Although these places were often part of a wider constellation of venues and spaces that were equally influential, histories often demand that we concentrate on one symbol rather than many. For Dug Out we could also read Western Star Domino Club, The Stonehouse, Green Rooms, Shutes, The Granary, Tiffany’s, The Locarno, Trinity, The Montpelier  Hotel, The Rummer, Barton Hill Youth Club and of course there are more. Histories are always more complex than we want them to be. We keep referring to that complexity here but leave the Dug Out as the main focus.

Here you can read people’s accounts of the club, go through images of the time, upload your own accounts to our `blog’ system and reflect on a time now gone but essential for tracing the particular musical trajectories that Bristol cultural life spawned.