Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GOOD LORDE!
Of course, the big news in Kiwi music recently has been the success of Lorde, a
singer-songwriter from Devonport on Auckland's North Shore. Known less regally
to her friends as Ella Yelich-O'Connor, 16-year-old Lorde cracked the number-one
spot on the US Billboard charts in 2013 with her magical, schoolyard-chant-evok-
ing hit 'Royals' - the first NZ solo artist to top the American charts. 'Royals' then
went on to win the 'Song of the Year' Grammy in 2014. Her debut album Pure
Heroinehas spawned a string of hits and is selling millions of copies worldwide.
Not bad for 16!
Venues
In Auckland the main rock venues are the Kings Arms Tavern (
Click here
)
and Cassette
Nine (
Click here
), though two joint venues in St Kevins Arcade (off Karangahape Rd)
are also popular - the Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar (
Click here
)
. Ding Dong Lounge
(
Click here
)
and Portland Public House (
Click here
)
are also worth a look. Wellington is
rife with live-music venues - mostly around Cuba St - from Meow (
Click here
) to Bo-
dega (
Click here
)
.
Unfortunately the music scene in Christchurch was crippled by the earthquakes in late
2010 and early 2011. In the interim, a number of temporary spaces have opened up as gig
venues; a full list of events can be found at
www.christchurchmusic.org.nz
.
Further south, many local bands tour through Queenstown during the ski season, and
the spirit of the Flying Nun scene is kept alive at
Chicks Hotel
(2 Mount St) in Port
Chalmers (near Dunedin).
An up-to-date list of gigs in the main centres is listed at
www.ripitup.co.nz
.
Tickets for
most events can be bought at
www.ticketek.co.nz
,
www.ticketmaster.co.nz
,
or, for smal-
ler gigs, www.undertheradar.co.nz.
Festivals
A number of festivals happen over summer, including new year's celebration
Rhythm &
Vines
(
www.rhythmandvines.co.nz
)
in Gisborne. The touring international alt-rock fest
Big Day Out
(
www.bigdayout.com
)
seemed destined for the scrapheap but was re-
launched in Auckland in 2014. Also recommended is the underground festival held early
