Kitchener Street
Kitchener Street has impacted upon a number of Hamilton bands. The street itself is unassuming; a narrow side-street in the Claudelands West Special Character Area, lined with imposing oak and liquid ambar trees and characterised by a mix of 1920s bungalows and cinderblock flats. Owing to the peculiar restrictions on building development in the area (essentially, old houses cannot be torn down to make way for more profitable medium-density townhouses, making them unpopular to all but disinterested landlords), the older and more derelict houses on the street provided an attractive and affordable flatting options for bohemian types.
Kitchener Street, with its high concentration of musicians, artists and thespians, has a long and infamous past, to the point that its 'incestuousness' and 'cultishness' became a topic for Hamilton music community humour. Residents of the street have included Tania Smeaton, Stan Jagger, Martin Fisher, Paul Tregilgas, Daniel Mancini and Janna Royce. The Slip of the Tongue Theater Company, Free Lunch street theatre company, and innumerable bands came to consist primarily or entirely of street residents.
