Palladium Nite Club

The Palladium Nite Club - Chancery Lane, Christchurch

The Palladium Nite Club was a nightclub in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, which shared the same name as the famous Palladium in New York City.  It opened in 1986 as part of the MacKenzie Group and was the first (and largest) night club in Christchurch city to include a full laser lightshow and a capacity of about 800 people (this capacity was increased in 1996 after some renovation work).  As the largest club in Christchurch, the Palladium was frequented by several international acts.  The Palladium's sound system was purpose built through consultation with local band promoter Mel Blokhuis of Ex-Ray Staging, and was run with no major modifications through the life of the club.  Unlike other clubs in Christchurch, the Palladium was open 7 nights per week and was one of the first to adopt the new 24-hour liquor licence, although in practice the club generally operated from 9:00pm until 7:00am.  Music was played on Technics 1200 turntables throughout the life of the club, although from the mid 1990s DJs also used the early model Pioneer CDJ 500 CD Players.  During 1996, changing night club trends forced the Palladium to cancel its contract with resident band, Shaka Groove, and run exclusively with the resident DJs Rob Munro (aka theRobsta) and Brent Silby (aka Maestro B).  This change boosted the Palladium's popularity until a change of management late in 1997, which resulted in the cancellation of the DJs and the introduction of a new resident DJ.  In February 2000 The Palladium was leased to John Stanton MBE for a short time and renamed Illusions.  A year later, due to continued losses, Illusions was placed in receivership.  The club was later rebranded as The Dolls House Revue Bar.  The Palladium Niteclub was located in Chancery Lane, an alleyway off Cathedral Square in the city centre.  The whole city block was demolished after the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake to make room for the Convention Centre Precinct.