16th April 2022
Outer Town Festival – an event started last year, grassroots, by a handful of Bristol’s music students – has been on every cult music fan’s mind for the last month. Played out in independent venues, with fans stacked like coats at a packed house party, Outer Town is a youthful day of music that matters.
Homegrown bands take the streets’ stages; getting lost is a blessing in sweaty disguise. You’re sure to find something unexpected buried in the city’s pocket; a lucky coin picked up from the street.
One of the best-loved of these is @getdown_services , and with people queuing out the door to see them, dozens finally saw what all the fuss is about. Armed with a novelty act’s performance and a protest song’s words, they’re a shot-quick change of pace.
@deeptan perform a shamanic summoning deep in Exchange’s core. They’re a welcome respite from bands stuck between rock and a hard place: cultlike and witchy, they murmur out omens the rest of the music scene have yet to get their ear into.
@grandmashouseband have long since held down the fort of the city’s queer punk scene, so their slot, pride of place, is well-earned. Performing in the Assembly Rooms, Grandmas House promise their cult following ringing ears and a band to tout as one seen before they got big. The sound cuts out midway, but they play anyway; they’re teenagers who’ve been caught sneaking out and decide to stay there till morning. They’re already in trouble; they may as well make a night of it.
The people in these crowds feel like Bristol, bottled; a character study of a whole city. They’re dressed to the nines in smeared eye makeup, outgrown mullets, and blonde buzzcuts. Outer Town should be alongside these Bristol habits: as natural as bleached eyebrows, rolled cigarettes, or stick-and-poke tattoos. With events ranging from the intimacy of a beat poetry reading to a dozen man mosh pit, the festival showcases a city coming together to support its own.
@katejeffrie
@nevedawsonphotos
Kate Jeffrie @katejeffrie
Role: Lead Writer / Interviewer
I review gigs, and interview bands and musicians.
Available For: Gig Reviews, band interviews
Qualification: I study English Literature at the University of Bristol.
First attended gig: The first gig I remember going to see was Lewis Watson when I was 13, at a pub a few towns over from where I lived. My friends and I all loved him, and I remember how shocked I was that someone I had on this pedestal could be stood on a stage just a few feet away, drinking a beer and playing guitar!
First gig reviewed: The first gig I ever reviewed was Palace at the O2 Academy Bristol. As a band I wasn’t particularly well acquainted with, it was a testament to how live music can bowl someone over, even when it’s coming from strangers.
Dream gig: My dad saw The Smiths on their first tour, and since they’re my favourite band, I think seeing them in an intimate venue would be a dream
@nevedawsonphotos @_nevedawson
My current role for TBGG is as a Reviewer, Interviewer and Photographer, which I do in my spare time when I'm not studying English Literature and History at the University of Bristol.
I'm available for reviews, previews, interviews and shoots through the company. Alongside TBGG I also write for The So Young, Groupie and Rodeo Magazines, with an aspiration to enter magazine and newspaper journalism focusing on culture and the arts.
What was your first Gig?
The first gig I remember seeing (when I wasn’t dragged around by my metal-head father) was The Killers live in my hometown of Birmingham in 2016. Brandon Flowers’s iridescent cowboy suit still blinds me to this day and echoes glamorous indie rock n’ roll for years to come.
What's your dream Gig?
I would have to say my dream gig would be seeing Hendrix’s star-spangled banner live at Woodstock ’69. Call me cliché but I was born in the wrong generation.