What's On / Bristol Nightlife / drum and bass

Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

upcoming clubnight

Bristol's Drum And Bass Scene

Is Stokes Croft a drum and bass Mecca?

Drum and bass in Bristol needs no bigger homes than Lakota and Blue Mountain. Both on the same street in Stokes Croft - they’ve continued Bristol’s drum n bass lineage from DJ Krust and Roni Size through to Intrigue Music and the more experimental UVB76 crew. Bristol’s place in the history of drum n bass is assured. Figureheads like DJ Die draw the line between the jungle and drum n bass scenes, jungle is key in Bristol - a city with so much Caribbean heritage, roots reggae’s influence on drum n bass comes through the language of jungle. But with both Lakota and Blue Mountain closing their doors soon to developers, is Bristol in a drum n bass crisis?

Drum and bass in Bristol encapsulates the genre in the wider world. Big venues play host to big acts with nights such as Bedlam, One Nation and Shit the Bed offering International stars including Pendulum, Chase and Status, Andy C and Noisia on a regular basis. In addition to this, alternative venues like the Dojo Lounge, Basement 45 and the Black Swan foster the rarefied sounds of dnb's many sub genres offering the city a unique depth to its plethora of drum and bass music. New years eve in Bristol clubs sees the city's venues rammed to the brim with all of the drum and bass's big players djing somewhere in Bristol.

Agro, Dissident and Mongrel offer dnb of a techy, dark variety while the bastion of the deeper sound, Intrigue, continues to push artists such as Marcus Intalex, Calibre and Fabio. Torque, straddling the line between dark and deep is a drum and bass monthly of significant recognition, hosting label nights and affiliated artists from Club Autonomic to Critical and Shogun Audio.

With drum and bass such a popular genre in Bristol, most clubs present dnb of some description at least once per month. Basement 45 has emerged as a consistent venue, with Torque, Abstraction and Nine Tree all on regular rotation at the club. Dojos plays host to the aforementioned Intrigue while Lab is home to Signal which runs as a bi-monthly event.

Of the larger venues Motion has a throng of events that are less frequent but larger in scale. Although many of these nights are multi-genre affairs, Run and Shit The Bed routinely promote dnb artists as their headline acts.

Lakota is another important dnb venue, housing Concrete Beat, Agro and since September 2010, Bedlam. Hospitality's residency at the Thekla ensures dnb is consistent fixture on the ship, while the rave-ready Black Swan is the spearhead for the harder jungle-tek sounds of the dnb genre.

Buy tickets for drum and bass events in Bristol

Our recent drum and bass recommendations

Sell out warning! The First Lady of Metalheadz whips up an essential 'ardkore rip-roarer courtesy of Double O and Mantra’s peerless Rupture. Featuring the don Peverelist in rare junglist mode, Bristol’s breakbeat / dark ruffage queen Anina, cloud-gazing pad euphoria from Artificial Red + Blackeye MC on the mic all night. It’s amen heaven we tell you, what more could you want? Rupture x Trinity Presents at The Trinity Centre.

Long live PLU! Celebrate 12 years of our beloved queer partystarters with Animistic Beliefs’ incendiary techno-gabber-gamelan-breakbeat catharsis and techno trance pumpers from Field Maneuvers fave Lewis Lowe. See you in the dance. PLU: 12 years in the Dance wt Animistic Beliefs at The Loco Klub.

The unstoppable occupation of Ashton Court rolls on with heavy lovers dub from crucial operators Two Step Forward. Featuring Martin Melody’s silky vocals gracing the mic alongside Ras Addis, Sisters in Dub’s Danniella Dee serving the impeccable roots selection + much more. Community Jam Collective hold down room two with everything from Anatolian psych to crooning country to cosmic disco oddities. Big! "GOOD MANORS" / LOVIN' THE MANOR CJC & TSF at Ashton Court.

Reactor 4 make a much-deserved upgrade to Green Works, setting our hearts alight with Moving Shadow / Scientific Wax amen worship done proper. The technical don Equinox and deep junglist DJ Harmony lead the OG charge with future retro jungle techno from Slim Sinna and DJ Chromz. Wicked! REACTOR 4 & BEATEN TRACK PRESENT CUPIDS CHAOS at Green Works.

What our editors say

“All aboard! Dissonance's yearly boat party takes sail. This occasion also marks our second collaboration with jungle legends, AKO Beatz. We'll be bringing you an all star line up (TBC) across a three hour boat trip + our first endeavour at Strange Brew for an after-party.”
From: DISSONANCE X AKO BEATZ BOAT PARTY

“As always, we are keeping things classic with all DJs channeling that oldskool euphoric rave sound, to keep your faces smiling and feet moving. Expect the usual breakbeat, hard house, and hardcore, and if you're well-behaved we might even get some jungle tekno and acid techno to finish ;)”
From: Safe As F*ck w/ Aerbreak

“Bladerunner is a renowned figure in Jungle and Drum and Bass, celebrated for his masterful productions, electrifying DJ sets, and down-to-earth demeanour. Inspired by jungle in the mid-90s and following his dad, reggae artist and Radio 1 DJ The Man Ezeke, Bladerunner built his craft in East Anglia, recreating jungle classics from raw samples.”
From: Bristol DNB Rave - Bladerunner & OKO + More

“It's been too long since these crews have been in Bristol, and they're bringing with them a stellar team of resident DJs, bringing banging tunes straight from the fields! Expect all your favourite free party flavours from fidget to hardtrance to jungle to hardtek.”
From: DOUBLE BOOKED: Sovereign vs Isolated Soundclash

“Often playing with tension and release to their full capacity, Djrum's melting pot of glitchy electronics, trip-hop, jungle, techno, abstract percussion and ambient music has enabled him to produce wigged-out and unplaceable sounding DJ sets at many international clubs and festivals.”
From: Strange Brew presents Djrum