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Bristol's Drum & Bass Events

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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

Educations Sessions expand their road-tested workouts in dnb/jungle excellence into rave-ready hoover hardcore and darkside jungle techno. The inaugural Pitch Shift is here to serve you unruly vinyl-only ruffage from Dissonance’s DJ Azure and Undo Cru’s Porgus Porgus Minimus + more. Education Sessions presents: Pitch Shift at Cosies.

YES WE DO…..and who better to serve you a Wednesday night amen platter than Jigsore’s raggatek soundbwoy Humb + Asha Binx in total tearout mode. We Need Jungle - Humb - Asha Binx - Kymeric at Cosies.

Free entry! The Crown dares you to descend those stairs for a 3am session with Nik Fury’s darkside 2-stepping wobblers + No Nation and Deselecta going b2b in a flurry of Metalheadz grade dnb rollers and next-gen ruffneck junglism. Pre-draft that sick note to your boss cos Amen Therapy >>>>> hump day. Amen Therapy Presents: Scorpion at The Crown.

Roni Size at Basement 45!? No you’re not dreaming…..Distorted Beats are making magic happen here alongside OG Bristol dnb royalty DJ SUV and Ruffneck Ting’s Dazee in a rather large 2 room takeover. 100% of profits go to Temwa’s amazing community-led initiatives providing vital relief work in rural Malawi. Distorted Beats Fundraiser - Roni Size + More at Basement 45.

What our editors say

“For nearly 20 years, Motion has been at the heart of Bristol’s drum and bass scene, and for our closing series, we’re bringing some of the genre’s biggest names to the city. Leading the lineup is Dimension, whose unique productions have made him one of the most in-demand artists in electronic music today.”
From: Motion Closing Series: Dimension, Friction, KOVEN

“Ray Keith is one of the UK’s most respected names in jungle and drum and bass, regarded as the Godfather of D&B. Renowned for his bass-heavy yet soulful productions and seamless skills, this iconic DJ, producer and record label head has remained at the pinnacle of the scene since helping to pioneer the genre nearly two decades ago.”
From: Ray Keith + support | Attic Bar

“Head down to The Crown on Tuesday 13th May for a night of multi genre madness with nothing but high energy jungle, garage and dnb with TEXT on headline duties!”
From: Rogue Frequency: TEXT, Lportt, Crashie + more

“A multi-genre night of high energy electro from JPEG, prog house, wiggy electro & left-field percussive sounds from Ollie Kirk & Roaming Data, bouncy 160 and jungle-techno from Lizla & groovy house, garage & disco from Furlotti.”
From: Missing Linc in aid of MAP & CALM

“Introduced to d&b at 14, Whiney has become a true master in deep rollers, techy minimal and jungle-influenced drums. Having signed to Hospital Records at 18, his top-notch productions speak for themselves, reflected in a stacked back catalogue on respected labels and a long list of collaborations under his belt, such as P Money and Unglue. You know this one’s gonna go off.”
From: Wide Eyes: Whiney + Benny Page