Colston Hall Foyer

Some very good points made by the previous poster, and I have a LOT of happy memories of Concerts here (Pink Floyd: Feb: 1972) was the highlight, and I have continued to use the venue almost every Year, but lately something is missing. It certainly has a lot of history, but I think venues like this are becoming a dying breed, which is a shame all round IMHO

There was a time when I was in the Colston Hall on a virtually weekly basis for everything from wrestling to Hawkwind gigs to Patrick Moore. In recent years I’ve found less and less to attract me though as it descends into being just the local stop-​off for OAP rock music of the Bill Wyman /​Jools Holland and their respective orchestras variety. The much-​vaunted makeover of the place turned out to be basically just taking over the building next door and turning it into a gigantic stairwell, leaving the hall itself pretty well untouched. There’s even vegetation still growing out of it at the back. Having said that, this is a place with a lot of history. A friend of mine saw Buddy Holly and the Crickets here. And I’ll be there next week as I write this, catching the Solid Silver 60s tour. I’ve seen loads of the greats on this annual show including Bobby Vee, Del Shannon and Bo Diddley, all of whom died not long after playing here. So this time it’s Peter Noone, Chris Montez and Brian Poole you should look out for in the obituaries column! PS black mark Colston Hall for charging me an extra £1.70 for buying my ticket by credit card that’s sharp practice that’s soon to be outlawed by parliament. PPS Bring back the wrestling though and I’ll give you another star.

Such a great place! Full of history! My daughter actually sang here and we had a wonderful experience! The crowd was fun, staff was awesome, security was great! Can’t say enough about it here! Plenty of seating and standing room and a full bar in the reception area… very old grand theater feel to it!

An exciting new development next to the old Colston Hall, the bedazzling bronze exterior is eyecatching, different and oh so very modern. Inside it’s all airy and spacious, with a London’s Southbank kind of vibe. There’s a stylish café and companion restaurant (Bar H) which make atmospheric places to grab a pre-​concert drink.
It’s been tacked on to the original Colston Hall in perhaps a less than streamlined manner, but the distinction between show and pre/​post show space is pleasing. The box office is large and efficient, featuring flyers for future acts. Definitely something of a vibrant update on an old musical stalwart.

They serve fresh, well prepared food and have a good selection of drinks, although they are a bit pricey. But you don’t really come here for the food & beverages; you come to admire this stunning building and for the events that support local music. The new development of Colston Hall has to be one of the most successful jobs done in history.
Due to the outstanding architecture, which I believe was completed by Levitt Bernstein, this café is warm and intimate despite being large and airy. Also, because of the architecture, this hall has the some of the best acoustics in town and luckily bands get to play here often.
They also have local fairs and markets in the atrium and there really is nowhere better for them. Keep your eyes peeled on the news section of their website to find out what’s coming up. Or just have a stroll down to the building and sit inside or out with a coffee so you can properly admire the remarkable architecture of this building.

Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love the main Colston Hall auditorium and I adore the new foyer, especially when bands play there, but my all time favourite part of the whole venue is Colston Hall 2. I didn’t know it existed until I was ushered (literally, cos the guy was an usher!) to the side room for an acoustic gig by Lucy Wainwright Roche (the lesser known sister of the Wainwright clan). Walking in I was instantly hit by just how ethereal it felt. The exposed brickwork and minimal deco interspersed with the most thought-​provoking music memorabilia, including the names and dates of artist who have played at the Colston Hall in the past. The lighting was perfect and the acoustics astounding and the Colston Hall 2 instantly rose right to the top of my list of gig venues in Bristol (and I’ve been to most of them). Granted, it probably wouldn’t be the best place to see Rage Against The Machine but any acoustic acts would do well to play this venue.

As an ex-​Londoner when I moved to Bristol I was really disappointed with the lack of great music venues. Then they refurbished the Colston Hall and I found myself spending increasingly more time here. The revamp is really slick and has really put this venue on the cultural map. It has borrowed a lot from the set up of the National Theatre and has created an informal hub and performance space which sits comfortably with the larger auditorium. It looks incredibly impressive from the outside and the choice of places to eat and drink means everybody is catered for. I have taken to sitting here and enjoying a pint while waiting for friends to get in on the Megabus but they also do reasonably priced lunch and early evening grub. And there are often live performances in the foyer. The range and calibre of acts also seems to have improved with the refurb, although I do find there to be a little bit of an overkill of staff when you are attending a gig. I think I have my ticket checked six times on average every time I go in and out which is a bit annoying. But overall I love it and look forward to seeing what they do with it in the future.

This is a biased review.
I had one of the best nights ever in the Colston Hall watching Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes fame sing her heart out to my then girlfriend and I. Sadly we’re not still together but if every night was as good as this one I’m sure we would still be an item. Colston Hall has a kind of mature charm like a fine wine (well if I knew about wine I’m sure it would have a similar sort of charm). The clientèle is always friendly, perhaps due to the ‘highly refined’ performers that perform here; I have never been stabbed or spat on here. The place has a sophisticated feel, go here to impress someone and maybe you’ll be able to pin them down for longer than three and a half months.

I am not sure if this café is actually part of Colston hall or not but it seems to have an inseparable identity, something which I feel to be a bit of a shame. If you look at some where like the O2 arena in London they provide food form independent retailers and it draws people there for reasons, other than just watching a concert. It could have been a great opportunity to support local, independent business. That being said the place serves reasonable food if a little bland, and a good coffee, not much you can argue with!

What a complete waste of money this little venture was. Word on the street is that they tried to refurbish the entire building, including the main stage that is admittedly a little dated, but ran out of money. So they ended up only doing the bloody entrance. Pathetic. I went there when it opened, excitingly clutching my ticket to see Mogwai and a bunch of other cool bands for like £20 or less. Now Mogwai played in the main bit (which is still worth visiting), so I won’t cover them here, but the bands I saw in the Foyer (Gonga, Zu and Fuck Buttons) all sounded completely pants. The reasons for this are two-​fold. Firstly, the sound bounces around the massive open space uncontrollably and meshes into what can only be called noise. Second, they’re playing by a café that’s so small that only a few peeps can get anywhere near the optimum sound (right in front of the band), so that you end up watching things from a balcony, with the band at the bottom of a fricking stairwell. Well, I shouldn’t have to point this out, but it sucked hard. Avoid anything that is taking place in this expensive sham of a building. Oh, and did I mention that Massive Attack refuse to play here (not that they ever play Bristol anymore, the shysters!) because Colston’s name is linked with the slave trade. Anyway, thought I’d give you a little something for you to chew on.

Recently done up with it’s exquisite copper cladding, the exterior of the building is something to be marvelled, but the actual hall itself is getting a little old fashioned and in some way’s I’m not entirely sure I know what it’s main purpose is today. Don’t get me wrong, I love the building and I have enjoyed many great nights there, most notably the silent comedy film festival they have around February, but there’s something amiss about a hall of 2000 people sitting down to watch Elbow perform.
Most of the «gigs» (and I use that term loosely) are attended by the more mature members of society, which is fine, but the halls size isn’t adequate enough to attract the bigger names and in turn, a younger audience. It comes into to it’s own however and is more suited to classical performances and jazz musicians, where a smaller more laid back crowd is more appropriate. It also holds other interesting events like science fairs and stand up comedy performances, which also work well there.

Bristol is hardly short of music venues but Colston Hall still remains among my favourites, mostly because it’s the one that gets the headline acts. It’s the place to be for mainstream comedy and music, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t get the odd off-​beat gem. Even though the foyer and bars have undergone a Southbank Centre style makeover, luckily the seats and stage have kept their original theatrical structure.
The sound quality may be great, no matter if you’re in the stalls or the circle, but if you’re planning on seeing a comedian it pays not to go for the cheap seats. I once spent two hours squinting to see Dylan Moran — it could have been Alan Carr with an Irish accent for all I could tell. It’s also worth joining their mailing list to see what’s up and coming as the good seats tend to sell out fast.
The Hall tends to go for well suited music acts like Elbow and Anthony and the Johnsons, but if by chance your favourite head-​thumping rock band makes an appearance there — I’d wait to see them somewhere where you can really let rip. Colston Hall is superb for laughing and relaxing, not for rocking it out.

This is an impressive building, joined to the marvellous music and entertainments venue that is Colston Hall. The venue itself is responsible for providing the city with a range of music and comedy events, but the foyer also has several functions away from the hall.
Primarily, it is a pre and post show space; the box office and toilets are situated in here, as well as the bar, often visited during the interval. The Foyer also has a restaurant and tapas bar of it’s own, which is often visited by non showgoers. There’s a load of tables to sit outside and drink on a warm evening and sometimes there are even small gigs held inside. Definitely a place to come and hang out and people watch.

I was waiting to review this place as I haven’t yet been since the recent, much-​publicised refit, though some mates went the other day and told me that although the all-​singing, all-​dancing new foyer has been fitted, the actual hall where you see the gigs remains exactly the same. Ever get the impression that someone, somewhere is missing the point?!
While I obviously can’t vouch for the new queueing and coat checking facilities, the hall itself is pretty big, though not always suited to live gigs. They can take out the downstair seats these days, but I went to see Basement Jaxx on a Friday night recently and me and a mate got told off quite severely by a bouncer for dancing (?!).
You’re better off looking out for something a little more sedate and suited to the surroundings, or one of the top-​notch comedians (of the Frank Skinner type standard) who regularly play here (though I reckon the tickets here are a little pricier than at other venues).

Just completed this is a building in its own right, although most people would only come here because they’re watching something a the Colston Hall. It’s hard to miss, finished with Gold coloured cladding. It looks a bit like someone put a gigantic gold ingot onto the skyline of Bristol. Inside is all black metal and ikea-​ish coffee tables. There’s a rather smart bar on the ground floor, which is fairly expensive (more than three quid for a pint) but not too bad.
They sometimes have events here (I recently came to see my friend playing the guitar). The sort of thing you get is usually quite small, community based events, to give you an idea of what to expect.
It’s a brilliant space for some light theatre — a few sketches or something like that. The big windows mean that it doesn’t’ get too dark though. It’s not a proper venue, that’s the Colston Hall itself. Recently finished and still feeling new Colston Hall Foyer is pretty sleek, and only feels a little like its trying a bit to hard with the gold cladding.

I visited the colston hall to see Omid Djalilee on one occasion and a live jazz band on another. Both times the intimacy of the place amazed me. For omid we were sitting near the back but we were still quite close to the stage. With the jazz band only half of the room was filled with people and we nearly at the stage! It’s a small hall but attracts some very big names. Makes for a great evening but tickets get sold out very quickly.

Colston Hall is probably Bristol’s biggest music venue but certainly does not rank too highly for me. The sound is poor, the prices are too high and the bar is usually overcrowded. I haven’t sat in the seats in the higher tier but I suspect the sound does not improve there. It is though a good venue to see older bands like Blondie and Squeeze.

A good location for seeing a show. Nice and central, if you need to drive, the multistorey over the road is under £2 for the whole evening. It can be a little cramped at the back, and a little claustrophobic with the second tier above your head.

My first impression of this venue — with its school /​graduation type auditorium — was that it is geared more towards a mature audience. But on reflection, I realise that it is to cater to the range of artists (pop, rock, classical, orchestral music, comedy, etc.) who perform here. Plus, I secretly quite like the fact that I don’t have to elbow the person next to me in the mosh pit and get on someone’s shoulder to actually to see what is happening on stage.
So if you haven’t been you will have now gathered that everyone is seated on lovely new, clean and comfy chairs (there is no standing area) ensuring you all get a great view of what is happening on stage. There is no grundy bar at the back, rather a separate room which is rather civilised — which you can get up and go to at any point you want a breather /​drink /​go to the loo and then not have to worry about fighting your way back to get your same spot. There are loads of ushers on hand, not only to keep things under control, but also to escort you to your seat.
And like any event, it is really all down to the calibre /​performance of the artist — if they are great, you have a great night out. There are lots of building works happening outside to spruce up the venue and re-​invent it once again. I am actually quite looking forward to my next visit.

The success of the Colston Hall is a testament to the multifaceted, flexible nature of the site itself. Since the 1860’s this grandiose hall has been home to a Carmelite Friary, a tudor-​era mansion, a boys’ grammar school and since 1867 a popular concert venue.
The grade II listed building is today as vibrant and flexible as its historical legacy, hosting acts as diverse as Femi Kuti, Will Young and Cliff Richard within its Byzantine-​style façade.
Having recently enjoyed the acoustic warblings of John Martyn, i can safely say the Colston Hall deserves the praise heaped upon it. The prices are reasonable for the size and splendour of the venue and the sheer variety of acts showcased provide an unbeatable experience.
A must visit venue.