‘A more modern old school bar’: Wellington’s Vinyl Bar gets fresh lick of paint

Thursday, 13 November 2025

Some said disco is dead - but the 90s will never die, as one of Wellington’s oldest nightclubs gets a fresh lick of paint and some new dance tunes.

Vinyl Bar on Courtenay Place has received a revamp, with a new mural, new bathrooms and a dinky dance floor all ready for the kids to get down on, owner Greig Wilson says.

The venue is celebrating its 13th birthday this Friday, an ‘All Glowed Up’ birthday bash with giveaways, cake, and 80s glam pop grooves for whoever wants to join.

Vinyl Bar is one of the oldest clubs along Wellington’s party strip. It opened 13 years ago ‒ then-deputy prime minister Bill English cut the ribbon, Wilson said, as English was Wilson’s neighbour while growing up in Dipton, Southland.

Through his company, Epic Hospitality, Wilson also owns El Barrio on Dixon St and Shady Lady on Courtenay Place.

Vinyl Bar is a surprisingly large venue, complete with a bar, dance floor and an outdoor area seating area. The bar takes six staff to run, Wilson said.

Wellington artist Lily Hodgson Bell had painted the new murals, and told The Post it was amazing that people would soon be seeing her work.

The bright murals showcase pop legends like Grace Jones, Queen’s Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, and were Bell’s first major installation, she said.

In addition to the new artwork, Vinyl Bar has had “graffiti-proof toilets” built and a new dance floor constructed in the back.

This was to keep the young folk happy, Wilson said. These days, young people were more interested in going out for a dance than to drink a lot.

The new dance floor was for them; accompanied by a CD wall and new DJ booth. Music-wise, Vinyl would be playing more 90s to early 2000s music, rather than 70s and 80s classics, Wilson said - to the people who were going out, this was the new oldies now.

“We're making a more modern old-school bar. You've just got to change the market up a little bit as things evolve. These 50-year-olds who this bar was built for originally, they don't go out every Friday night like they used to.”

Wilson said the bar’s revamp coincided with the news Reading Cinema had started undergoing earthquake strengthening - something that had brought about a “sigh of relief”, he had previously told The Post.

The beginning of work on the cinema and retail complex had given him the confidence to reinvest in the area, he said.

He was already seeing changes along the embattled party strip - with a new restaurant opening opposite Vinyl Bar.

“We expect to see more investment in Courtenay Place. [Vinyl Bar] will hopefully encourage other businesses to reinvest.

“We're feeling positive for next year and the following years.”