We Love Ding Dong Lounge

Ding Dong Lounge is the home for music lovers of all ages (over 18) country-wide. Admittedly, Ding Dong Lounge has never run at a profit, so with the pressures of COVID-19 its future is in danger and we must ask our family to support us in our time of need. 

It is the reality that many live music venues will not survive this pandemic, but we desperately want to continue to provide the bands, performers and comedians who gig at our establishment, as well as our friends and family a home to play, socialise, party and to make memories and long-lasting friendships. 

We fear that we will lose one of the few remaining live music venues in Auckland. It is a unique dive bar that has evolved to cater for all, and is a safe space for friendship and self-expression.

Downstairs in the main bar, you can always expect huge hits of nostalgia behind the DJ decks and themed-nights to encourage and invite anyone and everyone in to see the live bands playing upstairs. And it is our greatest fear that a more ‘mainstream’ bar will arise in our ashes. 

We want to continue to provide one-in-a-lifetime experiences for music lovers of all ages, and hope that you will support us in our genuine plea to keep the history of Ding Dong Lounge going. 

Please consider chipping in however much you can, and please share your favourite memories across Facebook, Instagram or even Tik Tok if you bloody have to with the hashtag #WeLoveDingDongLounge #SaveOurVenues #SaveOurVenuesNZ #WeLoveSpaceAcademy

• Mat Jorgensen (Owner), Andrew Treeby (Entertainment Manager), the bar staff, the bands & performers, sound crew, photographers, door staff and last but not least, our loyal DJs. 

OUR HISTORY: 

The original ‘Ding Dong Lounge’ was founded in New York City in 2001 by Bill Nolan, opening on the upper west side of Manhattan and slowly growing a following of talented artists, writers, actors and musicians. 

Then in 2003, close personal friend Bill Walsh opened the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne, branding itself with a live gig atmosphere that has easily upheld the Ding Dongs furious rock reputation.

In 2013, Auckland was granted permission to open one of New York's most celebrated punk rock establishments here in New Zealand with the help and support of Kiwi music legends as the country’s home for rock music.

Sadly, both the original New York and Melbourne bars have had their last call and are no longer open, and Auckland is now the only remaining bar left to continue the rich history and legacy of music and friendship.

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Through hard work, determination, blood, sweat and tears, the owners and regulars of Ding Dong Lounge have built up the Auckland dive bar to the diverse live music venue it is today. While the bar’s opening saw it functioning without live music, the demand soon increased, and over the years Ding has worked furiously to invest in live sound equipment and lighting. One of our regulars, Johny McCluskey, built the stage we know today. We hosted fundraisers for live sound microphones, and borrowed a mixing desk from SAE for years before we were finally able to buy our own gear. We will forever be grateful for all the support that got us to where we are today.

Earlier this year, we celebrated the opening of ‘Dead Witch’, officially naming the bar upstairs that has hosted many bands, comedians, jam nights and private functions. 

Ding Dong supports the community and has also provided a platform for up-and-coming bands, with the Ding Dong Lounge battle-of-the-bands competition. Every year, we provide a venue for Kiwi musicians to hone and showcase their live performance skills, awarding the winner with the opportunity to record their original music in a professional studio, an opportunity many have not yet had.

We provide a venue for ‘after-parties’, so fans can continue their night with like-minded fellow concert-goers. Ding is not just about the loyal regulars, as we’re often on tourist’s bucket lists of places to visit while in Auckland. But they’re not just tourists. They’re rockers wearing their hearts on their sleeves. They’ve either heard about us from a friend from back home who spent many a night connecting with our customers during their trip to Auckland. Or they’re touring bands who’ve asked their friends in other bands about where to go while they’re in town. Otherwise they’ve just Googled “bars that play great music” and found that Ding Dong was the only bar they could find that matches their taste.

Ding Dong Lounge has also been a safe space for international artists to hang and have a quiet drink without the fuss on their nights off or after their own shows. We have been fortunate enough to host members from the likes of Green Day, Wolfmother, Steel Panther, Machinehead,  Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains), Hed PE, Alice Cooper’s Band, Seether, Halestorm, Cradle Of Filth, Eden Galindo (Eagles Of Death Metal), Disturbed, Escape The Fate, Falling In Reverse, Violent Femmes, Dashboard Confessional, Hawthorne Heights, We The Kings, CJ Ramone (Ramones), Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw/Head Automatica/Color Film), Hellyeah, Vinnie Paul (Pantera/Hellyeah), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Less Than Jake, Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise), Eric Wilson (Sublime), Lagwagon, The Exploited, The Interrupters, Jerry Only (Misfits), Drab Majesty, Anthrax, Soilwork, Art Alexakis (Everclear), Dan Root (Adolescents/CJ Ramone), Steve Soto (Agent Orange/Adolescents/CJ Ramone), Perturbator, Pete Sosa (Street Dogs/Roger Miret & The Disasters/CJ Ramone), Chuck Garric (L.A Guns/Dio/Alice Cooper), Ryan Roxie (Slash's Snakepit/Casablanca/Alice Cooper), Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper), Blue Man Group and many more.