Live music in Aotearoa - New Zealand
Live music bars, local pubs and outdoor summer festivals throughout New Zealand offer some of the best settings for visitors to experience the Kiwi music scene.
The New Zealand sound is a fusion of modern and traditional genres - soul, jazz, reggae and rock - that has created a distinctive Pacific sound, and there’s nowhere better to appreciate it than along with a home-grown crowd.
While pubs and music bars offer year-round entertainment in towns and cities, summer offers an extensive schedule of outdoor events in diverse locations such as vineyards, beaches and outdoor arenas.
Here are some of New Zealand’s current happening music destinations.
Auckland - big little city
As home to most of New Zealand’s music and record companies, music press, major television and radio stations, Auckland is a hub for popular New Zealand music, and attracts large numbers of artists looking to develop their careers.
Auckland plays host to some of New Zealand’s biggest music events and festivals, including Big Day Out which attracts over 30,000 attendees every January.
On the nightlife scene, Auckland’s bars cater to a wide range of musical tastes. Newton’s Kings Arms - the city’s premier rock venue - is the place to see emerging talent, while Leigh Sawmill Café, in the countryside just north of Auckland, provides some of the best local and international acts around.
- Leigh Sawmill Café
With an esoteric café culture and great food, this family-run business is also a landmark destination for its varied portfolio of live acts and performances, regular art exhibitions and special events.
Leigh Sawmill Cafe
- Khuja Lounge
In the downtown Karangahape ‘K’ road district, Khuja has been the good times boogie in Auckland since 1997. Known as the home of ‘Aotearoa Soul', Khuja supports local artists with opportunities to perform original compositions to a live audience along with the best of Jazz / Soul / Funk / Afro-Latino and dance music from around the world.
Khuja Lounge
- The Dogs Bollix Irish Bar
Located in Auckland’s heart, The Dogs Bollix - one of the city’s premier live music venues - is a friendly pub renowned for a great atmosphere and varied clientele. Since its opening in 1996, the ‘Bollix’ has built a reputation as the place for the best in home grown and international rock, pop Celtic, folk and blues talent.
The Dogs Bollix
- The Kings Arms
The Kings Arms Tavern is Auckland’s premier rock’n’roll venue with live music five nights a week. As one of the oldest pubs in town it has played host to plenty of international acts over the years.
The Kings Arms
Wellington - coolest little capital
Wellington’s music scene is the home of New Zealand’s roots-reggae royalty - heavy-hitters Fat Freddys Drop, Rhombus and The Black Seeds have all helped earn Wellington’s reputation as a bass-heavy town
But it’s not all about roots / reggae. Wellington has bars to suit all musical tastes from indie punk / rock to roots and hip hop, the city is crammed full of innovative and talented musicians.
Witness up and coming local bands at Bar Bodega or stop in at San Francisco Bathhouse to see crowd-drawing national and international acts. When it comes to music New Zealand’s ‘coolest little capital’ has it all.
- Bar Bodega
A bar that’s famed as a venue for local and original New Zealand music, Bar Bodega is one of the few stages open almost exclusively to original New Zealand bands, and has played a vital role in nurturing the highly original and unique music scene of New Zealand's capital city.
Bar Bodega
- San Francisco Bath House
This Wellington institution and iconic live music venue rocks to nearly every genre - performed by a constant stream of the best from New Zealand and the world. Wednesday through Saturday nights feature an eclectic mix of real local, national and international acts. Recent highlights have included: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Misfits, Fat Freddy's Drop, Kora, and The Living End.
San Francisco Bath House
- Sandwiches
In the heart of Wellington's thriving entertainment district, Sandwiches is one of New Zealand's premier music and entertainment venues. A restaurant, bar, and nightclub rolled into one that’s a hot spot for the global dance music community. Sandwiches’ weekend knees-up party atmosphere is a reflection of Wellington’s strong live music and DJ scene.
Sandwiches
- Havana Bar
Next door to Havana Coffee Works, the Cuban spirit is alive and kicking at Havana Bar with a passion for live music, rum and coffee. The bar regularly offers live music with a Latin feel, as well as leading Wellington DJs, Spanish lessons and delicious bar food.
Havana Bar
- Goodluck Bar
Wellington’s original opium dens may be long gone but the legacy continues at the top of a discrete flight of stairs that hides an opulent cocktail den. Goodluck Bar - a cozy, candlelit lounge with a floating lantern bar - is one of Wellington’s premier alternative dance floors featuring some of the country's top live acts and DJs playing fresh selections.
Goodluck Bar
- The Matterhorn
The Matterhorn is a Wellington institution. Established in 1963 as a Swiss pastry shop, Matterhorn sets the benchmark for some of the finest and freshest of New Zealand’s music, dining, drink design and culture. The Matterhorn was judged #5 in Bartender Magazine’s inaugural ‘top 20 bars in the world’ by an international panel of judges and mixologists. It was also supreme winner of Cuisine magazine’s 2008 Restaurant of the Year awards.
The Matterhorn
- Mighty Mighty
A few doors down on Cuba Street, Mighty Mighty is a bar for locals - with its gloriously and unashamedly kitsch interior, frequent live acts and perfectly-sized dance floor, this bar is a mash of extremes. Bands feature all the time and DJs play ‘til late.
Mighty Mighty
Christchurch - Garden City
Christchurch has produced a disproportionate number of New Zealand’s highest musical achievers.
The Runga sisters and Anika Moa, rock bands Zed and The Feelers, Salmonella Dub, breakthrough hip hop artist Scribe, and current heavyweights Ladi 6 and Shapeshifter all have their roots in the ‘garden city’.
Musicians from Christchurch are likely to have had their beginnings at the Dux De Lux bar which continues to maintain a no cover charge policy for local bands. The longstanding venue with a capacity of 100 maintains its reputation for being the best local venue for a band to make its live break. The list includes Salmonella Dub and the Runga sisters.
- Double Happy
Double Happy is an upscale bar and club in Christchurch’s nightlife zone that delivers top entertainment in fine club surroundings. Since opening in November 2006, Double Happy has hosted some of Aotearoa's finest talents including Joe Dukie & DJ Fitchie (Fat Freddys), Minuit, Shapeshifter DJs, and Pacific Heights.
Double Happy
- Al’s Bar
On Christchurch’s central city fringe, Al’s Bar is owned and operated by local musician Al Park. Housed in a heritage building featuring brick, timber floors and an amazing sawtooth roofline, Al's features local, national and International musicians four nights a week.
Al's Bar
- The Dux de Lux
The Dux de Lux is an institution in the New Zealand music scene. It supports New Zealand's latest emerging live talent and the best of the local music community with live music in the Tavern Bar four nights a week.
The Dux de Lux
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