Happyness at the Louisiana, 6th May

It's raining on Wednesday evening. The harbour kind of stinks, and the wind-rain combo isn't doing anyone any favours - except maybe the bar at the Louisiana. Crushed Beaks have had to pull out of supporting tonight because of an injury, and the venue isn't exactly close to the centre of town, so most of the gig-goers have been sitting in the warm of the ground-floor pub for an hour or two before tonight's one-act gig begins.

Once the doors open, everyone heads upstairs to a small room with a low ceiling, some interesting smells, and Happyness' set-up, accompanied by pink and green lighting. The room fills up a little more with a huge range of people, from teenage hipsters to over-50s to Big Jeff, and about ten minutes later, three guys walk through the crowd and onto the stage. They're all wearing t-shirts, jeans and trainers, and one t-shirt, a Doc Martens "Stand for Something" tee, has been filled in so the front of it reads "I stand for Christmas." Meet Jonny, Benji, and Ash, AKA Happyness.

Alex G at The Cube, 2nd March

(The G stands for Giannascoli, by the way.)

The Cube is probably one of Bristol's hardest-to-find indie music venues. Tucked away on a side street behind Stokes Croft, it can be tricky to get to the right entrance the first time, but once you get inside, everything feels a lot more cosy. The Cube is volunteer-run and functions as a cinema and live music venue, and once we got let into the room it felt like either one could be happening tonight. The main room has rows of old-fashioned cinema seating with red flip-down seats, and this just adds to the charm of the whole place. Although it was a little strange to be sitting down for a gig, we settled in for the first act.

New Year / New Noise 2 at Arnolfini, 17th January

Going to a gig where you know none of the acts can be a little hit-or-miss, but I’ve done it a few times now and as long as you’ve got a reliable source giving you recommendations, you’ll probably leave with something to talk about.  Generally I rely on my friend Nick to bug me into coming to shows, but this time I brought him along to Howling Owl’s New Year / New Noise 2, because I’d been following the label for a while but never actually been to any of their gigs. Plus, their shows are always really decently priced.

image from the Arnolfini website