Live music, reviewed. Magic Barnes has been covering Bristol’s gigs and festivals for years – here’s the latest.
Punk Rock, Power Chords and Pure Joy Frank Turner & Bowling For Soup Bring Cardiff Castle to Life
Venue: Cardiff Castle, Cardiff Date: 2026-07-06T21:41:33.032Z The co-headline tour between Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls and Bowling for Soup was created in friendship, admiration and a magic syncing of schedules. Their musical styles don’t necessarily align but their shared defiance and punk rock ethos definitely do. As I stepped off the train, it felt…
REVIEW: ALDOUS HARDING, BRISTOL BEACON – ‘SURREAL, ENTHRALLING AND ENTIRELY HERSELF’
Venue: BRISTOL BEACON Date: Jun 4, 2026 Five albums in, and somehow I’ve never managed to see Aldous Harding live. But after hearing her new album’s first single One Stop I finally committed, headed to the Beacon and joined a devoted crowd. It was all Kiwi‑no filler from the start, with fellow New Zealanders and…
REVIEW: TOOTS & THE MAYTALS, TRINITY – ‘REMINDS US WHY THEIR LEGACY ENDURES’
Venue: TRINITY Date: May 12, 2026 I walked into the Trinity Centre battling hay fever and walked out with something far more powerful: Reggae fever. Toots and the Maytals have always held a special place in my heart. Their music has travelled through the generations of my family, becoming part of our shared soundtrack. Few…
LIVE REVIEW: OUTERTOWN 2026 – A day of discovery, disorder and pure Bristol magic
⚠️ Venue: not auto-detected – needs manual entry Date: 2026-04-16T19:13:52+0100 I arrived at Outertown 2026 full of hope and armed with a fluid, ADHD‑friendly map, the only sensible way to navigate Bristol’s most meandering day festival. Now in its fifth year, Outertown has grown into something beautifully unruly: a takeover of Old Market that floods…
REVIEW: JENS LEKMAN, STRANGE BREW – ‘IT’S A MUSICAL, IT’S A STORY, IT’S COMPELLING’
Venue: STRANGE BREW Date: Mar 16, 2026 It all started in 2004 when Jens Lekman sang: “If you ever need a stranger to sing at your wedding, a last-minute choice, I’m your man”. Except he’s no longer a last-minute choice, he is a wedding singer, meeting couples and writing them a song before performing it…
REVIEW: LUCY ROSE, ST GEORGE’S – ‘ELEGANTLY POWERFUL’
Venue: ST GEORGE’S Date: Mar 9, 2026 If ever a venue was fit to stage two phenomenal artists, the grand surrounds of St. George’s is the one. Lucy Rose is in town in the middle of her UK tour, a prelude to the upcoming release of her sixth studio album. She’s invited Margaret Glaspy as…