Music / books
Up All Night: ‘Love letter to Bristol nightlife’ celebrates launch
A book celebrating Bristol’s nightlife and the people behind it has been launched in fitting style.
Up All Night is a collaboration between photographer Colin Moody and writer Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley. The release of the book was marked with the installation of an outdoor gallery around “one of Bristol’s most important clubs”, Lakota.
Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley explained the ‘three act’ nature of the book which covers pre, during and post-lockdown periods, and also dedicates a significant portion to young people which, Moody said, “are under a lot of pressure at the moment” – photo: Ursula Billington
The club’s building, covered in colourful graffiti and autumn foliage, provides an appropriate backdrop for Moody’s photos which depict diverse scenes of life at night and nighttime culture breaking out into unusual spaces.
A tour of the installation hosted by the pair, with contributions from significant scene figures including campaigner Annie McGann and Paul Stoodley, owner of Bristol’s oldest LGBTQ+ bar the Queenshilling, was accompanied by sounds of reggae from a nearby bar and tinny beats emanating from the backpack of a passerby.
The informal outdoor gallery of photos from the book has been installed around the outside of Lakota, at the bottom of Stoke’s Croft, by Jack Arts – photo: Ursula Billington
Moody explained Up All Night – and our nighttime culture – represents much more than a good time: “The act of going out clubbing, saying ‘I need this’, representing yourself with your tribe, is inherently political.”
Street photographer Colin Moody has used his approach of “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary” for this project – photo: Ursula Billington
The book begins with a section dedicated to young people, Moody said as he introduced a photo of a youth club in Hanham that had been transformed into a club for one night.
“It took three years to get permission to photograph these young people,” he said. “They are being erased from our cultural story. But without young people we wouldn’t have new grassroots spaces in nightlife.”
These formative explorations of self-expression are vital for personal development, he said, and nightlife continues to support wellbeing as people age.
But changes to habits since Covid coupled with the cost-of-living crisis and rising costs since Brexit mean the scene is in danger of gentrification, and other issues such as dysfunctional infrastructure are cutting off swathes of the city from accessing these experiences.
“I believe in nightlife for everyone, for all ages. Going out is for everybody,” said McGann, referencing the city’s Northern Soul revival which is bringing new life to working men’s clubs that are, traditionally, community spaces where drinks are cheap.
Her campaign, Save Bristol Nightlife, is working on improving public transport links so people from all areas can access nighttime culture: “It’s abit dull, not exactly ‘pink tutu’ exciting, but how do people – including the staff – get home? There are no buses, the scooters stop at midnight.”
Annie McGann is a dedicated advocate for nightlife for everyone, as a lifeline for community, self-expression and joy – photo: Ursula Billington
DJ El-ZE said access to the scene had been vital for her when she was starting out.
“Being one of the youngsters that didn’t have the money and needed an outlet, it was so important…. The music scene you find here is more of a lifestyle – you meet people who share your morals and suddenly your tribe forms,” she said, contrasting the vibrant underbelly of Bristol’s scene to that of corporate clubs where DJing is “a thing you go and do on a Friday and Saturday night”.
And House of Boussé director Gender Criminal circled back to why music is inherently connected with the political: “Music has come from revolutionary roots – that’s why it’s part of protest,” he said. “Black and Brown communities developed specific forms of dance music which they use to somatically process trauma.
“In protest, music played through soundsystems helps keep people in the same rhythm, maintaining a collective sense of purpose. Music doesn’t just belong in a contained space.”
Gender Criminal and others discussed why music is used to accompany protest, as seen at Bristol’s Kill the Bill demos, and how culture typically associated with nighttime spilled out into other, more unusual spaces, during Covid-restricted periods – photo: Ursula Billington
The book shines a light on what Ketibuah-Foley calls “the dark matter spaces” so important for the city’s creativity like Turbo Island and the Bear Pit, as well as highlighting communities and sub-cultures such as Bristol Ballroom and queer spaces that have, by necessity, built themselves self-sufficiently from the ground up.
Both Stoodley and Gender Criminal spoke of the importance of these safe nighttime spaces for marginalised people, and about the need for more support networks to help both communities and the scene thrive.
“Nightlife doesn’t survive on competition – it’s collaboration we need,” said Gender Criminal.
Gender Criminal performed at the launch afterparty – photo: Vihan Saakhi
Moody sees the project as a celebration of the grassroots: “DIY culture built this town,” he said, while McGann added: “Hands-in-the-air culture also built this town,” perhaps with a nod to new spaces such as the Underground and Prospect that are reinvigorating Bristol’s club culture by putting artists like Nia Archives, Bob Vylan and Joy Orbison in front of thousands of delighted ravers.
Following the walking tour the celebrations continued at the Mount Without, where Moody and Ketibuah-Foley spoke more on the book alongside an exhibition and live performances – photo: Vihan Saakhi
Up All Night might be, as Ketibuah-Foley put it, “a night out with me and Colin. Or ‘that feeling’ you get when you slump on the sofa after you get home.”
But it’s also a call to arms: to support each other, build networks and invest in the scene at a moment which appears critical for the things Bristol is so proud and protective of: DIY culture, grassroots creativity, freedom of expression and – above all – a bloody great party.
Find the book at thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/up-all-night
Main image: Ursula Billington
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