thebigcity

Entry 01,449 · Est. 2002

thebigcity

New Zealand Music and Christchurch Culture

j artists

Jim Nothing

Christchurch lo-fi solo project of James G. Sullivan. Released cassette EPs from 2013 before debuting on vinyl with In The Marigolds (2022) and Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn (2024) on Melted Ice Cream.

h artists

Hans Pucket

Wellington indie pop four-piece formed by twin brothers Oliver and Callum Devlin. Signed to Carpark Records (US), their 2022 album No Drama was nominated for the Taite Music Prize and earned international praise. Known for eclectic influences spanning 60s pop, musical theatre, and 70s disco.

d artists

Death and the Maiden

Dunedin electronic trio featuring Lucinda King, Hope Robertson and Danny Brady. Their three albums — Death and the Maiden (2015), Wisteria (2018) and Uneven Ground (2024) — fuse post-punk guitars with dream-pop electronics on Fishrider Records.

w artists

Ben Woods

Christchurch guitarist and songwriter, member of Wurld Series and Salad Boys. Released Put (2019) and Dispeller (2022) on Melted Ice Cream.

b artists

Best Bets

Power-pop group from Rangiora, Canterbury. Released Life Under The Big Top EP (2018) and albums On An Unhistoric Night (2022) and The Hollow Husk of Feeling (2024) on Melted Ice Cream and Meritorio Records.

h artists

Adam Hattaway

Woolston, Christchurch alt rock'n'roll band led by guitarist and singer Adam Hattaway (formerly of Wurld Series and The Eastern). Seven studio albums in seven years, from the 2018 debut All Dat Love through to Hot Variety (2025). Rooster (2021) reached #16 on the NZ album charts and was playlisted on 40-plus US radio stations.

m artists

Munkey Kramp

Biography Poppy Dunedin-based 4-piece featuring future Cloudboy vocalist Demarnia Lloyd. The excellent scattering of recordings bassist Pete Gorman has archived on Youtube show the…

Venues

Repertory Theatre

The Repertory Theatre at 146 Kilmore Street was one of Christchurch’s most architecturally distinctive interwar buildings, a 1929 Spanish Mission structure originally built as the Radiant Hall and later the home of the Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society for over eighty years. Demolished following the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, the building hosted decades of theatrical and musical life including productions directed by Ngaio Marsh and performances by leading Christchurch folk, jazz, and indie acts.

Venues

Rockpool

The Rockpool has been a fixture of Christchurch’s central city since 1995, operating as a pool hall on the ground floor and Micky Finn’s Irish Pub — a live music venue — on the first floor. Closed following the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes and reopened in 2015, it remains one of the few pre-earthquake CBD venues still trading, billing itself as the only pub in Central City.

m artists

Don McGlashan

Auckland multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and film composer Don McGlashan — frontman of Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds — has been one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed musicians for over four decades, inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

Studios

Tandem Studios

Also known as: Tandem Recording Studios Location: Originally Colombo Street, Christchurch Central; later 78 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central Active: 1974–present (recording studio 1974–c.2000s; media…

Venues

New City Hotel

The New City Hotel at 527 Colombo Street has operated continuously in Christchurch since 1930, when Ballin Brothers commissioned architect John Steele Guthrie to design a Moderne-style building to house a liquor licence dating back to 1864. A survivor of the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes, it remains the last traditional hotel operating in Christchurch's CBD and continues as a live music and entertainment venue.