Live Music

Endless Summer Tiki Surf Party at The Cube, Dove Street, BS2 – 18m, Saturday 4th February

Inspired by the classic surf films of the 60s and 90s, the Endless Summer Tiki Surf Party will be the raddest party of the summer, in the depths of winter.

Featuring two of the best surf bands from Wales and the South West — Hangmen and Mustard Allegro — hula-girl burlesque performances by Tabitha Tease and gnarly party tunes from DJ Nadoone and Dollsnatch.

Also expect killer tiki cocktails, vintage surf projections and lots more surprises. Bring your dancing shoes, surf-inspired costumes and get ready to party.

Entry £5 on the door.

http://bit.ly/A5NQPC

Comedy

Elis James Live at The Comedy Box, Southville, BS3 – 8.45pm, Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th February

Welsh raconteur Elis James has the charm to win over any audience with his intricately woven tales which are generously peppered with hilarious moments. He is a regular contributor to the Rhod Gilbert show on BBC Radio Wales and recently appeared on The Rob Brydon Show on BBC2.

Last summer Elis produced his third consecutive solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe. He is prolifically talented and you’d be wise to check out one of the names of the future.

http://bit.ly/yt8ll3

Cinema/Film

“The Iron Lady” at various cinemas acrossBristol – Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th February

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power. Starring Meryl Streep.

http://bit.ly/AhCP5q

Theatre

“Mayday Mayday” at Bristol Old Vic, BS1 – 8pm, Friday 3rd & Saturday 4th February

May 1st. Padstow. Cornwall. The death of winter, the birth of summer. A man falls head first off a wall. Years later he tries to remember what happened next. This is a true story. Told by the man who fell……

With smoke and mirrors, music, slapstick and a guest appearance from the Obby Oss, this extraordinary theatrical adventure starts with an unforgettable celebration: a day where everything changes.

http://bit.ly/As6Myg

Family/Children’s activity

Bristol Storytelling Festival: Story Museum at Bristol City Museum,Clifton, BS8 – 10am till 6pm, Saturday 4th February

On Saturday 4th February from 10am, Bristol Storytelling Festival presents “The Story Museum”:

8 hours of scintillating storytelling for all ages with professional storytellers from near and far.

Free entry and suitable for all ages.

http://bit.ly/yz7Wez

Food and Drink

Whiteladies Road Farmers Market at Whiteladies Road,Clifton, BS8 – 8.30am till 2pm, Saturday 4th February

The fortnightly Whiteladies Farmers Market is back this weekend.

There’ll be lots of delicious local and fair trade food to choose from (eg vegetables, fruit, cakes, pies, sausages, lamb, beef, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese, bread, preserves, apple juice, olive oil, chocolate, wine, cider, delicatessen, soup) as well as freshly cooked burgers and bacon rolls. Also for sale are a wide range of flowers and crafts.

http://bit.ly/wklJR3

Festivals and Fayres

Stages Celebratory Dance Festival at Colston Hall, BS1 – Friday 3rd (7-9pm), Saturday 4th (1-3pm & 7.30-9.30pm) & Sunday 5th February (1-3pm)

Stages celebratory dance festival is one of the largest school and youth dance events in England, involving over 2000 young people and is one of the few events which involves all the age ranges from 3 year old nursery children through to secondary and college students.

It is a great opportunity for young people to perform their work in a professional venue as part of what will be a very high quality and enjoyable show.

http://bit.ly/wndZrY

Art/Crafts

“Ten” Exhibition at The Glass Room, Colston Hall, BS1 – Friday 3rd (8am till 11pm) & Saturday 4th February (9am till 10pm)

This is the tenth joint exhibition for Bristol artists Joan Wilson and Arril Johnson. Joan is showing acrylic paintings from her “Other Skies” series and Arril is exhibiting photographs taken in and around Bristol.

The Glass Room is being curated in partnership with Made in Bristol which organises the art and craft fairs at Colston Hall.

http://bit.ly/w3N0Tx

Educational

“Wake Up Happy” Weekly Workshops at Bristol City Yoga, Stokes Croft, BS2 – 4pm till 7pm, Sunday 5th February

A small group, weekly inspirational workshops with practical exercises, inspirational tools and techniques, ancient wisdom and a little sprinkling of magic!

Wake Up Happy! is a unique four week course that uses an inspired blend of ancient wisdom, natural laws, NLP, science and creativity.

Throughout this exciting journey you’ll be discovering hidden depths and lost horizons, and by the end of week four creating your own road map to the truly authentic you!

http://bit.ly/yGfwMT

Random Pick

Jukebox Launch Party at Leftbank, Cheltenham Road, BS6 – 8.30pm till 2am, Friday 3rd February

Yep, if you’re fed up of going out and not hearing the tunes you want, then look no further. Jukebox is a night where you choose the tunes. In short you tell us your 3 favourite dance tracks (the ones that you can’t help dancing round your kitchen to), we’ll compile the play list and you shake what ya mamma gave ya.

http://bit.ly/AnasLI

NB As always, there’s always so much more going on than we can fit in the Top 10. So, why not browse our website for the full picture? We’ve also got live music and clubbing listings too! 

Having been closed for several years, the old Bar Med site on Welsh Back has now been given a new lease of life. Indian restaurant and bar Namaskar Lounge has been in the pipeline since early last year, and finally opened its doors before Christmas. With a plethora of Indian restaurants already in existence in Bristol, I’m pleased to say that this place is a cut above the rest.

Decor-wise, its smart interior, with more of a nightclub feel to the downstairs bar, flat screen TVs on the walls and futuristic lighting sets it apart from the “standard” furnishings that tend to feature in the majority of Indian restaurants. The owners certainly seem to be making it a destination venue…not just in its decor, but also in terms of its food and drink offerings.

Unlike the majority of Indian restaurants, Namaskar Lounge prides itself on its drinks (see the drinks menu here) as well as its food.The wine list ranges from £15 to £20 per bottle, and I was intrigued to see Indian wines included on the list. Beer drinkers can enjoy a decent range in bottles or on draught, but the real focus here is on cocktails.

At £5.95 – £6.25, cocktail prices are very reasonable, and in addition to a list of “classics” you’ll find a range of cocktails with an Indian theme, including ingredients such as Darjeeling tea, tamarind and cardamom. Annoyingly, I was having an alcohol-free night, but will definitely be back to try the “Indian Summer” – a cocktail starring Mount Gay rum, fresh tropical fruits, chilli and balsamic vinegar.

Instead, I opted for a non-alcoholic and very refreshing watermelon and cucumber punch (£2.25) to start, followed by a decidedly lurid but very tasty rose and cardamom lassi (£3.20) later on. The bringing – without asking – of a Namaskar-branded glass bottle of tap water was also a nice touch.

While there are more “standard” options on the menu (click here for full menu) such as samosas, chicken tikka, kormas and bhunas, there’s also a large number of dishes that I had not previously seen on the menu of any Indian restaurants that I had visited in the past.

For our meal, a selection of dishes chosen by Namaskar’s manager. The presentation of all of the dishes that we were served was far above and beyond what we’re used to in Indian restaurants- the pictures speak for themselves.

A starter of Namaskar Stuffed Peppers (£5.50) gave us two halves of sweet red pepper, stuffed full of delicately spiced minced lamb and served with a thin, cool yoghurt sauce. It was accompanied by the same fresh, crunchy salad of carrots, red onions and red cabbage as our Jeera Chicken (£5.90), a generous portion of on-the-bone chicken in a fragrant cumin based sauce with garlic and ginger. Great textures and flavours.

Our main courses were outstanding, right down to the Pulao rice (£2.50), fragranced with whole cloves and cardamom pods. A creamy and buttery Dal Makhani (£4.95) – a Punjab lentil and red kidney bean dish – was perfectly executed, with a decent amount of bite to the pulses and ripe for mopping up with our garlic (£2.25) and tandoori (£1.85) naans.

The main dishes were selected from Namaskar’s specials menu, and gave us the opportunity to try two dishes that we’d never previously seen. The lamb adrakh (£14.50) may be more expensive than you’d expect to pay in many Indian restaurants, but is well worth the money. “Adrakh” meaning “ginger”, the spices in this dish were fantastic. Medium spiced and including cinnamon in addition to the aforementioned ginger, the lamb was lovely and tender and quickly devoured.

The chicken patiala (£12.90) is something that I probably wouldn’t have ordered on looking at the menu, but I’ll certainly be trying it again. Chunks of chicken tikka, green peppers and onions make up the basis of the dish, which is wrapped in an omelette and cooked with spinach. A bit of an odd combination, we thought, but once it arrived, my dining companion couldn’t stop raving about it. The thin wrapping of omelette added a sweet edge to the chicken and vegetables, which seemed odd at first but was by far our favourite dish of the evening.

Unsurprisingly, we were defeated by the sheer amount of food we placed in front of us…but were impressed when we were asked if we’d like the rest to box up and take home. Now that’s service.

With a final bill for all of the above of just over £60, it may be a little pricier than many Indian restaurants, but the settings, service and outstanding food make it well worth the money. For those who don’t want to stretch the purse strings that little bit more, head in at lunchtime – their lunchtime buffet costs just £9.95, but is available at the bargain price of just £6.95 until mid-February!

Now to find a date to head back to try the cocktails…

Namaskar Lounge are taking part in the “Around The World In 80 Days” campaign – for more details, see here http://www.80-days.co.uk

Find Namaskar Lounge on the Bristol Bites Directory…

Bristol-based student accommodation specialists Unite insists the decline in university applications won’t prevent it achieving healthy rental growth this year.

The UK’s leading developer and manager of student accommodation said the 7.4% decline announced by clearing system UCAS for the 2012/13 academic year – the first in which higher tuition fees take effect - will not translate into a reduction in student numbers.

The reduction in applications means that 2012/13 will be broadly in line with those of two years ago, with demand for places still outstripping supply by nearly a third. Unite also said that more than 156,000 students applying to study this year will fail to secure a place.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange Unite said: “Consequently we do not expect the decline in applications to translate into a reduction in actual student numbers. Based on our current reservations for 2012/13, which are in line with the same point in 2011, we remain confident of achieving rental growth of 3-4% for the year.”

Applications from non-EU students to UK universities, a key market for Unite, increased by 13.7%. Unite heavily over-indexes international students, particularly in its London portfolio, and this continuing trend supports the group’s business model and customer acquisition strategy.

It also said Government initiatives, such as ring-fencing students with AAB grades or above at A-Level and incentives for universities charging fees of less than £7,500 a year, will benefit universities with stronger reputations. Unite has long-standing relationships with many of these universities.

Unite’s own research in December shows the majority of school leavers still view university as an attractive proposition for the best chance of a secure future with 79% willing to pay higher prices for good academic reputation. Unite said this suggests students are still keen to select their university on its ‘brand’ or reputation, rather than price.

Flamenco Thief - aka Craig Sutton

His real name is Craig Sutton but, to his rapidly expanding circle of admirers, he’s The Flamenco Thief. He is also, and it’s not a word I bandy about loosely, unique.

He plays his own brand of music: influenced by traditional Flamenco but a version of the art that would no doubt make traditionalists’ hair stand on end. He also puts in a lot of percussive stuff, drumming on his guitar and, crucially, uses a loop pedal to record himself and then layer more and more tracks on top – all done live.

Now 30, he was born in Bath, grew up in Warminster, Wiltshire, moved back to Bath about three years ago but plays most of his gigs in Bristol. In fact the last time I saw him play he was supporting another Wiltshire lad, Gaz Brookfield, at The Fleece.

Like a lot of people he first got into electric guitars before switching to an acoustic, although in his case it was a classical Spanish guitar. Then he heard Flamenco music and was hooked.

But he tells the story better in his own words…

“There was no one in the family who played, really. I think my mum said my granddad used to play a bit of piano years ago when she was a kid, but there’s no one else at all. I didn’t start playing guitar till I was 16, which is quite late really. Some people are brought up in an environment where there are always instruments around and start much earlier.

“Basically my older brother got a guitar, got one of those start-up kits, and tried to learn but he didn’t really follow it up. Even then I didn’t pick up his guitar straightaway, I was discovering music I liked – the early stuff I’d listen to was stuff my brother had – so it wasn’t until I was 16 that I decided to learn the guitar and fell more and more in love with it. And that was it… that was an electric guitar.”

What sort of bands was he listening to back then?

“Rage Against The Machine was always the one. When I was younger I was absolutely blown away by Tom Morello. I’d never heard anything like it. They were rap mixed with rock, but the other early stuff I listened to was all heavy music, rock stuff. And a few punk bands like The Offspring as well. That was the first music I made a conscious choice to listen to.”

So did he copy someone else’s style when he was learning how to play?

“Not really. I’ve always been… I kind of like to do my own thing. I got loads of music books and tried to learn bits and bobs because you can’t just pluck it out of nowhere. Everything has a basis and you have to start somewhere. But I was never into the covers band sort of thing. I just enjoyed writing stuff for myself but it’s like a language, you have to learn the basics first. You need to learn about music before you can work on your own stuff.

“The first band I was in was like a ska band, kind of ska punk. Less of the reggae side of original ska, more punk but still with the off-beat chords. But I like all styles of music; it’s great to incorporate stuff from everywhere.”

We arrive at the Flamenco moment…

“I heard Rodrigo and Gabriela first. I had no idea about Flamenco really, I’d heard of it but that was it. The thing is, Rodrigo and Gabriela aren’t actually Flamenco themselves, they get called Flamenco, but they always say they’re not. But like everyone else I assumed they were and thought, ‘this is amazing’. They do all the percussive stuff, which I really love – the way you can make an acoustic guitar sound like a drum is really great. Then I found out they weren’t actually proper Flamenco and listened to some of that and thought, ‘my god, this is even more insane’. It was a different level up.

“Once I’d heard traditional Flameco… you can’t believe that one person could be playing a guitar and all of that could be done at the same time. So fell I in love with that and, with the two, Rodrigo and Gabriela as well, just wanted to learn how to do it.”

Was it self taught?

“Not really, you can’t just blag Flamenco. I had some lessons from a guy in Salisbury called Tim Rushworth, I had about five lessons. He’s an ex-policeman actually, a really nice guy. He showed me the basic techniques. I also bought the Juan Martin ‘bible’ of Flamenco, but it’s very hard to translate it from a book into reality. You just have to practice a lot, it’s all muscle memory. I worked at it for hours and hours a day with a metronone especially for the rhythm stuff [he raps the table with the four fingers of his right hand, producing a staccato 'drum roll']. I’d be sitting there for like 10 hours.”

Obvious question – does it hurt?

“At the start yes, it’s toughened up now but at the start… Till the day I die there’s a lot more to be done, but I’m still on the basics… some of them are getting there but there’s still so much more.

“I’ve been working on it really hard, trying to merge the elements of what Rodrigo and Gabriela do, the percussive side, with Flamenco – that’s something Flamenco players don’t do that much of. They do more fingerpicking, which Rodrigo and Gabriela don’t do. And then adding in all the things I grew up with, that’s where the breakbeat, hip-hop, ska… everything else comes in.”

So this is where the Flamenco Thief name comes from? [I'm quick like that]

“Basically, yes. Names are very difficult. I was going by my own name and no one was remembering it. I was ‘Chris’ Sutton, ‘Greg’ Sutton… People remembered what I did, but not my name. I think Flamenco Thief works because people know I play a version of it without claiming to be an actual Flamenco player. I could never be that, I mean I’m not from Spain, right?”

Has he ever been to Spain?

“That’s my plan one day, but no – not yet. I’ve played a lot of gigs where there have been Spanish people in the audience and generally the reaction has been really good because it’s got enough of the stuff they understand, yet it takes off into a different way. Their reaction has been really great. I played a gig down The Bell [in Walcot Street, Bath] and there were a couple of Spanish couples there who stayed around for drinks afterwards and offered me a place to stay in Madrid. They said, ‘Come on over, you’ll go down an absolute storm’. So I haven’t been yet, but I will definitely go.”

I have to ask. Can he sing?

“No, not really. But with my stuff the lead work takes over the vocal anyway so there’s no need for it. There’s a limit to how much drumming and playing you can do at the same time on your own, but with a loop pedal you can do it all, build up these big tracks.

“I started doing open mics just over a year ago – Ziggy [rapper, Ziggy Ross] was ill when we had to do a gig and I had to do it on my own and I’d never been up on stage by myself and I was scared shitless, so I thought, ‘right, I’m going to have to practice at some open mics’. That was at the end of 2010.

“This last year has been about performing in public on my own, something I’d never done before. It’s so different from playing at home – you have to learn it all first. Performing solo is a completely different thing.

“This year has been a big change. Things have picked up more and shown me… I think I can do it as my job. The more I meet people, the feedback they give me, they say, ‘you can do this’. It’s so nice when people are like that.

“The first few songs I was writing were very technical, I was trying to cram in all the techniques, but now I’ve learnt it’s more about a groove. People have a few drinks and they want to tap their feet and get in the groove. As long as it sounds good and as long as it feels good… that’s kind of the end goal, you know. What’s the point of playing really technical stuff when maybe two people might understand what you’re doing, and everyone else has gone into the other bar?

There is mention on his site about an EP launch?

“It’s ready to go as soon as the sleeve is ready. The hold up is the artwork. My friend Sara-Jane Swettenham is doing it, she’s a really talented artist and it’s going to be a charcoal portrait. But I don’t want to rush it, I want her to be happy with it because she is phenomenal. Maybe the end of February. When she gives me a date I can go with it – it’s a great excuse for a party. Please mention the EP was recorded by Dave Carlyon, who’s worked with Dub Mafia, and plays in Bohemian Embassy.”

Any other plans?

“It’s not set in stone yet but one day I’d like to work with a string quartet. This is the next level I’m going to be aiming at. Jade, the violinist, studies at Bath Spa and she has a lot of friends there and there’s a few other people who have been recommended. I’ll have to have someone else to score the music, but that’s where I’m heading. The dream would be to be able to score string quartets and pieces for orchestras, that would be great  – just to be able to have a go at it would be amazing. But that’s a long way away.”

Best gig?

“There’s been a lot of really good ones this year but… The Big Chill Bar, in Bristol, on a night when a guy who was teaching English to foreign students brought them along for an end-of-term party. There were people from all over Europe, including some Spanish students, and they went nuts. It was so easy for me, I was just keeping the groove going. The guy who brought them found out when I’d be playing in that bar again, so last time I played there he brought his new class along and, as soon as I started hitting that guitar and start doing some beats, they were straight up and dancing again. That’s the best gig.”

People to look out for?

“Well not acoustic maybe, but Bohemian Embassy, Bite The Buffalo, The Daturas – folky, psychedelic stuff – from Bradford on Avon. From Bristol? Gaz Brookfield, I know everyone says that but, he really is that good, his songwriting is great and really genuine. Sam Easton, vocally amazing. Rae, a jazzy Bristol band, an amazing album. Leonie Evans is the singer, she’s got a great voice – I think she does acoustic gigs by herself as well. I think she’s got a solo album coming out this year. And can I plug Largo Embargo – they are a great ska band from Bath but they do loads of gigs in Bristol.”

Where is he playing?

See his site, below, for updates but, in February, he’s at Underbelly, in London, on Tuesday 7; The Prom Bristol, Thursday 9; St James Wine Vaults, Bath, Saturday 11; The Louisiana (cellar bar), Bristol, Friday 17;  The Seven Stars, Bristol, Sunday 19; and The Canteen, Bristol, Tuesday 21.

Contact: http://theflamencothief.com

Mangum, who curated ATP’s sister festival over in New Jersey last year, will play a set for music fans and has crafted a carefully thought out line up, which includes Joanna Newsom, YannTiersen and The Magnetic Fields. Mangum’s set will include solo material and Neutral Milk Hotel songs, which include In An Aeoroplane Over The Sea and King of Carrot Flowers.

Recent acts added to the bill are Sun Ra Arkestra, Oneohtrix Point Never and Feathers. Other confirmed acts include Boredoms, Low, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), The Fall, The Magic Band, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sebadoh, Young Marble Giants, The Olivia Tremor Control, Young Marble Giants and more.

The last few tickets are available to buy, from £170pp, from www.atpfestival.com (All tickets include a festival wristband and chalet accommodation). Minehead in Somerset is just over 50 miles from Bristol.

Bristol billboard ad

On my walk into work this morning I started imagining what the city would look like if adverts weren’t permitted in public spaces.

Battery-farmed chickens didn’t yell at me from phone boxes, billboards forgot to tell me not to miss the latest CGI ‘blockbuster’ and phone companies neglected to tell me they liked sport. Buses and taxis passed, informing me about local public transport options instead of what perfume to buy… It was a world I’d like to live in.

Advertising has become such a part of everyday life that often we don’t consciously notice it. We are constantly being told what to buy, how to look and how incomplete as humans we currently are. I gave up TV years ago to avoid this relentless harassment but I cannot give up the physical realm – and advertising companies have stolen this from us. Is it finally time to take it back?

Banning all public space advertising would raise the usual arguments – it would lead to a fall in the economy and would put people out of work. Would it though? This really got me thinking. Surely banning advertising – a luxury of the large multinationals for the most part – would bolster the local economy and lead to greater employment; how so?

As ‘word of mouth’ superseded billboards and posters, quality of product and customer service would be prioritised when deciding where to shop and eat. As smaller shops and restaurants gained more of the market share, employment would rise; as smaller businesses generally employ more people per pound spent than corporations do. The money we spent would remain in our communities and lead to a natural regeneration of our neighbourhoods.

Far from a utopian dream, this world is easily achievable. San Paulo has been ad-free for five years now. Mayor Gilberto Kassab (a pro-business conservative) passed a “Clean City Law” in 2006 that clamped down on advertising – or ‘visual pollution’ as he rightly calls it. Amid fears of loss of revenue ($133m) and jobs (20,000) they tore down more than 15,000 billboards and revealed the beautiful city beneath. Now, five years on, more then 70% of the cities 11million-strong population rate the move “beneficial” and the city still remains mostly ad-free.

In the US, four of the most beautiful states are un-surprisingly billboard-free. Hawaii made the decision as early as 1927; Alaska,Vermont andMaine have since followed suit.

There are many groups in the city that want billboards to be removed from Bristol. Groups in St Werburghs, Easton and Stokes Croft in particular want these blights removed and have made some headway already.

Next time you walk through Bristol, play a little game. Count how many adverts you see – not shop signs or A-frames – but ads on buses, taxis, phone-boxes, buildings, bus-shelters and stand alone billboards. Imagine how much prettier the city would be without them. Imagine how much calmer you would feel and picture the thriving local economy.

With a choice between this and the small amount of lost revenue, I know which city I’d like to live in.

Gus Hoyt is Green Party councillor for Ashley ward

Joe Simons, who got nine A* grades at GCSE, was let into Lakota despite being underage and having no valid ID.

He bought 1.5g of the ecstasy powder MDMA from a dealer inside the Stokes Croft club but collapsed hours later and died in hospital the next day. The inquest into his death heard that it was just the second time he had dabbled with the drug.

Friends told the hearing that dealers were “openly” selling drugs at the club, which had its licence suspended after Joe’s death.

Yesterday his father Tom, 51, hit out at Britain’s “complacent” attitude towards drug culture, which is “spreading like a cancer”.

Assistant deputy Avon coroner Coroner Terence Moore, sitting at Flax Bourton near Bristol, said he would write to Avon and Somerset Constabulary regarding licensing laws.

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Simons – deputy head of Prior Park College in Bath – said: “Joe is in many ways an indictment of our failure as a society to tackle the scourge of drugs.

“There are no easy answers of course and we are daily beset by the views and advice of the well meaning and the misguided – urging us to legalise drugs or build more jails.

“Experts’ in the field are legion, as sadly are the lives touched by the drugs culture that seems to have spread like a cancer across the globe.

“It is complacency that is the greatest challenge to us all. We never think it will happen to us or our loved ones. We trust that it will not be our child who will be tempted.

“After all, we teach our children the dangers of taking drugs and that is enough. Well sadly not, as poor Joe souls like Joe and countless others will attest to.

“Until society as a whole stands up and says no to the dealers and no to those in the media and entertainments industry who glorify and trivialise the taking of drugs, we will continue to count the cost in lives lost and families left bereft.

“It is our profound hope that Joe’s untimely death will serve as a warning to young people of the dangers of taking drugs like MDMA and the far from benign influence that some would have us believe the ‘soft’ drugs culture has on young people.”

The inquest heard how Joe, who aspired to go to Oxford or Cambridge University, had been to Lakota once before his death on May 2 last year.

In March he and three friends went to the club’s Tribe of Frog dance night where they got in without being asked for identification.

Joe, who had a friend’s brother’s passport on him, then bought some MDMA from someone in the venue for £20. They had been told it would be a good drug to take by one of the group’s older brothers.

Gabriel Wheatcroft, Joe’s best friend, in a written statement to his inquest, said: “We had researched it online and thought it would good to use it. Once in the club Joe purchased MDMA – there were dealers going around quite openly.”

After feeling no ill effects, they all left when the night finished – at 7am the next morning.

The group, along with four other mates – one aged just 15 – then decided to head back to Lakota on the next Tribe of Frogs night on April 30.

Joe, from Bitton, near Bristol, who attended Beechen Cliff sixth form, in Bath, once again bought around 1.5g of the white crystalline substance from a clubber.  He then split it up between his friends and washed it down with water, at around 11.30pm. The group separated – but a short time later pals saw Joe having to be supported.

Gabriel said: “I saw Joe being supported. He looked grey and was staring into the distance. They came outside the club and laid him on the floor.

“I heard one of the door staff saying that if they were asked, they would say he bought it (the ecstasy) earlier from another club.”

Joe was taken to intensive care at Bristol Royal Infirmary in the early hours of May 1, suffering multiple organ failure and a temperature of 42 degrees celsius, and died the following day. Toxicology results revealed he had around 0.98 micrograms of the drug in his blood.

Pathologist Dr Edward Sheffield revealed a normal recreational level for the drug would be about 0.2 micrograms.

Karl Hall, who was with Joe at Lakota on the night he died told the inquest, in a written statement, that the distressing episode had made him realise the dangers of drugs.

He said: “I am shocked by what happened to Joe and cannot believe he has passed away.

“The whole incident has made me realise how foolish it is to take drugs and how serious the consequences can be.”

Mr Simons told the inquest that his son’s death had been a “tsunami” on their family – as Joe’s mum Brenda had died from lung cancer three years ago.

The deputy head at his son’s former school, Prior Park College in Bath, said: “To lose a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. It can seem as if the sparkle and magic that is life has been extinguished.

“Coming so soon after the death of his mother, Joe’s untimely death has felt to the family as if a tsunami has struck, and rebuilding our lives has seemed to be a task beyond our all to frail capacities.

“But rebuild we must. This strength has come from family and friends but mostly from our memories of Joe, an intelligent, compassionate and above all loving young man.

“He was in part our son, our brother, and our best friend, always with that cheeky smile, but always with a care for those who were lucky enough to be part of his life.”

Deputy coroner Terence Moore gave his verdict at the inquest as “death through non-dependant use of drugs” and said he would issue a report to Avon and Somerset Police.

He said: “I will be writing to the chief constable in relation to the use of powers and licensing laws. The sad but not unique thing about this inquest is the belief by those who take MDMA that it is somehow safe.

“The evidence I have heard is that it is an idiosyncratic drug and affects different people in different ways. Taking a drug when you don’t know how much you are taking or indeed what is in it, on the advice of a stranger, seems a particularly unsafe thing to do.

“Sadly in this case it cost the life of Joe.”

Lakota’s licence was suspended by Bristol City Council after the incident, but a police investigation resulted in no arrests and it has now re-opened.

After the tragedy, its owner Martin Burgess said: “As a nightclub and long-standing member of the community, we take the welfare of our customers very seriously and consequently we are conducting our own thorough investigation.”

Agility Trains wants to build the depot on land at Stoke Gifford, but more than 700 residents signed a petition against the plans and 60 written objections were lodged with the council.

Groups such as the Green Party in Bristol though called for the plans to be approved. They said that, without the depot, the chances of local rail services being improved would be substantially reduced.

Agility Trains said it hoped it would take between 18 and 24 months to build the depot on land, called the Stoke Gifford triangle.

The company said repair work would be done in a sound-proofed building, external lighting would be kept to a minimum – thanks to regulations for safe driving of trains at night – and any noise would be less than the nearby motorway, ring road and Filton Airfield.

It added that  the existing Hitachi depot in Ashford has had no complaints about noise or light pollution, either before or after construction.

South Gloucestershire councillors decided at a planning committee in Thornbury to give planning consent, with 11 votes in favour and one abstention, after a debate which lasted nearly two hours.

They imposed a raft of conditions in order to protect nearby residents from the impact of the new depot.

But afterwards Lesley Cox, one of the residents, told the Evening Post: “I am appalled because the evidence on which the debate was based was flawed.

Another resident, Heather Moseley, said: “We’re disappointed but not surprised. The general feeling was that it was a done deal.

“We feel the residents’ misgivings were dismissed and we were sacrificed in order to knock 15 minutes off the travel time between Bristol and London.”

The latest survey by the Centre for Cities showed that , other than London and the South East, Bristol was shown to have relatively low unemployment and a stable economy – due to a significant number of people working in the finance sector. It has also seen more new houses built and more babies born than most other cities in the country.

The study unveiled Bristol as one of the fastest growing cities in the UK, along with York, Oxford and Swindon. Bristol’s employment rate is 14 points above Birmingham and was one of two cities (the other being Edinburgh) to have employment rates above the national average, according to the report.

Bristol appears in the top ten for the first time and significantly improved its performance compared to other major cities in the UK.

A OnePoll survey, released in 2009, revealed Bristol as the best place to live in England. It followed a survey of 5,000 people which looked at a range of factors, including quality of life, friendliness and pay. The other cities in the top five were Brighton, Oxford, Plymouth and Cambridge.

Speaking at the time of the poll, Bristol City Council leader, Barbara Janke, said: “Bristol is a relatively small city compared to London, which could mean it still has a community feel, something you would be hard pushed to find elsewhere. Residents have what they need at their fingertips – a bustling, varied city centre, a great night life and friendly people.”

A 2010 study also named Bristol as one of the top 10 places to retire to. The research, revealed in Yours magazine, looked at a number of factors, from amenities to crime rates and public transport to scenery to come up with the best places for pensioners to settle. It was joined in the upper echelons by Sheffield, Southampton and Worthing, nr Brighton.

Love Bristol? See what the council has to say here. Or the University of Bristol, here. Or Medics on the Move here.

Bristol councillors could all be given iPads – to save money: Councillors in the Bristol area could be given iPads to cut the amount spent on printing and sending documents. North Somerset Council is considering giving all 61 of its members laptops or iPads, while Bristol City Council is also holding trials of the tablet computers over the next few months. More from Bristol Evening Post…

Pensioner’s life savings stolen: Police are appealing for information after an elderly woman became the victim of a distraction burglary in Clevedon. At around 8.15pm on Tuesday, a man knocked on the 89-year-old’s door claiming he’d just moved into a house on Conygar Close and needed to check her fuse box as his electricity had gone out. Once she opened the door a second man came in behind him. The first man then held her back as the other searched the house and made off with her life savings. More from Jack FM…

Eleventh man in court in Winterbourne View home inquiry: A man has appeared in court charged with ill treating patients at a private hospital near Bristol. Neil Ferguson, 25, of Emersons Green, near Bristol, is charged with two offences under the Mental Capacity Act. The support worker did not enter a plea when he appeared at Northavon Magistrates’ Court. Mr Ferguson is the eleventh person charged following a BBC Panorama piece on Winterbourne View. They will appear at Bristol Crown Court on 9 February. More from BBC News…

AstraZeneca to cut a further 7,300 jobs: Drugs firm AstraZeneca, which has a site near Avonmouth, announces a further 7,300 job cuts over the next two years as part of a new restructuring programme.  The GMB Union has said 250 to 300 of the cuts will be in R&D at the firm’s site at Alderley Park, Cheshire. It also said there would be unspecified back office cuts at other UK sites. More from BBC News…

Bristol man who stole £75,000 from his aunt is ordered to pay it all back: A “family man” jailed for nine months for stealing more than £75,000 from his 87-year-old aunt has been ordered to pay the money back. Bristol Crown Court heard Terry Pocock, 54, of Forest Edge, Hanham, stole the money to repay debts after convincing others he had power of attorney over his aunt’s estate. More from Bristol Evening Post…