Bristol Sound City week (1995) was a big deal

As lots of Britpop bands return to Bristol for reunion tours, we look back at some seminal gigs in the city back in the 90s. (Apologies for lack of video footage relating to actual gigs – pre-smartphone times!)

Suede + The Auteurs @ Bierkeller (1992)

I wasn’t a Britpop fan but I caught a couple of early Suede shows. The first was when The Auteurs supported them at the Bierkeller in 1992 and that was a great night. They’d done TOTP for the first time a few days earlier (‘Metal Mickey’ I believe) and the crowd gave them a hard time due to their supposed hype band status. People (or possibly just one person) kept requesting Smiths songs and singing “Morrissey Morrissey Morrissey” to the tune of “ere we go”, which seemed to provoke them to play harder, faster and camper. By the time they closed with (I think) ‘To The Birds’ the whole place was eating out of Brett’s emaciated hand. I saw them again at The Anson Rooms about a year later and didn’t enjoy it too much as by then the fans were a bunch of absolute tools shouting “MARRY ME, BERNARD” and swooning like consumptives.

Thanks to Bristol24/7 Clubs Editor Adam Burrows

Radiohead @ The Fleece (1993)

Blonde-era Thom Yorke headed to the Fleece with his Radiohead crew for a packed gig (thanks to some NME hype), taking to the stage at 10.10pm for a set of Pablo Honey songs – Prove, You, Lurgee and Anyone – of course Creep as well, which would go onto become one of their best known songs. There was also a raw rendition of Pop Is Dead. The gig that any latecomer to the Radiohead show just wishes they were at.

Thanks to www.gigbook.blogspot.co.uk for sharing photos of the setlist and some memories of the gig.

Bristol Sound City @ Various (1995)

Bristol Sound City week was a big deal. It was people like Pulp, Elastica, Menswe@r, Teenage Fanclub, Radiohead, The Prodigy, Baby D. I remember they had a bouncy castle set up in the basement of that churchy venue – Trinity Centre (health and safety would never allow it now) and me and Taylor Parkes (another Melody Maker journalist) were bouncing around pissed while The Prodigy played. We ended up at this private members’ club where some guy did close-up card magic at us, and looking back, I swear it had to be Derren Brown before he was famous. The dates match up.

Thanks to former Melody Maker journalist Simon Price for this incredible story.

Mansun @ The Fleece (1996)

I wasn’t really a big Britpop fan, more shoegaze and Creation, but I remember seeing Mansun at The Fleece. It was hilarious when the singer, Paul Draper, tried to encourage fans to get a stage invasion going and the fans wouldn’t do it. Guess we know where he got the idea for Wide Open Space from then. Phnar,

Thanks to Bristol24/7 LGBT Editor Lou Trimby for casting her mind back to that joyous event.

Echo & The Bunnymen + Strangelove @ Anson Rooms (1997)

I saw Strangelove, supporting the Bunnymen, they were better than the Bunnymen.  They were signed to a major label (Food) and were clearly being marketed as Britpop. But. They. Weren’t. They were much special-er. Featuring alumni of The Blue Aeroplanes and THE JADE (historians of Bristol guitar bands will tell you that The Jade were the best band from Bristol that never ‘made it’  – and they are absolutely correct – but that’s a different loosely constructed set of memories). They were dark, epic, romantic, swooping, actually, really troubled and “CHRIST!” they could write a chorus.

Thanks to former Venue music man Cris Warren (and Ms Trimby)

Thanks to London’s best Britpop night, Star Shaped Club, for the photo.

You can read more about Britpop reunion gigs taking place in Bristol this autumn as well as the launch of a new Bristol Britpop night, here.