Powerstation,
33 Mt Eden Road,
Eden Terrace
Auckland,
The ViewAuckland Review
2 out of 5 stars
It must be tough running a place like the Power Station at the top end of Mt Eden Rd. What’s the best way to draw a crowd when there’s no live gig or dance party as a drawcard? How do you get punters in every weekend rather than just now and then? For the Power Station they’ve decided to go for the slightly dubious charms of Bar Retro. Let me explain….
Of course the Power Station has always had a bar, and over the years I’ve frequented it at loads of gigs from The Buzzcocks to The Shins. A chilled, if usually overpriced, beer is a mandatory response to a sweaty session near the front of the stage. I’m just not sure if I’d head along to Bar Retro if there wasn’t an event on.
I can see what the Power Station is trying to do, and can even hear the meeting when the idea of Bar Retro was first raised.
“Hey, why don’t we put framed music posters from the 1980s on the walls? The record companies are bound to go for that.”
“Yeah, and I’ve got a mate who’s got all these picture discs, (that’s 12-inch vinyl for younger readers), we could stick up as well.”
“So all we need is a retro neon logo and we’re all sorted?”
Well, not quite. Bar Retro continues to work well as a pre, during, and after gig option at the Power Station, but it’s hard to see the appeal as a bar you’d just drop into. It would be kind of like trucking along to Eden Park or Mt Smart and sitting in the grandstand with a beer while looking at an empty playing field.
Still, if you are interested in the 1980s as the decade that taste forgot, it is actually worth getting along to check out the retro posters amidst a soundtrack of 1980s music. Highlights/lowlights include a truly scary poster of Dave Lee Roth from Van Halen stripped to the waist, and memories of Auckland gigs from Elton John and the Thompson Twins. There’s Steinlager, Macs and Speights on tap, lots of fizzy RTDs, and a wall-encompassing collection of liquers that are seemingly lifted straight from a key party in 1970s Pakuranga.
Worth a look for music buffs even if there’s no gigs on, but with Galbraith’s and The Corner Store just metres away, it’s hard to really strongly recommend Bar Retro.
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