As 2010 swings into action, Bristol’s independent art scene starts the new decade in rude health. Away from establishments like the Arnolfini and Spike Island, there has been a marked growth in the kind of community work previously only found at places like the Trinity Centre. Although it’s merely the tip of the iceberg where the entire city is concerned, these days a walk down Stokes Croft is a sensory blur of colour and texture. Between the great waves of Hillgrove Street and the murals that skirt the derelict front of Westmoreland House, you find Turbo Island’s bold font, a tiny medieval Apothecary and countless tiny oddities that reveal themselves only with careful inspection.

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As The Blast prepares to celebrate its fourth birthday with their biggest Shit The Bed club night yet, we catch up with The Bandit to see how things are shaping up for the party and to see how he feels about putting crude phrases on chests around the world.

1) Hi, how the devil are you?
Very well thanks.

2) Shit The Bed 14 is coming up next month and it’s The Blast’s fourth birthday. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s in store?
Pure epicness! It’s going to be our biggest STB yet. The extra warehouse has given us a lot of freedom to bring in some new acts, Mad Professor Live is going to be insane and we always love a Kenny Ken Jungle set. Also looking forward to see a lot of our regular party people; Redlight has been killing it over the last 3 months!
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Wednesday 19th until Saturday 22nd May 2010 @ Harbourside, Bristol
Showing as part of Mayfest 2010, Bristol’s festival of contemporary theatre

Electric Hotel is the flagship event for this year’s Mayfest. A collaboration between the festival, Fuel and Arnolfini, it’s Mayfest’s most ambitious and high profile event ever and, as its imagery adorns the front of all this year’s publicity, you would have done well to have missed it so far. Given such as grand billing then, can Electric Hotel live up to the hype?

Promised as the biggest and best thing at Mayfest 2010, we can undoubtedly say that it is the biggest – they’ve constructed an actual four-storey building opposite Arnolfini for Christ’s sake! – but the best? A euphoric answering of ‘Yes!’ echoes around the harbour. This year’s festival isn’t quite over yet but shows are going to have to do something pretty spectacular to top this one for utterly invigorating watching and complete, enraptured enjoyment.

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Until very recent it was an ugly, derelict building in the heart of Stokes Croft and, fenced off from the public, it was showing very little signs of life. However, after a major renovation it opened its doors this summer and The Canteen has since miraculously become the epicentre of Bristol’s cultural quarter and is now one of the city’s most popular gastro-bar-venues.

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I came to skateboarding quite late really at 18; most people have already given up by that age. At that time I lived in north Devon and Bristol was the desired destination for skate missions as it had a status in the national skateboarding community - Eric Dressen lists it in his top 5 cities to skate - enough said! If I’m honest, I felt slightly intimidated by the place at first because I associated it with the upper echelons of skateboarding. I had a sort of childish fear that I would be a really bad skater in the company of some the best skaters in the country and they would all stand in a ring, taunting me.

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As I walk around the modest Old Market HQ of the Bristol SOFA Project, a volunteer politely asks if I need any help. Surrounded by settees of all colours and cloths, an array of dining tables and chairs and rows upon rows of white goods, I’m momentarily stumped. It dawns on me how epic a task organising Shifting Old Furniture Around (SOFA, y’see…) must be, not to mention the back-into-work volunteer schemes, two showrooms and the numerous environmental awareness campaigns connected.

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Illustration by James Seymour

The Llandoger Trow is one of the most famous pubs in Bristol. The name comes from Llandogo, a coastal town in Wales, and from a trow, a flat bottomed barge, typical of the sort that used to moor up on the Welshback. Situated on the cobbled section of King Street, the pub is a striking building with black beamed gables and its interior has hardly changed since it came into being in 1664. The Llandoger Trow oozes history but it is particularly renowned for its literary connections…

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The Old Firestation – Bridewell Island – The Island – Whatever you call it, the red windowed beauty of a building on Silver Street in the very heart of town has truly come to life over the past 20-odd months and has provided Bristol with more alternative culture and nights to remember than we could have ever dreamt of.

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Various showings between Friday 7th and Saturday 22nd May 2010 @ Various Venues, Bristol

Bristol’s showpiece festival of contemporary theatre is back, bigger, bolder, brighter, braver and more beautiful than ever. Mayfest 2010 promises to be another unforgettable fortnight of new, physical, visual, experimental and, all importantly, brilliant theatre from an eclectic mix of over 40 local, national and international artists.

Theatre on stages, theatre on pavements, theatre in shops, parks and supermarkets. Casts and audiences of hundreds; casts and audiences of one. Be entertained, moved, provoked and inspired. Share drinks, chats, opinions and ideas.
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