The Meteor
Located on the corner of Victoria and Bridge Streets (1 Victoria St), the Meteor building started life as the Innes bottling factory, and was a Skateworld in the 1970s to 1980s. In the early 1990s, it briefly became a car-yard (Hamilton Wholesale Cars), before finally becoming a theatre and music venue in September 1996. Tania Ussher, the then Community Arts Co-ordinator for Hamilton City Council, was a central figure in the creation of The Meteor.
Even as Skateworld, the venue hosted some significant concerts, including The Crocodiles on 6 and 9 December 1980 (the second concert supported by Pop Mechanix), and by Dance Exponents on 13 November 1983. As The Meteor, notable early events that took place here were the 1996 In Love With This Town release party and the 1997 Contact FM subcard series shows. For a time, the Meteor was used mostly by the punk and hardcore scene, and hosted the annual Hamtown Smakdown events and several international hardcore acts.
Significant Gigs[edit]
- 3Ds and Garageland, 3 January 1997 (Strangelands tour)