What is Vinyl Vibes?

Grant McDougall (fellow on the right) kicked off the first Vinyl Vibes back in February 2025. The idea was for people to bring a few of their favourite vinyl records from home and play a curated set of tunes to a receptive, non-judgemental audience. This is exactly what happened.

It's held on the last Thursday of every month at Pearl Diver in Dunedin and kicks off at 7:00pm (soon to be 6:30pm) and is over by a respectable 10:00pm. Grant described Pearl Diver as "... your own lounge, but with an audience and a bar" and they generously provide the turntables and soundsystem. Prospective DJs simply rock up by 6:45 to grab a 15 minute slot by scribbling their name or nom de plume on the whiteboard. No experience required as Grant is always on hand to handle the mechanics.

Once the event kicks off, a night of open and inclusive music listening unfolds creating a pleasant evening of banter and good vibes. Very quickly a bunch of Gen X+ regulars showed up every month making Vinyl Vibes an essential event on their diminishing social calendar. While it's a lovely old time for this demographic to share old war stories while playing 80s/90s indie/alternative/experimental and post-punk, younger generations just discovering vinyl show up too.

Speaking of Gen' Xers, my wife (Skrub Mommy) and me (Skrub Daddy) are regulars and typically like to plan our sets. These can be theme based or the first song suggests the next and so on – but having some idea is less stressful than rocking up which a bunch of records and hoping for the best.

If you're curious about our music taste, you can find our past playlists by clicking this link. Each playlist has a video and a link to where you can buy or stream each song.

Vinyl Vibes is really a lovely ol' time and I recommend it for anyone harbouring a desire to play vinyl outside their house. Or, even just a free night out as the company and banter make for a reassuring evening in these increasingly troubled times.