The Louisiana is filled with timestamps from history. Inside, the walls are covered in gig posters from artists who’ve gone on to play headline shows or stadiums - Amy Winehouse, Muse, Dua Lipa, The White Stripes, Florence + the Machine, the list goes on.
The grassroots music venue’s legacy is also carried by a history spanning more than two centuries. The building can be traced back to 1809 as the Bathurst Hotel, which said to cater for seafarers coming to the newly built Bathurst Basin. The Friends of Bathurst Basin Association say the first-floor tented balcony covered seven bays with iron standards and railings is reminiscent of the architecture in New Orleans, which was the inspiration for its present name, the Louisiana.
As legend would have it, there was a tunnel that used to link the road to the hangman from the New Gaol who used to live in the room. The head foreman of the gaol hid in the connecting tunnel during the 1831 Bristol Riots - that saw the New Gaol destroyed - when he was being hunted by the inmates.
