Kitchener Street

An example of Hamilton's pervasive forces of Psychic Geography, Kitchener Street has probably impacted upon every band in Hamilton music history in some way.

The street itself is unassuming, a narrow side-street in the Claudelands West Special Character Area, lined with imposing oak and liquidambar 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, thespians and so on, has a long and infamous past, to the point that its 'incestuousness' and 'cultishness' became a topic for Hamilton music community humour. Slip Of The Tongue, Free Lunch street theatre company and innumerable bands came to consist primarily or entirely of street residents.