Three of Bristol’s Alternative Venues

1. Lakota (Upper York St, Stokes Croft). 

Type of music: All different genres of dance music depending on the particular night, anything from Psytrance to Techno to Drum’n’Bass.

Here’s Lakota from the outside, as you can see like most of Stokes Croft it’s covered in graffiti. Inside there is a quite impressive main dance area with a balcony, and three other rooms. The chill out space is in the attic, and ironically it gets very warm up there on a popular night! There is also a good smoking area, which is always the best place to make new friends. I don’t recommend smoking obviously, that would be ridiculous, but the smoking area at Lakota is really one of the best places to hang out.

I would recommend going there on a Tribe of Frog night- you don’t have to like psytrance to enjoy ToF but it helps; you only need to enjoy the company of friendly people who like talking to strangers. Word of advice: it’s not the kind of night where people get really really drunk on loads of booze. You can do that, but you may not make the right impression….

This is what the inside looks like on a Tribe night, which should give you some indication of the sort of thing you might want to wear.  The next one is the Halloween party on the 1st of November– definitely go, tickets are a tenner.

Probably best not to go to Lakota for the first time on a night that isn’t Tribe, because the vibe might be a little more… edgy. But if you like whatever flavour of electronic music it is, go for it! The ambience is very dependent on the type of music being played- at a Psytrance night it’s very friendly and fluffy, at a Drum’n’Bass night the atmosphere is a bit more heavy.

2. The Black Swan (Stapleton Road, Easton) 

Type of music: Like Lakota but more so. They tend to have more Techno and Dark Drum’n’Bass nights.

What to wear- anything really, there is never a dress code. Depends on the genre of music but usually I like to wear something that will fluoresce under UV lights, it generally enhances the partying experience.

The best thing about the Swan is probably the garden out the back, which is huge and usually has a nice fire you can sit around and chat to new people. Unfortunately google can’t find me a picture of it, so here’s what the outside looks like-

Looks just like an ordinary pub doesn’t it? But go round the side to the right there and there’s another entrance to the club bit. As a space to dance in it’s not as good as Lakota, the ceilings are a bit low and it’s not the most attractive space, but if you’re into your really hard dance music this is the place to go. Even if you’re not, go at least once; break out of the Bunker/Lizard Lounge funk and try something different. I tend to find the ambience is slightly less friendly than at Lakota (even on a Psytrance night), but don’t let that worry you. It’s definitely worth making the effort to go a little bit further and experience a legendary Bristol institution.

3. The Star and Garter (Brook rd, Montpelier)

Type of music: Reggae, Reggae and Reggae.

Continuing with a theme of places covered in graffiti, this is Bristol’s premier late night venue, it’s open until whenever they feel like closing and after a certain point they stop letting anyone smoke outside, but that’s ok because you can smoke in the room with Dutty Ken’s coffin in it. Dutty Ken is the owner, he’s a Bristol legend and if you name-drop him you’ll sound like someone who knows what they’re talking about. See below for his picture:

(Check out my blog st3reo1som3r.wordpress.com for an extended version of this article, and more!) 

• alternative
• bristol
• nightlife
• nightout