Thanks to Auckland’s reputation as the most alive and entertaining city in the country, it surely doesn’t lack entertainment in any sense. Whether its cinema, theatre, live music or various nightclubs, Auckland’s nightlife is truly worth a visit. There are numerous sources that are on time with the current events in the city including NZ Herald’s The Guide that is released from Monday to Friday and a large Time Out section, released every Saturday with an extensive list of events on weekdays. Most of these lists are dedicated to live music and concerts, but there are those that take care of events situated at Auckland’s bars and clubs. Some of the events are free, but there are those that require purchased tickets and the most reliable source where to buy them is Ticketek covering events at Aotea Centre and Sky City Atrium.
K Rd for gays and lesbians
K Rd is certainly the place where gays and lesbians may enjoy the variety of clubs and bars, but there is also the Pride Center, the main contact point where all the informations can be obtained. Karangahape Road is home to the oldest gay bar in Auckland - Urge, famous for its occasional theme nights, as well as DJs on Fridays and Saturdays. Kamo is another gay friendly restaurant and bar opened from 10.30am to 10.30pm, each day of the week, except on Monday. There is also the Flesh Bar with nightclub in the basement, karaoke and handsome men in addition of regular drag shows. The bar is opened form 6pm till late in the evening and the nightclub opens on Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm till early morning hours.
Besides from arts, businesses, shopping and dining, Karangahape Road (popularly know as K Rd), located between Western Park and Eden Terrace, just off Upper Queen Street, offers amazing nightlife with numerous bars and clubs, but that isn’t all. There are places where visitors can enjoy in exclusive wine bars, casinos, cabarets and adult facilities only. This is the place where the smoothest radio station in the city, KFM, amuses many Aucklanders and their guests every day of the week, day and night. It’s the charm of the environment that the radio mirrors transferring it to the variety of music genres: funk to downbeat, world to hip hop, dub to broken beat, jazz to house, neo soul to blues. K Rd also homes number of gay bars and events combined with good taste in music, food and wine. Finale Restaurant and Cabaret, located at 350 Karangahape Rd, is based on the concept of dinner theatre with amazing buffet meals and two sets of exciting drag cabaret shows. For the ones who like it this way, Caluzzi Bar & Cabaret offer the same taste in good music, performance, of course combined with amazing food offers. Several nightclubs enjoy the privilege of being located in K Rd, Auckland’s No1 area when it comes to entertainment. These are: 420, Galatos, Ink, The Billiard Lounge, Khuja Lounge, Bacio, Rising Sun and many others. Since music makes and important role in the city’s cultural life, there is no wonder K Rd has its own label company - Monkey Records, that dedicate its work to releasing and promoting innovative Kiwi music both at home and internationally. Thanks to the area’s inspiring atmosphere that also serves as a meeting place for many arts and events, most of these are organized by musicians, artists, film makers, cultural groups and other creative people. When in K Rd, there are free heritage walks around the neighbourhood guided by Edward Bennett, K Road historian. During the walk through this superb heritage architecture, thanks to Mr Bennett dresses in 1948 costume, visitors can enjoy hilarious anecdotes as well and refresh themselves after in some of K Rd’s numerous bars and restaurants. Eden’s Bar is one of those bars that offer live music combined with special nights dedicated to indie pop and rock. Auckland also has several Irish pubs, such as Dogs Bollix, located at the corner of K Rd and Newton Rd, a popular venue for Irish music, but that isn’t the only genre played here. Although not directly in K Rd, Kings Arms Tavern, one of Auckland’s leading venues for live rock music, is situated at France Street, between Karangahape and Eden Terrace. Though small, this popular place hosts the greatest local rock bends, as well as international.
|
| Civic Theatre, Auckland |
Located just in the neighbourhood of K Rd, Ponsonby Road is another most fantastic place where visitors can enjoy rich nightlife with several clubs and many other interesting things on offer. Behind its historic background, Ponsonby’s social character simply invites all lovers of good taste for fashion, including some of the hippiest hairdressers in the city. Still, the variety of bars and cafes with distinguished coffee tasting, makes this area one of the most interesting places to visit when in Auckland. With its unique Spanish/Moorish tinge, Alhambra offers live jazz and blues from Wednesday to Sunday in addition of amazing views on the sterling city. The entire road is filled with a network of bars, cafes, restaurants ana clubs with a whole lot of live music venues. From the amazing offer, there are three venues that can be distinguished: Whiskey, Lime Bar and Orchid. These are places where visitors can anejoy a unique offer of drinks including cocktails and spirits, as well as many other alcoholic pleasures, each with their own atmosphere, but mostly low lighting, relaxed and cool, mixing the music genres from classic rock, local soundtracks and an exquisit interior, especially within Orchid.
Besides these two main centers, when it comes to clubs and night life, there are a few places around Vulcan Lane and the Viaduct Basin where one can enjoy this kind of entertainment. These are Fu Bar, a long time running music club situated in the basement for an excellent live music shows, featuring popular DJs, hip-hop and most famous local rockers Die! Die! Die! Queen Street is home to Fu Bar, as well as to Khuja Lounge, a popular venue for the ones who enjoy live jazz, soul and hip hop. Situated on Vulcan Lane, Papa Jack’s Voodoo Lounge, offers the best of hard rock including the atmosphere with skulls, ripped seats and a live band once a week. When it comes to big concerts that feature home and international bands, ther are four main venues for such events: Western Springs Stadium, the North Shore Events Center, the Supertop and Ericsson Stadium in Penrose.
Aotea Centre, located at 50 Mayoral Drive, is regarded as the best place in Auckland where one can enjoy theatre, dance, ballet and opera. Auckland Town Hall, located at the same address as Aotea Centre, offers the best of classical music since it hosts concert performances and serves as home to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia. Then, there is the famous Civic Theatre, one of the oldest in the city, used for major touring productions in opera, theatre, musicals, as well as it hosts the Auckland International Film Festival. Classic Comedy Club is the city’s major venue for comedies, whether professional or amateur, ran each night from Wednesday to Saturday starting around 8pm. Another popular venue for many Aucklanders is the Sky City Theatre with 700 seats that offers a unique entertainment regarding plays, along with the variety of offers including bars, casinos, restaurants, city views and many other places that offer nightly live music. Silo Theatre is one of many that exist in the city, but this one is among those that offer youth and fringe drama, it’s their specialty. There is another interesting thing in Sky City complex and that is their Village Megascreen, located at 291 Queen Street. Besides this cinema that shows regularly all Kiwi and international films, there is NZ Film Archives that specializes in old Kiwi productions from the 1905 onwards. More than a thousand Kiwi-made movies can be seen for free on a TV screen. Academy Cinema, situated in the basement of the Central City Library, shows international movies and art-house films, as well as the Rialto Cinemas, located at 167 Broadway Street, that offer pretty much the same stuff, in addition of some mainstream fare.
Aucklanders are really big sport fans with a special interest in rugby, cricket and tennis. When it comes to tennis, there are two major international events that take place in Auckland each year: Men’s Heineken Open, followed by the Women’s ASB Classic, both are home to Stanley Street Tennis courts, located between the Auckland University and The Domain. Eden Park is the most important venues for rugby and cricket matches featuring All Blacks, the Black Caps and the local Auckland Blues. Top rugby matches are played in winter time, in difference to cricket matches that are on Eden Park’s schedule in summer months. There is a bus leaving form the Britomart to Kingsland station - that’s where visitors to Eden Park must hop-off if they want to experience the most important sporting events in the city. Besides being the major venue for mega popular bands from all over the world, Ericsson Stadium hosts soccer games, as well as Warriors rugby league.
