these gigs: -------------------------------------- 1. Slugabed (live) Core member of Activia Benz, Slugabed returns to The Old England, this time with a full live band. Joined by Avon Terror Corps’ Walkie Talkestra, expect a suitably eclectic and experimental experience. 🎫 Tickets for Tonight: hdfst.uk/E59882 -------------------------------------- 2. Captain Süün The Stolen Body Records signees bring their languid, psychedelic surf rock to Mr. Wolf's Bristol. 🎫 Tickets for Thursday: hdfst.uk/E60276 -------------------------------------- 3. Spinny Nights w/ 404 Guild Spinny Nights serve us unrelenting energy and quickfire bars as London’s 404 Guild joins Kinlaw & Franco Franco and Grove for another special Old E outting. 🎫 Tickets for Friday: hdfst.uk/E60235 -------------------------------------- 4. Cousin Kula: Saturday 1st Feb, The Louisiana Hosted by Chiverin, catch Cousin Kula’s groove-laden alt-pop with support from Langkamer, Pocket Sun and Herbal Tea. 🎫 Tickets for Saturday: hdfst.uk/E59193

PERFORMANCE | Uncanny Valley Girl tickets

Art Events at Spike Island and Arnolfini

From cyborg fembots to sensory Twin Peaks experiences, enrich yourself with this month's unique arts happenings. ----------------------------------------- 1. Cables + Cameras Platforming films from emerging BAME filmmakers for Black History Month, Cables&Cameras bring films from the Birmingham Backin project to The Cube Microplex. ----------------------------------------- 2. Uncanny Valley Girl Prepare to be confronted by the intersection of femininity and technology encompassed in the fembot motif as Uncanny Valley Girl delves into a world of darkly humorous, dystopian explorations as part of Arnolfini’s Still I Rise programme. 🎫 Tickets for October 25th: hdfst.uk/E57023 ----------------------------------------- 3. TBC Editions Launch Making a hugely welcome return, The Brunswick Club community takes over Dawkins Ales to celebrate their new TBC EDITIONS label with an eclectic selection of sonic and audiovisual experimentations from Viridian Ensemble, Copper Sounds, COIMS and more. ----------------------------------------- 4. Cinebra: A Brief History of Horror A unique comedy horror narrative that traces the history of horror classic and tropes in cinema through the medium of musical comedy. A multimedia frenzy of gore, haunted amulets and the most popular girl in college. ----------------------------------------- 5. Fairytales for Grownups Inspired by the Día de Los Muertos, The Crick Crack Club hosts an evening of storytelling revelling in ritual and narratives between life and death. ----------------------------------------- 6. Between Two Worlds: Welcome to Twin Peaks Step into the unsettling, surreal world where the owls are not what they seem as The Cube hosts a truly immersive Lynchian affair, featuring a special performance from the mercurial Sarahsson. ----------------------------------------- 7. AMRA (Imran Perretta and Paul Purgas) A collaborative audiovisual performance, with experimental electronics and analogue media, addressing South Asian identity; presented alongside Imran Perretta’s solo exhibiton at Spike Island and in partnership with Qu Junktions.

From events on Saturday

“How do we reconnect to our city’s history in a post-Colston statue, post-pandemic society? This panel event will bring together writer and historian Edson Burton, poet and activist Lawrence Hoo, and DJ, singer and presenter Ngaio Anyia for a discussion on the power of poetry and art in radical change and connecting people. Join the trio as they delve into the history of radical BAME arts in Bristol, protest and dissent, and how these movements have contributed to the lifeblood of the city today. This event will be BSL interpreted and include captions.”

From: Art and Dissent: Bristol’s Radical History