Preview: The University of Bristol's sounds of Autumn
By The Epigram Music Team
Though the days may be becoming shorter as leaves begin to fall during the Autumn months, Bristol's music scene isn't give anyone the impression that it's in hibernation. With the warming arrival of a new student cohort, there is no season like Autumn to introduce musical newcomers to the city. As usual, big names are on offer beside more raucous celebrations of the city's nightlife, and of course, cosier shows to romanticise the hardships that come with the chillier side of the season.
JFS ‘Freshtival’, 15th September @ Strange Brew
A brand-new Fresher’s week event from one of the University’s grooviest societies, Jazz Funk and Soul Society (JFS) are partnering with Bristol SU, Strange Brew and Bristol Big Band Society (home to the South West’s beloved Bristol Hornstars and Bristol University Jazz Orchestra), for an infectious evening of music.
Featuring high-octane headliner, Hippo - a beefy three piece guaranteed to provide plenty to chew on - the night won’t end until the early hours, with a DJ set from Dom R promising to keep you bouncing into the AM. A not-to-be-missed baptism for all incoming fans of jazz, funk and soul, get your tickets on the SU website now.
Bristol Sea Shanty Festival, 21st September @ Brunel’s SS Great Britain and
Underfall Yard
An ode to Bristol’s maritime history, hosted in the quarters of Brunel’s SS Great
Britain herself, spend a September Saturday appreciating Bristol’s harbourside to the soundtrack of its sailors. An entirely free festival, Bristol Sea Shanty Festival features fifty sets of nautical numbers from some of the best named shanty choirs around.
Catch ‘Out of Tunas’, ‘Piratitude’, ‘The Barnacle Buoys’ and plenty more for some impressive musical arrangements. Organised by local shantymen ‘High and Dry’, the weekend promises to be a healthy celebration of Bristol’s traditional shanty folk music.
Overmono Pure Devotion, 28th September @ Prospect
The newly opened Prospect building has been bombarded by big names in the dance scene since its doors opened in July. Overmono, kingmakers in the scene, sit next to acts like Bonobo and Joy Orbison as artists who have brought festival recognition to the venue in recent months.
Joined by LSDXOXO who graced Strange Brew last year, and Blawan who snuck into alternative spaces with a feature on Gilla Band’s record The Early Years. Distilling a weekend’s worth of stellar music on the lineup into a single night is certainly a surefire method of saving the bank account and energy levels before Christmas deadlines.
The Dandy Warhols + The Black Angels, October 6th @ O2 Academy
Bringing a sound grittier and rawer than ever, psychedelic rockers The Dandy Warhols and The Black Angels are co-headlining at the O2 Academy as part of their Europe tour this autumn. Following the release of The Dandys’ new album ‘ROCKMAKER’, their experimental sound is fully fledged, nodding towards post-punk with technological infusions that prey on dystopian fears, like an episode straight out of ‘Black Mirror.’
It is a far cry from the upbeat ‘Bohemian Like You’, as they rid themselves of any Britpop-tinted gauze. Shoegaze smears over an industrial, electronic sound, like a screwdriver is simultaneously sharpening and unfocussing your senses. This is an ultimate musical trip you won’t want to miss.
Stone Cold Hustle, 12th October @ The Lanes
The seven-piece funk and neo-soul ensemble come home to their birthplace and subsequent stomping ground of Bristol, concluding their seven-stop UK tour with a bang. The group will take to The Lanes in October, where its disco balls, bowling alleys and karaoke rooms fit the suave and swagger that Stone Cold Hustle will fill the room with right in the heart of the city.
If a night of groovy basslines, stellar horn improvisation and raspy James Brown-esque vocals sounds up your street, look no further than catching ever-stylish frontman Mr Bon Suis at The Lanes, who you may have likely seen exuding his funky charm on a Mr Wolf’s or Canteen stage. Wherever you decide to go and see them, it’s a surefire way to scratch that itch for some much-needed '70s funk and soul!
Bôa, October 17th @ Thekla
Having recently reunited after more than a decade apart, the ‘90s female-fronted alt-rock band, who found new fame on TikTok with their 1998 hit ‘Duvet’, are headlining Bristol’s beloved venue on a boat. They’re back with a hard-hitting single and their full album ‘Whiplash’ set for release this autumn. But this is not simply just a return; it’s a rebirth of something missed, like the revived pulse of a first love.
The new single bears a sense of starting afresh, while still being draped in the band’s signature ‘90s sound. Set to perform their haunting soundscape just two weeks before Halloween, their legendary album ‘Twilight’ still proves that they are indeed the soundtrack of twilight — half in the past, half in the future, but fully alive in the now.
DnB Allstars 360 Halloween, 26th October @ Document
Perhaps the only thing scarier than a horde of monsters on a Halloween night would be a crowd of Bristol University students, swarming a 360 degree stage thanks to DnB allstars’ relentless efforts in the drum and bass circuit.
The night features all the food groups for lovers of a big night out to commemorate the spooky occasion: Sub Focus, A.M.C and Bladerunner to name but a few. All names that have sporadically featured across the summer months in Bristol, only a force as strong as DnB allstars will be able to unite them.
Ibibio Sound Machine, 8th November @ Bristol Beacon
Which are the records that you wish made it onto the Mercury Prize shortlist this year? Not seeing Pull The Rope make the cut this year was, for our editor, only slightly short of tragic. Having played the smaller venue of SWX, the group now take the Beacon Hall as another class act for danceability this side of term one.
Their afro-funk style is a must for fans of the genre, though a further delving into electro and disco styles takes the band's sound into a place that most acts in the genre wouldn't dare approach. Fearlessly groovy, you'll want to wear your dancing shoes for this one.
The Marías, 9th November @ SWX
Celebrating the release of their dreamy album ‘Submarine’, Grammy-nominated indie pop band The Marías are coming to Bristol this November. With songs in both English and Spanish, their soundscape is like psychedelic soul and dream-pop pirouetting across a jazzy stage, decadently dressed in velvety vocals.
Their music is like sinking into your favourite worn-in winter jacket - stylish and comfortable, with a hazy, reverb-soaked tone that feels slightly nostalgic yet not overtly sentimental, splaying across a sultry bassline. Expansive and mellow all at once, their sound promises to fill the large venue of SWX with melodic tunes, horn solos, and guitar riffs
Sports Team, 24th November @ Trinity Centre
Returning to Bristol after two years to kick off their campaign for their third album release Boys These Days, Sports Team brings their raucous sound to the Trinity Centre. The quintessentially British and tongue-in-cheek lyricism have had their previous two albums carried to critical acclaim by folks across the UK, who are rewarded with the noise and anarchy brought to the band’s live shows, often accompanied with a pub voyage afterwards dictated on the band’s socials.
We’re expecting this show to be no different, with the band coming back with a bang in the form of their single release 'I’m in Love (Subaru)' released in July to kick off the campaign, complete with dazzling synths and saxophone grooves taking charge, promising an equally special live show to be delivered in their November tour.
Royel Otis, 26th November @ Marble Factory
Australian duo Royel Otis are seizing their near-immediate rise to fame after their viral 'Murder on the Dancefloor' cover for Triple J’s Like A Version earlier this year floating to the surface of a Saltburn-crazed internet.
Touring their debut album PRATTS & PAIN, this gig is sure to encapsulate the excitable, energetic sound of a group in their early stages of world-wide success. The fresh-faced band will take to The Marble Factory in Motion, one of the nation’s most beloved and ever-evolving venues, with an equally exhilarating night of dance tunes afterwards.
Bristol University Music Society Chamber Orchestra, 30th November @ Victoria
Rooms
As first term draws to a close, Bristol University Music Society, the University’s collective for classical musicians, returns with a stellar lineup of repertoire for their winter concert series. Sitting comfortably on their home stage in the Victoria Rooms, the society’s Chamber Orchestra prepare to welcome you into the festive season, with a captivating and reflective concert to calm the chaos of term one.
Conducted by Third Year Music student Jago Webb, expect to get lost in the spellbinding symphonies of the classical world, all for a student-friendly ticket price. Visit the SU website for more information.
Who are you most excited to see in Autumn?