Demise of the pub rock scene a death blow to Dunedin music - not on our watch

Last night I was in attendance at one of the most enjoyable gigs I've seen in quite a while.

On stage were Bob Scott and the original line up of The Bats - a legendary NZ band - and there were Kiwi accents all around me. The venue was packed to the rafters and was one of those great larger pub venues that are especially suited to producing the best vibes for a rock gig. It's an iconic venue and one that has been putting on gigs for decades.

At the end, while the crowd bayed for more with the Kiwi chick next to me especially vocal, I could not help but feel a little sadness for the fall of this type of venue and this type of experience. This was especially brought home by the fact that I was not in my home town of Dunedin and not even in New Zealand. I was watching 'The Bats' at the Hopetoun in Sydney Australia (although with the number of ex-pats all around me I could almost imagine myself still in NZ).

In the last year or so Dunedin has lost so many of its smaller live music venues with the Backstage, The Crown, Arc, The Empire all gone as homes to live music. It's a shame that tightening of wallets and perhaps the digital age has led to the demise of the rock pub experience as a means of seeing great original live music.

Of course it's not all doom and gloom - Sammys is doing great work in taking up the slack and I've seen many a fine gig there lately. There is also Refuel on campus.

Going out of town a little to Port Chalmers we have the awesome Chicks Hotel venue - one of the few local venues ticking all the boxes for vibeability (I don't know if that's a word either). The flames are being kept burning by the Dunedin music community and a lot of hard work and imagination.

Examples of this are Dunedin musicians Tono and Delgirl taking their shows into dramatic theatre spaces during the Dunedin Fringe. Another Dunedin band Haunted Love launched their E.P. at a gig in the Art Gallery, while Dunedin musical legends The Verlaines packed out an appearance at Dunedin Library.

These are just a few examples to add to frequent community hall bookings for gigs in and out of town.

As a committed (and often should be) live music fan I'm grateful to the continued efforts of the Dundedin music community in keeping alive a live music tradition which in my humble opinion stands alongside train stations, Chinese gardens and albertros as stand-out Dunedin markers.