Valhalla Tavern is a bar and live music venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Located on Vivian Street in the Te Aro district, it is a compact venue with a capacity of around 200 people and a strong focus on metal, punk and underground music.
The Vivian Street address has a long history as a music space. The building dates from 1926 and was used for several different businesses before becoming part of Wellington’s live music scene in the mid-1990s. Earlier uses included the Perfumed Garden strip club in the late 1970s and the Nutcracker coffee bar in the late 1980s.
Its modern venue history began in 1994, when Tim Ward and Ben Cochrane converted the space into Hole In The Wall. The club became part of Wellington’s alternative scene, with bands such as Shihad and Head Like A Hole playing small warm-up shows there. It later became Valve Bar in 1998 and Bar Medusa in 2009, before local promoter Ben Mulchin took over in 2013 and rebranded the venue as Valhalla.
Valhalla has kept the dark, compact and rough-edged character of its earlier incarnations. The small room places the stage close to the audience, giving concerts a direct club atmosphere rather than a large-hall feel. Although strongly associated with metal, the programme also includes punk, hardcore, rock, indie, hip-hop, electronic music, noise and experimental events.
Metal has become especially important to the venue’s identity. Napalm Death and Carcass played two consecutive nights at Valhalla in April 2015, The Dillinger Escape Plan played a sold-out show there later the same year, and Deafheaven sold out the venue in 2019. Napalm Death returned in 2017, and many New Zealand metal, grindcore, punk and hardcore bands have also played the room.
Valhalla also hosts multi-band underground events and festivals. In 2026, Barbarianism 6 brought 27 bands to the venue across four days, presenting a large cross-section of New Zealand’s underground metal scene. Together with its long Vivian Street history, small-room atmosphere and regular heavy music programming, Valhalla Tavern remains one of Wellington’s key venues for underground live music.
ADDRESS:
154 Vivian Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
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