The Powerstation
The Powerstation is a 1,000-capacity music venue in Eden Terrace, Auckland, New Zealand. It’s one of the few remaining small live-music spaces in the country and has housed several venues since the 1950s, starting as a hotel lobby, then a dine-and-dance venue, and later the Galaxy.
In 1986, Simon Grigg, Roger Perry and Tom Sampson opened the house-music club Asylum inside Galaxy. It started with hip hop, soul and pop, but soon became known as the first dedicated house music club in Australasia, attracting crowds from across Auckland. In 1989 Galaxy hosted glam metal shows (five bands for five dollars), helping renew interest in the genre. By 2008, Galaxy had become Bar Retro, an 80s-themed bar. In 2009 Bar Retro was bought by Peter Campbell and renamed The Powerstation.
Notable moments include the Pixies’ first New Zealand show in 2010 and Lorde’s 2017 gig, which was moved from The Powerstation to the Bruce Mason Centre due to all-ages liquor-licensing issues. In 2018, The Powerstation drew controversy for initially agreeing to host, then cancelling, an event by far-right speakers Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:05 (CET).