Best of Bristol 2019: Clubs

These are Bristol24/7’s favourite club nights of 2019:

1. Multiverse, Lakota, Feb 2nd
   Ferality ensued when seasoned selector Special Request went B2B with Hessle Audio affiliate Pangea in a breakbeat, electro and techno set for the ages. It was the kind of night where you remained glued to your spot on the dancefloor, fearing missing whatever fire they threw down next.
   

   Special Request B2B Pangaea at Lakota. Photo by Giulia Spadafora / Soul Media courtesy of Dropout Disco.

2. Farfetched Presents: Iyaz, Feb 8th
   You may think I’m joking, but you honestly haven’t lived until you hear the late-noughties legend sing his track Replay not once, but twice in one set. It took me back to the moment I used Bluetooth to transfer the song from my friend’s Blackberry to mine.
   

   As it turns out, ’Replay’ was really on replay for the late-00s pop star. Photo by Joe Hayhow courtesy of SWX Bristol.

   Independent journalism
   is needed now More than ever

   Keep our city's journalism independent. Become a supporter member today.

   Become a member Community member Find out more
3. Bodywork + Easy People, The Crofters Rights, April 6th
   To be honest, I don’t remember too much from this one, but what I do remember is a plethora of skillfully mixed disco tunes and a sweaty, heaving crowd dancing till well after the lights came on, with security trying and failing to extinguish the elated party atmosphere.
4. Livity Sound w/ Ben UFO, Trinity Centre, 14th Sep
   The boy wonder can do no wrong. In what’s certain to have been a homage to the birthplace of the genre, Ben UFO took late-night electronic fiends on an intergalactic guide into quick-paced techno and explorative bassy sounds, always keeping the audience guessing what he’d spin next. Ear-splittingly good.
5. Simple Things Festival 2019 – Night, Lakota, Oct 19th
   As a day of indie, experimental and alternative-anything came to a close, Simple Things headed into a Lakota that was so dark and smokey you couldn’t see a centimetre in front of you. It only added to the ambience: Avalon Emerson, Jayda G and Bruce kept dancers on their toes until 7 am.
   

   Acid house and techno queens Avalon Emerson and Dr Rubenstein were among the stellar line-up at Lakota. Photo by Giulia Spadafora courtesy of Simple Things.

6. Goodness: Nathan Micay, Joe, Manami, The Island, Nov 29th
   Goodness have been bringing the best of the underground to Bristol, London, Manchester and Oxford in a series of hedonistic parties for a while now, but Berlin-via-Canada producer Nathan Micay really gave all other club nights a run for their money when he opened his set at The Island with a garage edit of Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools. The crowd exploded when he dropped his cult hit The Party We Could Have and he refused to leave after the lights came on, finishing with his boisterous jungle-trance remix of the hymn Time To Say Goodbye. A party for the ages.

Read more: Bristol DJ to play 12 hours of non-stop Christmas songs for charity