Bristol's Live Music Highlights: 27th March - 2nd April
Posted on: 27 Mar 2017As the evenings get longer and we move into March, Bristol's musical offerings remain as prolific and varied as ever, with a distinguished range of neo-soul, shoegaze, mod and funk and soul occupying the city's venues over the next seven days. Feast your ears.
Sampha - O2 Academy, 28th March
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The time it has taken Sampha to step out from under the shadows of his collaborators is testament to the size of the artists who have thrown them. And when those in question are the likes of Drake, Jessie Ware and Solange, this is in turn a testament to the vocal talents of the South London man whom they evidently value so greatly. This has been compounded by the release of his debut LP Process, which has excelled both critically and commercially, and represents the singer’s first steps into the sunlight. There will be tears at this show, which represents a much bigger proposal than his previous Bristol visit to the Marble Factory - at which the crowd present promptly lost their marbles.
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The Jesus and Mary Chain - O2 Academy, 29th March
Though the chart success of Glasgow’s The Jesus and Mary Chain was practically non-existent, the artistic value of their output, conversely, is inestimable. Their reverb-heavy blend of shoegaze and bubble-gum pop proffered a number of hits that have firmly stood the test of time, and firmed up the path of white noise for everyone from My Bloody Valentine to Spiritualised. Brothers William and Jim Reid, who have shared vocal duties and remained the core of the Chain since its inception are back on the road and taking in a night at the O2 Academy on their travels.
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Pulled Apart By Horses - Thekla, 29th March
With a name like that, Pulled Apart By Horses were never going to make meek music. Their rambunctious blend of post-hardcore alt-rock has proffered four respected records, which easily fit into the oeuvre of each genre. Their latest, The Haze, is the first since the departure of founding drummer Lee Vincent, but the line-up reshuffle doesn’t seem to have interrupted the band’s canter, with the Leeds outfit sounding as good as ever. Get hot and heavy with them below the decks of HMS Thekla on Wednesday.
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Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club - Thekla, 31st March
The Beeb’s resident scouser is a dab hand at a number of assorted disciplines which span from the interworking of a successful fighting robot to the in-depth knowledge of funk and soul music, with which he fills his 6 Music radio show. It is under the latter pretence that he arrives at Thekla this week, where he will take to the decks to prove his authority on this, the happiest of all of the genres.
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Paul Weller - Colston Hall, 1st April
It’s time to get suited and booted: Paul Weller is coming to town on the first of next month; and believe us, this is no April fool. The Modfather will roll through Colston Hall as part of a ten-date UK tour, armed with a set jam-packed full of career-spanning hits from this, one of the country’s most iconoclastic musical icons. Having both sat on The Style Council and jump-started The Jam, Weller has created two of the most enduring bands in popular music in a career which has seen him barely put a Chelsea boot wrong. The solo material that has resulted since his dissolution of the Council in 1989 follows the soulful lilt that this second project pursued, with tracks like ‘Wild Wood’ and ‘You Do Something To Me’ exploring the tenderer limits of the sideburned singer’s vocal. Mod goals.
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An ardent Geordie minus the accent, Sam seemingly strove to get as far away from the Toon as possible, as soon as university beckoned. Three undergraduate years at UoB were more than ample time for Bristol (as it inevitably does) to get under his skin, and so here he remains: reporting, as Assistant Editor, on the cultural happenings which so infatuated him with the city. Catch him at sam@365bristol.com.
