Zwines

Zwines - 1979 - photo by Fiona Clark

Zwines, the Queen City's down at heel punk club, a seedy former 1960s dance club up Durham Lane, was the perfect incubator for a punk scene informed by the dirty street rock of New York and violent entry of punk in Britain. It bought the Auckland punks as close to the street as possible. The Spelling Mistakes remember the still-standing Auckland punk venue.

Warwick Hitler: "There were a lot of underage runaway girls/heroin users - a mixed bag - not just rich kids. There were some genuine psychos. A lot of quite violent people. A lot of Nazi regalia.”

"I got threatened with a shotgun outside Zwines. I'd had gang trouble with The Headhunters (an Auckland ethnic street gang). I was in the alley to Zwines getting stuff out of my car. The guy had a long greatcoat on, pulled a shotgun out, pointed it at me, and said: "You better say your prayers, coz tonight you're gonna die." I said: “I don't give a fuck,” coz in those days I didn't, and he just laughed and walked away."

Julian Hanson: "Zwines was owned by Brian Ball. He was a little bit older, but he liked the scene. He was pretty loose, letting us bring in booze. Zwines was unlicensed, and he was letting us bring in six packs and hip flasks."

"I'd got out of my drug stage by then and more into drinking. There was a heap of speed around. There was a bit of smack around on the scene, one person died at Zwines. From my teens, I just remember tonnes and tonnes of smack, plenty of speed, tonnes of acid. I didn't really take much notice of it."

Inside, Zwines was a small sweaty room with an even smaller stage where the drummer would be wedged against the wall. JH: "It was a fairly incestuous scene with lots of band members in attendance from The Scavengers, Stimulators, Terrorways, Atrocities and Aliens. A lot were misfits, initially art school types, no mohawks. Punk meant freedom and you could wear what you want, and people had just become totally outrageous. They were looking for something interesting, and Zwines became a strange melting pot of different types of people.

"People hated punks and they thought with the initial punk movement that they were tough, and they were actually. But a lot of people weren't punks, weren't tough, they were just outrageous and they dressed in violent things that looked violent to other people.

“Then the skinheads got going in Zwines. It was a very small number of people at first, but they just kept growing. The punk movement got more militant as it became a bit more like a place where people who were looking for a fight to go."

Zwines Timeline (not all shows)
February ‘78
The Scavengers. 24. 25.

March ‘78
Scavengers. Europe. 3. 4.
Scavengers. The Dudes. Stimulators. 10. 11. 17. 18.
Scavengers. 24. 25.

April ‘78
Scavengers. 5. 6.
Scavengers. Hello Sailor. 7.

May ‘78
The Scavengers. Europe. 5. 6.
The Scavengers. Hello Sailor. 9.
Suburban Reptiles. Assassins. Punk Rock Movies. 19. 20.
Scavengers. Assassins. 26.
Scavengers. Stimulators. Idle Idols. 27.

June ‘78
The Routers (Rooter). 1.
52. Scavengers. 2. 3.
Get Smart. 4.
Citizen Band. Get Smart. 14. 15.
Get Smart. 24

August ‘78
Scavengers. 4. 5.
Sheerlux. 25. 26.

September ‘78
The Scavengers. The Rednecks. The Enemy. 7. 8. 9.

October ‘78
The Scavengers. The Enemy. 21.
The Scavengers. The Rednecks. Rooter. 22.

November ‘78
Johnny and the Hookers. The Enemy. 3.
Flight X7. 16. 17. 18.

December ‘78
Baker. Idle Idols. 1. 2.
Capone. Rex. 9.
Terrorways. Aliens. 22.
Xmas Special Five Bands. 23.

January ‘79
Toy Love. 19.

February ‘79
Toy Love. Terrorways. Tigers. 17.

March ‘79
Toy Love. 10.
Pinheads. Sheerlux. 16.
Tigers. Gary Havoc and The Hurricanes. 17.
Pinheads. Gary Havoc and The Huricanes. 22.
Toy Love. Terrorways. 23.
The Terrorways. Gary Havoc and The Hurricanes. 24.
Toy Love. Terrorways. 30.
Terrorways. Fire Engine. 31.

April ‘79
The Terrorways. Proud Scum. Fire Engine. 18.19.
Tigers. Electrabeat. 20. 21.

May ‘79
The Spelling Mistakes. Proud Scum. 11.12.
Terrorways. Proud Scum. Fire Engine. 19.

June ‘79
Proud Scum. Fire Engines. 8. 9.
Terrorways. 15.
Proud Scum. Fire Engine. 16.