Review: Brisfest 2016

Saturday saw the relaunch of Brisfest, transforming the centre of Bristol to celebrate the best in local musical talent. Renamed BrisFest:Soundscape and returning after a two-year hiatus, the festival  made use of music venues throughout the city, with each stage focusing on a different genre of music.

You could head to The Fleece to dance your socks off to swinging rock ‘n’ roll, thrash about to metal at The Exchange, or take a breather in the company of some gentle acoustic folk at the Louisiana. With big names like Spectres and Eva Lazarus headlining a couple of stages, and 15 hours’ worth of great music being played across the 15 venues, this wasn’t an event to miss. 

The Best of Bristol stage, which was programmed by Bristol24/7 and sponsored by Thatchers, took up the middle of the courtyard behind The Station (opposite those big red fire station doors) with smaller stages for techno, house, electronica and drum & bass hidden away in the old court buildings.

As I walked around the empty halls, surrounded by old court chairs still attached to the floor, I could hear music coming from under the wooden floorboards. And after finding a staircase down into the cells beneath the building, I stumbled into one of the rave rooms that had kicked things off early. Later in the evening these rooms would be packed with people, but for now, two very dedicated dancers were busting shapes in front of the DJ booth in an otherwise empty room. I left them to it, and headed back up into the light.

White Bully Soundsystem took to the Bristol24/7 stage at two o’clock and accompanied people’s arrival with a slow, bouncy, didgeridoo-laced DJ set for the first hour. This was the perfect soundtrack as everyone headed to the bar to get the first round of ciders in, and set up nicely the chilled atmosphere that would persist throughout the day.  

The bands started playing at three, kicking off with self-proclaimed “bad boys of hip-hop” Contraband Breaks Ensemble bringing old school grooves from the likes of Dr. Dre, underneath their own playful lyrics and funky basslines.

The rest of the daytime lineup on the Bristol24/7 stage continued to deliver on the ‘best of Bristol’ tag promised as more people started to fill up the courtyard. Oliver Wilde brought dreamy acoustic picking and soft harmonious vocals with such a stripped-back and relaxed set that at one point he played a verse for a second time just to achieve a more perfect sound. This was followed up by the extremely high energy, beatbox-driven rap of The Scribes. Clearly having a ton of fun with the crowd, they injected a frantic energy into the air and managed to get a couple of laughs from one drunk audience member who couldn’t quite get the call and response timing down when put on the mic. 

I had just enough time to cycle across to catch Gaz Brookfield on the sticky floors of The Fleece. It was nice to see that crowds at other venues were having as much fun. Bristol can sometimes feel like one big festival anyway, but there’s something to having to travel around the city to get to other stages that really makes the place you live come alive. Gaz delivered a massively positive performance, all in the name of celebrating the West Country, and his ‘land-pirate’ lifestyle. He also wove in some crowd pleasing protest speeches between songs (“this is dedicated to Theresa May…or may not”). 

Spirits were high going into the headline slots. The dark, gloomy noise-rock of Spectres took the top spot on the main outdoor stage, and while they gave a good performance, I was drawn indoors where Temple Records had been showcasing younger Bristol talent throughout the day. Some of these acts were too enthusiastic with their amp volumes, and occasionally the noise would bleed over to the main stage (Laura Kidd of She Makes War said playing in those situations is like trying to rub your head and pat your stomach) but now the stage was hosting riff looping Bristol legends Mr Woodnote and Lil Rys with Eva Lazarus of Dub Mafia. I saw Mr Woodnote and Lil Rys busking on the streets of Bath years ago. They were surrounded by a huge crowd, mesmerized by how every beat was being created on the spot. That fascination was still present in people on Saturday. Their sound is so flawless (despite a few technical issues); it’s hard to believe it’s not all pre-recorded. Eva Lazarus’ big, jazzy voice was the icing on top of a fantastic headline act.

The daytime had now officially ended at Brisfest, and so it was time for everyone to turn their clash finders over to the evening side. A number of other stages were opened up for people to lose themselves in electronic tunes into the early hours. I chose to kick the night off in a more mellow fashion however, with Wildflowers over at The Louisiana which had been taken over by Jelli Records. Mixing the best of UK folk rock and Americana country music, you could hear a lot of Dolly Parton and Johnny Flynn in Siddy Bennett’s voice as they gave a very personal set – touching on the subject of friendship, trust, absent Dads and one night stands. 

I left the Louisiana feeling in such a content, relaxed mood I was convinced I was just going to head home and to bed, riding the high of Wildflowers. After checking back in at The Station however, it was impossible not to get sucked into the labyrinthine maze of rave cells and subterranean dance halls hidden away in the depths of the court buildings. By now, the two ravers I’d seen before (I imagine they’re still down there dancing even now) were joined by hundreds of other evening ticket holders, jumping from room to room, eager to find out what fresh DJ set they’d discover around the next corner. 

The courtyard was beautifully lit by mapped projections on the side of the buildings, and the rest of the night was spent dancing to sets from Kahn, Just Jack and Don Johnson.

Brisfest : Soundscape will have been quite different for people who have attended in recent years up at Ashton Court. But in terms of highlighting the great music venues we have in Bristol, as well as the musical talent on offer in this city, there’s no reason why Brisfest shouldn’t be even bigger next year.

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