Our hand picked gigs for April, May and June brought to you by Kate Jeffrie
As we welcome in spring’s new period of growth, make sure to check out the city’s fast-growing bands along with those currently enjoying their time in the sun. From small festival segments to stadium big hitters, here are three gigs for each of the next three months. Whether they involve lazing in the sunshine while listening outside or getting into the venue just as the sky gets dark, this is the time for live music. Bristol has it all on offer; take it up on it.
APRIL
Getdown Services – April 16th, Outertown Festival
At Outertown – a scavenger hunt of a festival across the city of Bristol – Getdown Services refuse to be missed. Straddling the line between being a political and novel band with veteran ease, these Bristol locals dominate the stage. They’re a truth-seeker and a town-crier dressed as a pair of jokers, and excel at projecting energy onto even the smallest of stages.
(For fans of Sleaford Mods, The Streets, and Saloon Dion.)
Image: Sion Marshall-Waters
Hunny Buzz – April 20th, Exchange
At Exchange – an intimate venue known for the wall-of-sound city punk that it cultivates – Hunny Buzz give the chance to watch a pop band that’ll make it big right from their career’s beginning. Veering away from the venue’s current fare, Hunny Buzz are as honey-sweet and energetic as the name suggests. Lyd Read, the band’s frontgirl, brings hairbrush-singing passion to the endeavour; the set is sure to cartwheel up and out with a firework.
(For fans of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Beach Bunny.)
Image@ Aron Weston
Billie Nomates – April 29th, The Marble Factory
As a musician who only started releasing music in 2020, Billie Nomates’ quick ascent feels sweeter when she comes back to where she calls home. Part of the post punk sprechgesang movement that keeps Sleaford Mods and Dry Cleaning amongst its coven’s brethren, Nomates’ new album, CACTI, is one for the books. Folksy and wide-eyed, with an openly admitted bitterness, Nomates promises to give even The Marble Factory’s large crowd a sense of intimacy. Don’t leave Billie Nomates lonely; catch her flirtations at The Marble Factory and put them in your pocket for a lonesome day.
(For fans of Dry Cleaning, Joan Baez, and Paolo Nutini.)
MAY
Blank Atlas – May 13th, Rough Trade
With a relentless energy that feels almost American in its refusal to slow, Blank Atlas take to the Rough Trade stage, once again, to show what a set of Bristol natives can do. Veering between hard rock and pop punk while armed with a slew of red-hot singles, Blank Atlas will bring a relentless riot to the stage. Catch them back at home, in their natural habitat; boys like this were born to perform.
(For fans of Blink-182, Sum 41, and Simple Plan.)
Billie Marten – May 17th, Thekla
On tour to drop her newest album, Drop Cherries, folk singer-songwriter Billie Marten’s latest music has been anticipated with wilful impatience. Marten’s relationship with her audience has always been a slow-burn love that unspools like ribbon into the crowd. While she will be at Rough Trade Bristol on April 7th for a performance and signing – the first day the album drops – the real treat will be her Thekla set. The album is expected to chronicle the feeling of dropping everything to express one’s love for somebody: do one better and drop it all for Marten’s eagerly awaited new music. She’s prepared to get on the soapbox for it.
(For fans of Prima Queen, Faye Webster, and Alexandra Savior.)
Image: Katie Silvester
GorZ – May 20th, Gawkzine Launch Party at Dareshack
As part of an event celebrating independent Bristol artists and the queer music they create, GorZ will take to the stage like a plan of attack. They are an overtly political and single-minded collective who make rooms feel transgressive just for housing them. Not out of place in high-intensity nightclubs like Wraith, GorZ are a distinctly modern band, even as they draw on decades-old influences. With little to no online presence and the built-in difficulty to get hands on their records unless you see them live, Gorz are a band that must be seen to be believed. This is not just performance; they really know how to put on a show.
(For fans of Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Dresden Dolls, and Minor Threat.)
Image: Jamie Pazza
JUNE
Andy Shauf – June 3rd, Trinity Centre
Andy Shauf is known for singing sweetness; his courage is found on a sugar-high rather than in a night-cap. Finding himself on tour for his new album, Norm, Shauf takes his unique brand of indie baroque pop onto the open road. The openness of his latest music gels best with Bristol’s most beautiful music venue, The Trinity Centre; its churchlike aura fits the easy tranquillity of the night Shauf is hosting. It’s sure to be beautiful, whatever he plays. It’s a night, after all, for old friends as well-worn as bobbled cardigans.
(For fans of Good Morning, Mac DeMarco, and Daniel Ceasar.)
Image: Kevin Brown
Sir Chloe – June 5th, Thekla
With the old adage that a band has a whole lifetime to create their debut album and just six months for their second on their minds, Sir Chloe bring Bristol I Am The Dog, their sophomore album. Seeming ready to ascend mere nobility and find themselves among pop rock royalty, Dana Foote takes her old-school crooning to the online generation. With the stage presence that many social media-savvy bands lack, Sir Chloe may have found their fame through the digital trial by fire, but it’s clear there is something more to them that doesn’t translate to screen. Check them out at Thekla for the real thing; something brooding, sultry, and consciously cool.
(For fans of The Neighbourhood, Kali Uchis, and Sky Ferreira.)
Image: Ambar Navarro
Circa Waves – June 13th, Bristol O2 Academy
Take a load off; see what Circa Waves are up to. Having caught summer in a bottle and shaken it till it burst, the band are reaching dizzying, breathless heights on their latest album, Never Going Under. Already firmly in the indie hall of fame due to the now-iconic 2015 hit, ‘T-Shirt Weather’, Circa Waves are back again. The band are reminiscent, live, of that summer feeling; the moment after the dive, seconds before one hits the water. Supported by Courting, a band of rock-stars-to-be, the night is sure to be one to remember. Hot summer nights are few and far between, but this one feels guaranteed.
(For fans of Wallows, Dr. Dog, and Her’s.)
Image: Captique
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
