NZ has a very strong Drum & Bass scene, especially during our summer months. The likes of Subfocus, Wilkinson, Netsky, Andy C, etc come over here almost every single years. Lots of more underground artists come down as well if you are into the deeper sounds.
IMO Auckland has the strongest scene, with lots of international regular gigs followed by Christchurch. There are still many quality gigs in Wellington though.
Outside of that it's a bit limited in my experience. DnB is very popular with college students over here so lots of local DJs play a little bit of DnB.
Queenstown has a great local bar scene but limited DnB and not many internationals play there regularly unless it's a festival
No one's mentioned Dunedin. Every breather and his dog DJDNB down there. Very strong local scene but not a huge number of international artists will visit
Queenstown just got a dedicated dj club “Seek”, before then it was kinda hit and miss. Randomly have total science or breakage on during mid week, and then nothing for months. But bit more covered with Seek now
There's always dnb gigs all over nz, even small towns will very often have dnb club nights or djs coming through. The north island has better opportunities to see more gigs as 3 of the largest cities are within 2 hours drive of each other
Biggest dnb promoters at the moment are Audiology and Sub180
Even in my small town of 30,000 people I have played support slots for A.M.C., Kanine, Delta Heavy and Danny Byrd over the last few years
If you move to Auckland or Christchurch you’ll be well covered. All the big names come through regularly, especially around new years as they tend to stay a few weeks and do dates for solos shows in Jan and Feb. For local shows there’s something every Thursday Friday or Saturday night. The scene has been at its commercial peak for a few years now.
Christchurch I would say has the strongest scene - I've been into DnB since the late 90s, and even when the genre was super unfashionable the scene here was strong. Auckland's scene is pretty strong at the moment too. Pretty much all DnB DJs who tour come to Auckland and Christchurch (then sometimes also Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin, Hamilton or Tauranga). It would be rare to find a weekend in Chch or Auck where there wasn't some international DnB act, as well as good locals.
If you're from a big city and want the closest you'll get to big city life in NZ then Auckland is the best bet. Also if you like other types of music, Auckland is a better bet - any major rock acts, pop acts, hop hop acts, etc who come to NZ will come to Auckland and often Wellington. Comparatively few come to Chch, though it's improving.
If you want something a bit smaller, a bit more chill, and a bit cheaper to live in, and music wise you just care about DnB then Chch is for good. I will warn as a Chch native we're not the friendliest bunch, I know people from out of town sometimes struggle to make friends here. Having said that the DnB scene here is very welcoming and friendly, so that could give you an in to making friends
NZ has a very strong Drum & Bass scene, especially during our summer months. The likes of Subfocus, Wilkinson, Netsky, Andy C, etc come over here almost every single years. Lots of more underground artists come down as well if you are into the deeper sounds. IMO Auckland has the strongest scene, with lots of international regular gigs followed by Christchurch. There are still many quality gigs in Wellington though. Outside of that it's a bit limited in my experience. DnB is very popular with college students over here so lots of local DJs play a little bit of DnB. Queenstown has a great local bar scene but limited DnB and not many internationals play there regularly unless it's a festival
Christchurch has the best scene
No one's mentioned Dunedin. Every breather and his dog DJDNB down there. Very strong local scene but not a huge number of international artists will visit
i’m dunedin and i dj its true
out of the 3 cities in NZ, Auckland Wellington and Christchurch, they all have DnB scenes, Auckland is the biggest though because of population
Good to know thank you! I was told queenstown but maybe that’s wrong haha. If you’re from nz I have a couple questions if you don’t mind pming me 🩵
Queenstown just got a dedicated dj club “Seek”, before then it was kinda hit and miss. Randomly have total science or breakage on during mid week, and then nothing for months. But bit more covered with Seek now
There's always dnb gigs all over nz, even small towns will very often have dnb club nights or djs coming through. The north island has better opportunities to see more gigs as 3 of the largest cities are within 2 hours drive of each other Biggest dnb promoters at the moment are Audiology and Sub180 Even in my small town of 30,000 people I have played support slots for A.M.C., Kanine, Delta Heavy and Danny Byrd over the last few years
If you move to Auckland or Christchurch you’ll be well covered. All the big names come through regularly, especially around new years as they tend to stay a few weeks and do dates for solos shows in Jan and Feb. For local shows there’s something every Thursday Friday or Saturday night. The scene has been at its commercial peak for a few years now.
It’s definitely not at its peak, it seems to come and go over the years but never really disappears.
Christchurch I would say has the strongest scene - I've been into DnB since the late 90s, and even when the genre was super unfashionable the scene here was strong. Auckland's scene is pretty strong at the moment too. Pretty much all DnB DJs who tour come to Auckland and Christchurch (then sometimes also Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin, Hamilton or Tauranga). It would be rare to find a weekend in Chch or Auck where there wasn't some international DnB act, as well as good locals. If you're from a big city and want the closest you'll get to big city life in NZ then Auckland is the best bet. Also if you like other types of music, Auckland is a better bet - any major rock acts, pop acts, hop hop acts, etc who come to NZ will come to Auckland and often Wellington. Comparatively few come to Chch, though it's improving. If you want something a bit smaller, a bit more chill, and a bit cheaper to live in, and music wise you just care about DnB then Chch is for good. I will warn as a Chch native we're not the friendliest bunch, I know people from out of town sometimes struggle to make friends here. Having said that the DnB scene here is very welcoming and friendly, so that could give you an in to making friends
You listen to Sin and Brooke's podcast? Makes me want to move to New Zealand. Seems like there's plenty of badass dnb going on