If you’ve followed my blog for a while now, you’ll know that there are certain artists that I see very regularly, in fact I always do my best to see them whenever they play in London, or are on a festival line up. Two of them I’ve even done artist spotlights on; Too Many T’s and Oh My God! It’s The Church. Well, when I noticed the Bristol Summer Time line up on Facebook had not just these two, but also Dub Pistols, Beans on Toast, and Chainska Brassika, I just knew it was the perfect excuse for me to make the trip to see some friends in the South West.
Set in the Trinity Centre in Bristol’s Lawrence Hill area, this mini one-day festival had great ‘garden party’ vibes. The event was put on by This Is Now Agency, in celebration of their birthday, and was split into day and night, with day tickets from midday-9pm outside in the garden, and night tickets from 9pm-3am taking place inside the church itself. Of course I had to make sure I was at both! 😉
DAY TIME – Trinity Centre Gardens – Bristol Summer Time
My friend Neil and I arrived around 2pm and first went in to the main bar inside the church. I instantly knew I wasn’t in London any more! Prices were very reasonable at £5.50 a double spirit and mixer, and around £3.80 a pint. Outside they had a screen print station where for a cheeky £5 you could print your own BST t-shirt to take home, so of course Neil and I got one done!
The first act we wanted to see was Beans on Toast who was on just after 3pm, so we spent the time before then chilling in the gardens and treehouse area. It was 30+ degrees on the day so shade was welcome for a while! It was here I bumped into my friends Roberta & Mike, so we hung with them and had a catch up. There were lots of toys and juggling bits out on the lawn including hula hoops and diablos, which was lovely to see, and gave Neil a chance to show off his skills.
Beans on Toast was fantastic as always! He played in front of the rather large main stage rather than on it, stood on a bale of hay. I love his acoustic folk songs sung with his signature raspy voice. I’ve seen him live countless times over the years, and he always chats a lot between songs. Each time I’ve seen him it’s been a different stage in his life; the first time, he was telling us about his single life and bachelor-isms. The next time he said he’d met a girl (Lizzy Bee) and written a song about her. Then over the years I’ve seen him, it’s felt nice to see his story develop; how he’d asked the girl to marry him, he’d written many more songs about her, and at Bristol Summer Time he told us that they’d just had their first baby! So cute! Massive congratulations Jay & Lizzy Bee, you’re a lovely couple! Thank you Jay for signing my copy of your book!
Next up were Chainska Brassika, who I had never seen live before the festival, but I will definitely check out again! They are an awesome ska band from London, with full brass, and got everybody stomping their feet. I hear they play Glastonbury regularly so hopefully I’ll see them next year!
We spent the next few hours catching up with friends and drinking ciders in the garden area. It was lovely that we could chill in the shade and still see/hear Afrikan Boy. Shortly after we got a yummy katsu “chicken” wrap which was actually seitan and therefore vegan from BunFiction. Another bonus was that we weren’t subjected to portaloos, we had access to the indoor proper toilets in the Trinity Centre.
Soon it was time for the lovely Too Many T’s lads, who played a great set as the sun was getting lower. I always love their energy, and BST was no exception. When they started, most people were still chilling on the grass, but if there’s one thing these boys know how to do, it’s draw a crowd. The stage area was packed within minutes.
The daytime headliners were Oh My God! It’s The Church, with Rev. Michael Alabama Jackson, Morgan the Organ, the Hail Marys and their full live funk band. They performed a mix of their classic covers of hits like “Praise You” and “Proud Mary”, and also their original hymns. It was a great set, they’re always so funny and energetic!
NIGHT TIME – Trinity Centre Church – Bristol Summer Time
For the night section, we were moved inside the Trinity Centre itself. It’s a great venue, my only problem was that the smoking area/pen they made was tiny, and when you have lots of smoking mates it meant a lot of time squished together. But the stage itself was great.
Dub Pistols came on at 10.30pm and blew the roof off the church. Barry Ashworth and friends are a ska-breaks-reggae band that are firm festival favourites, and another group I’ve seen countless times yet one I always still seek out for more. You may have heard this little ditty of theirs before:
The rest of the night went by in a blur of gin & tonics and lots of dancing! Father Funk played some awesome beats whilst Too Many T’s, OMG It’s The Church, and Barry Ashworth came out for various tracks and special collabs. I regret being as drunk as I was because I know it was amazing but I don’t remember much! We were there til almost 3am meaning we’d been partying for 13 hours straight, and the reasonably priced drinks meant I went a bit harder than I should have! 😛
All in all it was an awesome event put on by the fantastic This is Now Agency!
I can’t wait to come back to Bristol, maybe for Love Saves the Day next year?
Big love to Bristol Summer Time– Such a great mini festival!
Photos all taken by me, or part of the official photos taken by Leora of FareLight Productions
This looks like so much FUN!
Sounds like a great festival, I’ve been trying to do a few new ones this year but every weekend seems to get so packed now x
love the story behind Beans on Toast – so sweet and must be amazing hearing about the relationship grow from gig to gig 🙂
It looks like you had a fun day out. I came to Bristol recently for St Paul’s Carnival and I loved it!
Ah this looks like such fun. Makes me want to get back on to the festival scene.
What a fantastic festival, it looks so vibrant and fun to attend. The acts sound awesome and it definitely shows you had fun if you were partying into the early hours .
I have never been to Bristol but it looks like such a cool places! It looks like you had lots of fun.
This looks like a fab event. I’ve never been to bristol before or a festival! Will deffo check this out!