thebigcity

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.

p artists

Pine

Pine were a Christchurch-based trio of Aaron Beehre, Hannah Beehre and Stephen McCarthy, releasing five albums on Arch Hill Recordings between 2001 and 2010. Operating without a drummer, the band combined jangly Kiwi pop with Britpop influences and toured with Neil Finn. Co-founder Stephen McCarthy later became a co-owner of Arch Hill Recordings.

Radio Stations

Channel Z Christchurch

Channel Z launched on 99.3FM in Christchurch in August 1999, bringing alternative rock and New Zealand music to a city that had few non-mainstream options on the dial. Its two years of local programming — Willy Macalister on days, Melanie Wise on nights — gave Christchurch a genuine alternative voice before the network consolidated all content from Auckland in 2001. The station became Kiwi FM in 2005 and was relaunched as a Christchurch online stream in 2019.

m artists

Marsha

Post-punk four-piece from Ōtautahi Christchurch, formed 2018. Their 2024 debut album In Circles established them as one of the most compelling voices in the contemporary New Zealand indie scene.

l artists

The Lovehorror Web

Biography George Churton formed high-octane rock group The Lovehorror Web around 1987 with an initial supporting line of Mick Elborado, Phil Hubbard and his…