Where to find free music in Bristol Free music's pretty easy to find in Bristol. Whilst most gigs outside of the big venues are usually only a few quid, it's always nice to see some bands for free or a couple of pounds in a bucket (if they're good!) For guaranteed free music with your pint, go to a venue which has a free entry policy.

The Old Duke, The Canteen and The Golden Lion (except fridays) should probably be your first port-of-call to check out Coronation Tap are also very reliable and popular for free gigs. Luckily free gigs can happen anywhere, this means you can keep things interesting and not get bored of rotating the same Bristol venues. Free live music can crop up anywhere from the Grain Barge and Lousianna to Colston Hall and even St Georges.

Good news: gigs in Bristol are more likely to be free than anywhere else! General ticket prices seem to be more common between free and £5; the £20+ bracket is a rare one compared to the capital’s high-end arts and theatre gigs. Bristol’s pandemic response has opened up some extra local music funding. Will free gigs disappear with the added financial pressures of covid? Indoor gigs may soon be possible, but how many of them will remain free and accessible?

From mid June to the beginning of September Bristol Council and independent organisations put on some great free music events. Best of all there's something different almost every weekend and they don't cost any money! Significant large events include St Werbergh's Fair, The Harbourside Festival and St Pauls Carnival. In addition there are some great smaller, open air gigs with free entry to be found in places like Queens Square, Stokes Croft and Castle Park.

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Our recent free gigs recommendations

Trá Pháidín subvert trad folk niceties with landslides of prog-jazz, drone, post-rock, even Afrobeat. This is music that could be coming from a rock, a radio, or just behind your left ear, with roots as deep as the oldest tree. Something new is stirring FFO: Lankum, Gong, Tara Clerkin Trio, Brìghde Chaimbeul. Trá Pháidín / Simon Moreton / Oisín Minogue & Russ Davidson at The Greenbank.

Radical jazz church! Kneel before this world-class outsider improv conglomeration from the ever-excellent Field Concert series: mangling sometime Joe McPhee / John Zorn electro-acoustic sax wiz Bhob Rainey together with the modular sprawl of Phil Durrant and Matt Davis’ prepared trumpet. Field Concert Series at St Anne's Church, St Leonards Road Greenbank, Bristol, BS5 6JN.

Free entry / PWYC! Hump day treats incoming in the Lanes’ loving clutches: Humdrum’s jam scene-birthed brainchild is a 5-person-strong serving of jazz fusion balladry; Khraungbin-channelling lovelies Sundaughter bring woozy textured psych-gaze; and Paling’s post-rock freakouts are pure eardrum abuse. Exquisite! HUMDRUM + SUNDAUGHTER + PALING at The Lanes.

Marauding Norsemen Agabas charge into town wielding their self-coined ‘deathjazz’: a pummeling uptempo rawk engine with a thrash gallop, horn blasts strafing through the noise, and shredding throat growls atop a storm of riffs and rhythms. A cataclysmic ruin ritual FFO: Kvelertak, Imperial Triumphant, Slipknot, Converge. AGABAS at Exchange.

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