22 things to do in Bristol this week, February 6-12 2023

Monday: Madball, Exchange
Start the week right with a thrashing of hardcore punk glory from Madball. They will be paying a visit to the Old Market venue, bringing along with them Cornwall based Rash Decision and Bristol bred Peruvian Necktie, each bringing equal vibrations.

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Now-April 23: PhotoLab, RWA
Unleash your photographic creativity at the RWA. Bring your smartphone and discover  PhotoLab, a free, interactive exhibition where you’ll find objects such as lenses, mirrors, lights and even a darkroom installation to create experimental photographs, Suitable for all ages. Part of the Season of Photography at the RWA, sponsored by MPB.

Photo Lab at the RWA – photo: RWA

Tuesday: The Bristol Germ final issue launch, Strange Brew
The internationally-sold print magazine telling the story of the Bristol avant-garde and experimental music scene celebrates the release of its final issue this Tuesday, at the equally avant-garde and experimental venue. The evening will be soundtracked with the sounds of industrial trap, acid-jazz and other exciting boundary-pushing music from the city.

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Wednesday: Siv Jakobsen, The Louisiana
Norwegian musician Siv Jakobsen ushers in a hushed and breathtaking reverence with her songwriting. Her delicate vocals convey an emotive poignancy, underpinned by instrumental accompaniments that take in Jakobsen’s finger-picked guitar playing, soaring strings and striking harp and brass arrangements. Her third album ‘Gardening’, released in January 2023, has received excellent reviews, with Clunk Magazine saying that Siv has “set a new benchmark for modern folk records”. Jakobsen has also spent a lot of time on the road, playing shows alongside the likes of Damien Jurado, José González and Susanne Sundfør. Support comes from Bristol bands Ead Wood and Deadheading.

Wednesday: White Bear Comedy Club, The Room Above
A pay-what-you-can comedy night at The Room Above, the White Bear’s events space situated, surprisingly enough, above their pub. Lineups are announced closer to the time of the event, but you can expect exciting up and coming names in the Bristol circuit, hosted by Harry Allmark and Alex Stevens, the White Bear regulars.

The White Bear – photo: Mia Vines-Booth

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Thursday: Joyland (Preview), Watershed
A conservative family in Pakistan is torn apart when a son falls in love with a transgender erotic dancer, in director Saim Sadiq’s riveting queer drama. This special preview is followed by a Q&A with director Saim Sadiq hosted by Harriet Taylor (Bristol Trans & Non-Binary Creatives). Joyland opens on Fri 24 Feb.

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Open now: Photo Open, RWA
The RWA Photo Open celebrates contemporary photographic practice in all its forms. Over 150 works were selected from hundreds of submissions. The exhibition showcases the sheer quality and range of photographic work being produced by photographers and artists across the UK and abroad today. Your ticket for the Photo Open also gets you entry to Jem Southam’s A Bend in the River, a beautifully observed series of photographs documenting the changes in the environment.

RWA photo open – photo: RWA

Thursday: As You Like It, Malcolm X Centre
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School present their unique adaptation on the classic Shakespeare romance, set against the backdrop of a post-Thatcher world, battling against the cracking down of free parties and rave culture, soundtracked to gorgeous acid house – what could be better?

Malcolm X Centre – photo: Malcolm X Centre

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Thursday: A Victorian night of discovery, The Mount Without
Victorian entertainment was not just music hall, dances and theatre; it was tales of the afterlife and communion with the undead. Spiritualism, mediumship and séance was wild, unregulated and utterly, literally unbelievable.

Mediums delivered supposed messages from the deceased, comforted the bereaved and offered proof of life beyond death. But did you know that they also made live animals appear from thin air and allowed so-called ghosts to walk among us? Throughout the 19th century, there are accounts of mediums levitating across cities, filling rooms with spirit flowers, dumping eels on the heads of sitters and sharing biscuits with ghosts.

Join Kate as she delivers a brief introduction to this bizarre and fascinating field. She will deliver stories on the most colourful mediums in history and impart the secrets of spirit contact… providing you own a white bedsheet and enough glow-in-the-dark paint!

Victorian medium sessions at The Mount Without – photo: The Mount Without

Friday: Sofar Sounds secret concert, Undisclosed Lawrence Hill location
Known across the UK for putting on cosy, intimate live musical performances with expertly curated acts not announced until 36 hours before the event, Sofar come to Lawrence Hill this Friday for an undoubtedly memorable night.

Sofar sounds put on unique concerts at locations across the city – photo: Dave Reed

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Friday-February 16: Blue Jean, Watershed
Blue Jean is the story of a PE teacher in the North East grappling with the reality of her own sexuality under Section 28 – a law banning the overt promotion of homosexuality.

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Saturday & Sunday: The Smartest Giant in Town, Redgrave Theatre
George wishes he wasn’t the scruffiest giant in town. So when he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he decides it’s time for a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he’s the smartest giant in town… 

The Smartest Giant in Town comes to Redgrave Theatre this February – photo: Redgrave Theatre

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Saturday: Huge sustainable vintage fashion event, Circomedia
Glass Onion Vintage is heading to Bristol with their huge sustainable vintage fashion event. Prices from as little as £10!

Glass Onion Vintage comes to Circomedia – photo: Glass Onion Vintage

Saturday: The Quantum Horse, The Cube Microplex
A must see, live cosmic pantomime, formed as a collaboration between artist Ergo Phizmiz and The Cube Cinema team, that is suitable for all ages. Attempt to follow the cosmic equine as it splits into multiple pieces and travels throughout space and time.

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Saturday: Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet, The Mount Without
Due to demand, we’re bringing the timeless tragic tale back this February, in time for Valentine’s Day! Baz Luhrmann’s contemporary take on Romeo + Juliet has an appropriately fitting aesthetic for this wonderful space. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes shine as the star-crossed lovers, in this high-octane adaptation that transfers the warring families to the Californian city of Verona Beach.

Sunday: Dirty Dancing screening, Clifton Observatory (Bristol Film Festival)
The sensual musical classic gets a revamped screening at the Clifton Observatory this weekend to get you in the Valentines spirit. Speaking of spirits, the movie will be paired with a gin and tonic on arrival, and a specially prepared gin cocktail during the interval, designed to pair perfectly with the movie.

And coming soon…

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February 14: Valentines Concert, St. George’s
A Valentine’s night to remember, featuring some of the most romantic pieces of music ever written, from the worlds of film, opera and classical music performed by the Bristol Ensemble – Bristol’s only professional chamber orchestra. Enjoy well-known themes from Lala Land, Doctor Zhivago, The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet as well as much-loved classics by Beethoven, Elgar, Mascagni, Einaudi and more.

The Bristol Ensemble at St. George’s – photo: Bristol Ensemble

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February 17: The amazing bubbleman, Redgrave Theatre
Louis Pearl has been thrilling audiences worldwide for over 30 years with the art, magic, science and fun of bubbles. An Edinburgh Fringe favourite, he has sold out there for the last twelve years. Louis explores the breathtaking dynamics of bubbles, combining comedy and artistry with audience participation and enough spellbinding bubble tricks to keep everyone mesmerised.

The amazing bubbleman at Redgrave Theatre – photo: Redgrave Theatre

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February 17-25: Emilia, Circomedia
It’s 1611 and, at the age of 42, Emilia Bassano becomes the first woman to have her poetry published in England. For centuries, history has overlooked this achievement in favour of her male contemporaries. Until 400 years later, that is. Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s triple Olivier Award-winning comedy storms into Bristol next February. A concoction of historical inspiration and imagination, this period romp charts our heroine’s journey from young courtier to a radical writer, well-versed in pushing the boundaries of a stiff society.

With direction from the highly acclaimed Sally Cookson (A Monster Calls, The Old Vic; Peter Pan, National Theatre), this galvanising and riotous production vividly transforms Emilia’s life from page to stage, whilst giving voice to generations of silenced and exploited communities.

Emilia is one of the latest productions from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – photo: BOVTS

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February 25: Native Harrow, The Crofters Rights
Rich with shimmering psych-folk, introspective lyrical wit and sophisticated 60s homage – Native Harrow is Stephen Harms and Devin Tuel, who emigrated together from Pennsylvania to Brighton, England in 2021. After settling in at the very top of a crumbling regency building where the seagulls call to the sun’s rise and fall each day, they thought “this is the perfect place to make a record.” Two years on, Native Harrow have shared ‘Old Kind of Magic’ – an enchanted collection of songs that reprises 60’s sounds and sensibilities in a delightfully original way, moving dramatically from the opening field recording of the Brighton seaside, to Laurel Canyon-esque folk-rock, piano and rhodes tinged soul-jazz balladry, oud and harpsichord driven 60s technicolour psychedelia, dense modernistic string quartet writing, and wide-as-the-western skies panoramic pedal steel with sepia-toned 12-string. Support comes from Maz O’Connor.

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March 1: Dark side of the moon, St George’s
Celebrating – to the day – the 50th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd’s iconic album Dark Side of the Moon, the Bristol Ensemble – Bristol’s only professional chamber orchestra – performs an exhilarating chamber orchestral version for 20 players that accentuates the lush, multi-layered texture of the original. A true classic of 1970s prog rock given some very special classical treatment. This concert is 1 hour straight through and also includes classic Einaudi and Debussy.

The Bristol Ensemble, dark side of the moon – photo: Bristol Ensemble

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March 10-18: This House, Tobacco Factory Theatres (BOVTS)
UK politics is in crisis and the country is in economic peril. Fights break out in the Houses of Parliament and the government whips can barely contain the chaos. Sound familiar? Well this time, it’s 1974 and in this not so distant past, Westminster is at war with itself again.

A hung parliament and the tiniest of margins mean that those in power will do everything to just keep going. Even if that means wheeling in someone on their last legs or direct from the maternity ward.  In a time where every vote counts, James Graham’s explosive and biting political comedy-thriller This House- which premiered at the National Theatre in 2021 – introduced us to the farcical and fanatical world of 1970s Westminster. Just how far will these parties go for political survival?

This House, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – photo: BOVTS

Main photo: Dave Reed

Read next:

• 49 things to do in Bristol in February 2023
• Bristol24/7 Ashton Court Mansion takeover
• Spike Island to open three exhibitions in February

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