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His Majesty's Theatre and the Gluepot are both gone. Come Mar. 14 another Auckland music venue will close its doors as @Luna in Symonds St falls victim to a motorway bypass. However, for its last big bash on Mar. 13-14 @Luna plans to go out in style, celebrating 36 hours non-stop with over 30 bands, artists and DJs. The party won't stop there either as during the day there will be theatre, food and stalls, all adding to the carnival atmosphere.
Was it a shock when you found out about the club's demolition? "To be honest, no. When we first started here, we actually thought we'd only get the one year out of it, because everyone was straight up about it being demolished so we were happy to get the most life out of the place in that time. We saw the potential in the building being used as a venue for performing arts, music, and theatre. We're just looking to transplant now into a new space." How important is it for music to have a venue like yours? "I think its pretty important. Its a shame that someone makes some amazing music but it just stays in their bedroom, its almost a waste of talent so its important for there to be a place where art can be expressed and people can come and appreciate it and there isn't a lot of places in Auckland for that." Work with his own band, Stan and the Love Gang, played a role in Rayna setting up @Luna. So I asked what they've been up to lately. "Actually Stan was up here yesterday, he's living in Dunedin these days, it was nice to catch up with him, and we threw a few ideas about maybe doing something again. Bands like ours just can't play in many places because we do such a bizarre show as its full of art and theatre and we really need a venue- something like @Luna and that's half the reason I set it up. Because you can't play places that are too small, we get crowds that are 200 to 300 but it's not enough for places like the Powerstation often and you can't play at pubs because Joe Bloggs wants to hear a drinking song and doesn't want to hear people prancing round in dresses!"
The copyright of the article New Zealand Music Venues and @Luna in New Zealand Music is owned by . Permission to republish New Zealand Music Venues and @Luna in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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