By Megan Foulk and Aditi Hrisheekesh, Co-Deputy Music Editors

Boasting an impressive five-day lineup, this year Bristol Sounds welcomed headliners: Supergrass, Kaiser Chiefs, Texas, The Fratellis and Olly Murs to Bristol’s iconic harbourside, alongside a whole host of support artists, rounding off the month of June with a wide variety of musical talent.

Sports Team

Exiting the gig in a speedboat that looked comically small with the six-piece sat in its belly, Sports Team’s indie rock, post-punk concoction felt exceedingly youthful when served as support to their indie elders. Despite being a far more relaxed crowd than the band are usually accustomed to, the lack of mosh pits didn’t stop Alex Rice from putting on a good show.

Rounding off their usual classics ‘Here’s The Thing’ and ‘M5’ with closing track from the new album Boys These Days, ‘Maybe When We’re Thirty’ provided the perfect tongue-in-cheek segue from fizzy, BBC introducing tunes to Radio 2 drive home feel-good bangers.

Supergrass

Stopping off in Bristol as part of their 30-year anniversary reunion tour, Supergrass set the bar high for what would prove to be a big week for nostalgic indie bangers. Performing greatest hits from debut album I Should Coco, including: ‘Alright’, ‘Caught by the Fuzz’ and ‘Lose It’, the Oxford-born four piece had the amphitheatre brimming with Britpop memorabilia and clangy three-chord guitar.

Supergrass @ Bristol Sounds | AJ Stark

Welcomed lovingly by the bucket-hat wearing aged forty and above, the band proved that three decades has only intensified their charm. Whilst acoustic number ‘Time to Go’ might have been one of my favourites of the evening, Supergrass remain far from being ready for retirement.

Kaiser Chiefs

Thursday night at Bristol Sounds: the sun’s down, the sky is drizzling, and the Kaiser Chiefs have hit the stage like an indie juggernaut. Ricky Wilson took to the stage, clad in a green-striped shirt, like he owned the place (and he basically did).

The Kaiser Chiefs treated Bristol to their 20-year blast through Employment, opening with the widescreen drama of ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’, before barrelling straight into ‘I Predict a Riot’ and ‘Modern Way’ with barely a pause for breath.

Kaiser Chiefs @ Bristol Sounds | Nadine Ballantyne

‘Na Na Na Na Naa’ brought a sharp post-punk twitch to the waterfront: bratty and bouncy, it jolted the crowd to life. Later, they veered into ‘Caroline, Yes’, slowing the pulse slightly with a woozy, meandering charm — a palate cleanser under the harbourside drizzle.

By the encore, the crowd was already buzzing, so a rollicking take on the Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ and the spiky punch of ‘Never Miss a Beat’ felt like icing on the cake, with a nostalgic ‘Ruby’ warming everyone up one last time.

They closed on ‘The Angry Mob’, a song that zeroes in on how media-stoked outrage fuels collective hunger for spectacle — and our readiness to pile on. The marching drums and serrated guitars turn this critique into propulsion, goading us to dance. It’s a reminder that in today’s era of echo-chamber extremes and viral outrage, we’re all complicit in the spectacle.

Texas

Texas moves like a band with nothing to prove and everything to give. The set flowed with veteran ease, leaning into syrupy nostalgia – ‘Halo’, ‘Black Eyed Boy’ – before shifting gears to the brass‑tinged newer cuts like ‘Hi’ and ‘Mr Haze’.

Sharleen Spiteri held it all together, her voice supple enough to pour honey over the slow‑burn warmth of ‘Summer Son’, its shimmering melodies catching the golden-hour air. Her banter was undeniably witty, cutting through the swell of nostalgia – ‘Do you want a bit of music, or do you want to stand and talk?’

Hearing them live was amazing, harbouring a unique blend of ’90s pop-rock and soul, mixing catchy tunes with hints of blues and funk without ever feeling over the top. It’s polished but still warm and alive. When ‘Inner Smile’ kicked in at the end, the crowd cracked wide open, the ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’ chorus rising through the sky.

Sleeper

Frontwoman Louise Wener, ’90s Britpop queen, was in her element – fiercely present and effervescent as ever. Sleeper kicked off in the haze of late daylight, just as the heat finally became a bit more bearable.

The band wasted no time with a classic, ‘Nice Guy Eddie’, cutting through the afternoon warmth. They hurtled straight back into peak ’90s heft with ‘Statuesque’ and ‘Sale of the Century’, Wener’s gravel-and-honey tone that scratches my brain (a tone that often had me listening to their songs on loop). 

‘Look at You Now’ created a moment of sweet melancholy, the harbour breeze practically part of the arrangement. By contrast, their off-the-cuff Pixies cover, ‘Wave of Mutilation’, was a welcome surprise, one of my favourites, trading angst for introspection, stripping away the surf-punk sheen and leaning into its minor-key undercurrents, Wener’s vocals blooming on the chorus.

Paying homage to Blondie, they dropped ‘Atomic’ and closed with ‘Sale of the Century’, a final punch of the night. A song built on a taut backbeat and melodic hooks that sound bright and sunny until you listen closer, the chorus, ‘It’s never gonna be this good, so just climb in’, is both inviting and warning: a carpe diem-esque call to seize the day before it fades.

The Fratellis

The Fratellis stormed the stage as night fell over Bristol’s waterfront on Saturday night — a crisp Scottish trio launching into fully-fledged nostalgia that’s still firmly grounded in the present, with the Live in ’25 tour in full swing.

They began with a classic — ‘Henrietta’ — an immediate shot of adrenaline, with Jon Fratelli’s vocals ragged and slightly gritty. At times, I found myself pretty lost in the music; the set seemed to glide by effortlessly.

The Fratellis @ Bristol Sounds | Nadine Ballantyne

Their cheeky interpretation of ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’ fully embraced the Baccara cover riff, bringing a flutter of camp charisma. When ‘Living in the Dark’ arrived, the tempo eased and Jon’s voice mellowed.

‘Creepin’ Up the Backstairs’ and fan-favourite ‘We Need Medicine’ rallied the crowd again, all things playful and punchy. Then came the inevitable: ‘Chelsea Dagger’. Everyone joined in for the devoted chant of ‘do-do-do’s’, like some sort of flash mob.

The set was extremely well balanced — charged at the start, more moody and mellow in the middle, with triumph at the end.

Featured Image: Ania Shrimpton

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