Four Bands, Ten Dollars: Lets Get Raucous 2 Takes Over The Cabana

By Alyssa | WhatsOn music and nightlife writer Alyssa tracks the gigs, festivals, club nights and late-late plans worth leaving the house for.

When you want loud guitars, zero pretence, and the sweat dripping from low ceilings, you do not look for an arena; you head to Shakespeare Road. The Cabana holds title as New Zealand's oldest operational live music venue, and its battered floorboards are hosting Lets Get Raucous 2 Hawke's Bay this spring. Built around a gritty local quadruple bill featuring Bushman's Friend, Lacerated Sky, Punching, and Shot, this is unpasteurised Kiwi underground rock distilled into a single, high-decibel evening. At just ten dollars on the door, it cuts straight through polished commercial touring circuits to offer an unapologetic slice of raw Aotearoa band room culture.

Distortion, Decibels, and Feedback Loops

Stepping inside The Cabana feels like crossing into live music history, where decades of valve amps and beer-soaked carpet have baked resonance into the very studs of the room. The night moves fast across four distinct strains of alternative grit and heavy rhythm. You will hear the abrasive, stripped-back punch of Punching and Shot cutting through the band room, contrasted against the expansive riffing and thunderous breakdowns of Lacerated Sky. Then comes Bushman's Friend, driving the momentum home with jagged tempos and hooks built specifically to bounce off low timber ceilings. The air smells of malt, drum smoke, and coastal spring rain, while the low-frequency rumble vibrates through the floorboards straight into your boots. Between sets, punters spill out into the fresh Napier night air on Bluff Hill to cool down, compare ringing ears, and grab fresh pints before the next snare kick drags everyone back inside.

The Bluff Hill Band Room Tribe

This is where Hawke's Bay's genuine music tribe convenes. In an era where ticket aggregators and stadium seating often sanitise the live experience, the scene here remains gloriously analogue. The crowd is a warm, unpretentious collision of longtime local rockers in faded tour tees, younger underground heads tracing grassroots riffs, and out-of-towners chasing authentic Kiwi pub rock heritage. There is no velvet rope and no VIP tier; everyone shares the same communal floor, leaning against the monitors and trading banter with the bands between tuning breaks. It is the type of tight-knit room where the person nodding along next to you probably played drums on this very stage five years ago, preserving an underground live tradition that has kept Bluff Hill humming since the mid-twentieth century.

Know Before You Go

• Carry physical cash: door entry is ten dollars flat on the night, and having exact notes will get you past the queue and inside before the opening drum roll.
• Arrive right when doors open at 20:00 to catch every act and secure a solid sightline near the band room stage before the room packs out.
• Shakespeare Road is a narrow, winding arterial up Bluff Hill, so on-street parking directly outside the venue is limited; consider parking lower down towards the CBD and walking up.
• Bring decent ear protection: The Cabana runs an intimate, punchy soundsystem that packs serious volume into close quarters.
• Check the official listing on The Cabana website ahead of time for any late door schedule adjustments.

Make a Weekend of It

To turn a loud Friday night into a proper coastal weekend, build your base camp down the hill. Check into Scenic Hotel Te Pania along Marine Parade for ocean-facing rooms that let you sleep off late setlists within easy walking distance of the band room. Before the amps power up, head over to West Quay for pre-gig fuel: grab a waterfront table and wood-fired bites at The Thirsty Whale Bar & Restaurant. The morning after, clear the distortion from your head with a peaceful stroll through the historic pathways and aviary tracks at Napier Botanical Gardens on Hospital Hill, or head up to the panoramic vantage point at Bluff Hill Lookout to watch container ships glide across Hawke Bay.

Grab a tenner, support independent regional live rock, and I will see you down in front of the monitors, Alyssa for What's On Hawke's Bay.