Happy hours...

The city I live in has launched its first underground rail network - this being Auckland, New Zealand, of course that actually just means one tunnel and a couple of new underground stations, connecting to a reimagined wider network. But it’s a long-promised intervention in the public transport system of a city, that will surely (possibly) have implications for live music here. I’m interested in how the consciousness about music might change here.

In the past, certainly in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the city centre had focal points for live venues around High Street, Ponsonby and Karangahape Road. Wider Auckland certainly had spaces - out west in particular, Waiheke too - that seemed like places “supportive” of live shows. Arty places right? Bohemian. That sense of tolerance for - even active interest in - a music scene kind of dwindled in suburbia, and dissipated to became a rare phenomenon when you left town.

Live music in NZ has always been under the cloud of sport, of booze barns, and of a brooding, conservative antipathy towards culture itself, towards diversity and certainly even towards entertainment. Find yourself playing music in the rural ‘heartland’ and if you didn’t trot out The Gambler or some shit you could expect chairs to start flying. The South Island perhaps less so - some towns are well-stocked with a healthy subculture of good weirdos - but it had its own problems with monoculture. In some towns the fist-fighting women outnumber the piss-addled blokes, and if you can't rely on women to start the dancing, then you are screwed.

When you think of places where live music is integrated into the culture, into daily life, it’s usually towns with clusters of venues in walking distance from each other, but also in areas with bars, restaurants and cinemas that are close enough to workplaces too. The culture in Salt Lake City for instance, appears to be one where people finish work and hit the bar for drinks, food and a band ~ then head home. This is a midweek staple, not just a party night special occasion.

Here Auckland faces an uphill battle, with reportedly the earliest ‘last orders’ time in the restaurant trade in the southern hemisphere. Cafes too are notorious for closing their coffee machines in early afternoon, leaving a city unserved for hangouts. In fact, of course, hospitality businesses have borne much of the drudge of the Covid era. Those that survived have also witnessed Uber-Eats stepping into the breach as a particularly efficient vulture in a disconnected, unwieldy city prone to appalling weather. The app is firmly part of being in this city.

However, in my view, if we can unyoke punters a little bit from this Uber-Eats addiction (which is a wider function of addiction to mobile phones), and kindle some kind of proper happy hour culture, we might start to see hospitality business revived. Punters may start to notice that journeys from work to home might stretch to a stop-off. Those with a half hour (or more) commute from the city back home are unlikely to make that journey again on a weeknight, so we need to catch them at the right time.

One positive sign in the CRL design, consciously or unconsciously, is that of the key stations that serve as connections for east and west / north and south all at once each have a certain focus. Waitemata is about transport connections and the CBD; Te Horotiu is about concerts, festivals, conferences, and Maungawhau is for sporting events. Each have bars, attractions, markets etc nearby. Karangahape Road though is being groomed for more food offerings. It feels logical to say to friends (local or visitors) "I'll meet you in K'Rd" for a meal beforeor after heading to say a sporting event, conference, theatre show or journey to Waiheke.

K'Rd should be the happy hour spot. A logical spot for a sundowner. And the soundtrack?