not trying to be a prick but... I would be inclined to ask - why would you want to know where the 'big bands from overseas' are playing.
arent you coming to NZ to take part in our culture?

I'm going to be lazy and just answer #1.

For Auckland the best gig guide is The Fix. It's a little free weekly publication and can be picked up from various bars and cafes around Auckland. There's also a web site:
http://www.thefix.co.nz/

There's also The Package, which more extensive than The Fix. It covers Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. It has a web site:
http://www.thepackage.co.nz/

cheers! much appreciated!

Someone from another site asked me the same question. This is what I told her:
"Here's some things to do to get yourself oriented into the local music scene - nzmusic.com is where lots of people hang out chatting about music - according to the chat, you'd see the hottest band in NZ is Blindspott, but you have to factor in the fact that most are schoolkids. Two other websites are amplifier.co.nz, where quite a few mp3 singles are released, and vision100.com, which is a New
Zealand music online radio station.

In New Zealand, the two main music mags are Rip It Up and Real Groove - the former has an interview with the Blindspott boys, as it happens. They both have national gig guides, CD reviews, stories about bands. You'll also be able to listen to bfm in Auckland on 95 FM - the student station, although its pretty urban these days, not particularly New Zealand oriented. All the main cities have student
radio, plus Palmerston North (where I am) and New Plymouth.

I haven't been to Auckland for a while, so don't know the bar scene well, although one bar (The Kings Arms) is going strong with indie music (they have Sleater-Kinney playing there in December - wohoo!) -
Wellington has a good scene, with three main indie venues, all within a stones throw of each other - the Valve, Indigo and Bar Bodega. If you were there on 25 October, you could catch up with Metermen. In
Dunedin, there's Arc Cafe and sometimes the Crown. Christchurch, the Dux Deluxe plus others, but I don't know that town well at all."

dont bother coming
its shit
no one cares its a big lie
theres nothing here you havent seen before
go away we're sleeping

Cheers All,

Very helpful i must say!

By the way you all must have your favourite local bands you go and watch, maybe in them or have friends in them... so drop me a few names.

Also any local radio stations that are on the net, that play indie/rock type stuff and inbetween??!!

our local one is www.phantomfm.com... check it out!

in napier the venue is dirty old ofla's there's a backpackers within crawling distance look out for looma, jakob, ld3, blackbirds all well worth making a detour for and the local scene is really friendly so say hey