Bristol’s future stars in the making come together for a day of new talent featuring a memorable heavyweight spoken word performance from Meryl Streek; raw angry rage from Bureau du Change and quiet sad brilliance from the gifted Ninush.

Imagine a smaller Left of the Dial, all on one street in Bristol: all achievable in walking distance and all doable in one day. Welcome to Outer Town – the perfect getaway down in Bristol coming around the same time as Ritual Union festival; to showcase the next great stars of the DIY scene over the space of two weeks: from artists like Girl in the Year Above and Knives to Meryl Streek and Bureau du Change, it’s all here, all of it – and you’d be amiss if you didn’t end up doing both.

It’s packed out with a full day across multiple venues by the time we get there – our locations today start the stage at Castle Trinity, brewery Wiper and True (which has, by far, the best alcohol selection of the entire evening), the Exchange, both in the Great Hall and the Dungeon, the cozy old-school pub of Stag & Hounds, plus cozier Elmers Arms, Ill Repute and To the Moon. It’s a day of a exploration and wondering and it’s very easy to hit 20k steps over the course of the day walking back and forth so be prepared to hit that step count. But the result is rewarding you get some of the best music in the entire scene.

It’s the time of the year where we get the sun out but it’s still freezing cold so fans get the warm up act of Big Long Sun in the Big Long Sun – their new single call it a voice moves like a charm – a small light orchestra with plenty of members who already have two albums out over a year – we’re looking very much at King Gizzard and the Lizard-type prolific energy here, not bad considering their multiple EPS released in-between. The result of the vibe for this set feels very much like a feeling chosen over meaning; rhythm defined with colour, jazzy, airy with plenty of prog. There’s a lot of 60s harmonies here where they echo 60s folk bands but their ability to switch to electro noise changes up the game and keeps it fresh and exciting.

A quick walk takes us to Horsefair in Ill Repute; an incredibly talented post-rock/grunge outfit who demonstrate our first case of a packed out venue at almost full capacity – anchored by vocalist and saxophonist Kate Francis; and are fast becoming a contender for the next breakout from Bristol: There’s elements of Mogwai’s math rock edge here and the baroque chamber rock of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, fully formed and capable of instantly making an impact.

The grunge-y lyrics have a thematic weight to them: Case Closed is a powerful track about sexual assault cases in the court and how horrible it is to even GET to court in the first place and the toll it takes on a human being. Francis’ vocals have the power to carry such an important topic and make it feel impactful. Our next stop is Myer U Clark on the other hand who you never really know what he’s going to do live at any point whether he’s solo or part of his nosier band The Scuttlers – and that’s part of the charm. We get a stirring rendition of Kumbaya, My Lord that the audience join in on; an almost theatrical performance at times that plays a lot to on-stage improvisation, and it’s very easy to see why he garnered a cult following in his hometown as much as he did.

Then, our first taste of the sweatbox that was downstairs in the Dungeon for Supermarché for some jazz-indie; and it’s already packed out by the time we arrive and we get our most Geordie Greep-esque set of the whole evening: a ramshackle; eccentric yet relatable eclectic style that finds a way to win over the crowd. The indie and jazz fusion is a real lightning in a bottle style that makes their sound effortlessly stand out as unique.

By the time we get to Castle Trinity, Bureau du Change is in full flow and we’re lured in by their irresistible punk noise and rewarded with a chaotic set that calls to mind early Amyl and the Sniffers and we have our first mosh of the day: as lively as the band themselves. This is my second time seeing this band on the back of Haggerston’s Duck and Dive festival, and they deliver a real tour-de-force of a live set with touches of a metal undertone. Their vocals allow you to let humanity’s frustrations out on stage: this is a set of lyrics that provoke anger and emotion and give them an outlet right the way through to the bitter end. If I was picking favourite acts on the day, Bureau du Change would probably be that act – they are simply unavoidable in terms of early star power in the making and real potential.

We dip into the folkier elements next with Dermont Henry and Ninush, who both draw quiet a crowd. Henry’s lyrics are memorable and cast a spell over Wiper & True, which by this part of the evening is packed out with regular attendees as much as it is Outer Town-goers. This festival is rapidly becoming a chance to see acts at The Great Escape early – a lot of the artists make the journey to Brighton this year, and Henry is one of them: within seconds, easy to see why. His folk/indie is born out of busking in Paris and unafraid to tackle personal friendship and relationships head on – the straightforward approach feeling incredibly welcome in the moment. Good thing going is an easy-going, straightforward delight – cutting straight to the chase in the immediate impact of a conversation where both parties are unafraid to overshare.

Ninush up next: and she’s awed by the energy that those in the crowd are giving her self-described sad songs in cold weather; and it’s the perfect pairing of two intimate artists that get the best out of the folk genre and show its variety as a concept: that’s part of what I love about Outer Town, the genres can range from folk to noise at any given moment, but sometimes your schedule just flows perfectly and that’s the case here. Her intimate world of bright pop melodies that make the most out of her classically trained background allow the vocals to shine through – using her practice as support for Black Country, New Road to turn into something special. The boundary-pushing vocals allow for an intimate set – the EP – The Flowers I See You In – is incredibly rich with multi-layered textures that give it the kind of depth that most new artist could only dream of; just utterly spellbinding from the first song to the last. Arguably the best folk act in the scene right now? It’s hard to look beyond Ninush; a star rising.

The Orchestra (For Now) are Windmill scene regulars and put in a highlight of a performance as a type of six-years-ago pre-explosion Fontaines DC, around about the time of Dogrel, with their raw energy and post-punk esque sound. It’s grit, intense and captures a free-flowing live crowd. Then the run in to the end is kind of perfect and what more could you want out of an evening? ELLiS-D takes the stage in the 7:30 slot for a packed out Wiper and True that give us some real noise rock energy. It has the glam of Bowie visible beneath the grittier punk acts – 70s glam comes through as well as the psych that puts him in the category of noisier outfits like Wax Head and even peak Elvis Costello at times. A real star rising here.

Meryl Streek is my undisputed highlight of the night and when he comes on stage for some unmissable spoken word full of super charged anti-landlord hatred that get the crowd really worked up; it’s hard not to be drawn in with songs like Death to the Landlord that celebrate an evening of post punk ethos. He is off to Leeds for Strangeforms next weekend where paired with the noisier Bristol outfit Knives, you can see why that transition is kind of perfect. Death to the Landlord is full of rage, fury, and the sheer talent of the spoken word vocals give him an unmatched stage presence where he states that playing in Brewery Wiper & True is the weirdest venue he’s ever been in. It’s a phenomenal performance – “you’ve lied so much your teeth have become rotten / yellow and stained from all the shite you’ve been talking” – taps into current issues of the moment in the way that all the best punk acts can: “say no to wanker landlords running the country…. Say no to five days a week” I was simply blown away by this. It’s a style that contrasts a different crowd to your typical Outer Town-er, but that’s what I love about it – the mosh pit is carnage but it only serves as a warm-up for of all the acts, TTSSFU, by the time we enter!

The final “headline” – split between three equally talented bands and favoured by at this point in the night, a venue under cover from the rain in the Exchange, TTSSFU, brings a sense of dreamy shoegaze pop that’s a joy to witness – and what’s perhaps unexpected in dreampop was just how intense the crowd got; even a bit too heavy for the artist! She thought about calling it to slow down and then decided to embrace the carnage, with stage dives, crowd surfing – and by the end, couldn’t help but join in on the mosh. It was a frantic, lively show that made the most out of her shoegaze-y influence and tendency to go heavier, aggravating a Bristol crowd by coming on in a Cardiff blues jersey – demonstrating the rivalry first hand between the two cities. It was also rival day everywhere across the Southwest, with Exeter and Plymouth at it in many screens in the pubs nearby and both Rovers and City also playing. This led to a packed-out street that was bustling, lively and friendly from the first act to the last: a completely unique, self-discovery of an experience where any band could be your new favourite band and you could have the completely different festival experience to any other.

I thought as it would take place all on one street I’d be safe from doing Left of the Dial multi-venue city step count in a day, but oh my god – Outer Town was very much not one to keep the step counts low, I almost hit 30k including the journey down – and like all good revellers, finished the night shattered. The last acts were beyond me unfortunately: but still, starting early allowed maximum discovery of the bands playing possible and still hit double figures of artists: even having time for Do Nothing in a packed out Old Market Assembly – who suitably impressed us with their ability to command a room with some full on post punk madness.

Count me back next year.