17 Galatos Street,
Newton
Auckland,


(09) 303 1928 

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This long serving music venue (originated in 1920) has been a favourite with creative industries, media types and minor celebrities for years.

Tonight, from outside the venue you can hear loud rock bands playing in the basement; Galatos’ cradle for underground, indie, and often left-of-field acts.

On the door are very well-dressed rock types (black and hair gel seem to be the uniform) sucking on cigarettes, looking around as if to spot the next big thing or to catch a glimpse of someone that might be known.

Apart from the lounge (upstairs), Galatos is mostly a destination venue. It serves as a showcase for bands, DJs, VJs and multimedia performances often too big for a private venue, but too small for theatres such as the St James or The Civic.

During winter, when the venue is at its slowest and unless you know the people performing, there is little reason to just pop-up to Galatos.

Tonight, we encounter what we have always come to expect of this place: a great, suave spot for intimate conversation and a few good cocktails. The crowd is young (early to late 20s) and as we sit down, we realise that the music is at a screeching level of loudness even though there are not that many of us around.

Tonight is the perfect example of what I have been noticing lately: Galatos’ crowds have got younger and the music much more computer driven.

It remains, however, a meeting place for the perennially hip and artistically inclined … and come summer, when regular club nights, grime, dancehall—and other such dancing goodie—kick in, hopefully a much improved musical watering hole.