It was renamed The Civic in 1986 and was a bar, and then served as a live music venue, with acts by Salmonella Dub, Shapeshifter, Elemeno P and Anika Moa.
New Zealand band Salmonella Dub will release the single Same Home Town in 2013 in honour of their 20th birthday.
They played alongside international acts including Ben Harper, Lee Scratch Perry, The Mad Professor, as well as local bands such as Fat Freddys Drop, Salmonella Dub and Che Fu.
Salmonella | dub | Salmonella Dub | Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition | Gentleman's Dub Club | Dub Pistols | Dub | Will "Dub" Jones | ...In Dub | His Majesty's Dub | Dub Taylor | Dub Narcotic Sound System | Dub FX | Dub Colossus | Will "Dub" Jones (singer) | Stariyat dub | salmonella | Present Arms in Dub | Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend | Dub Trio | Dub poetry | Dub Mission | DUB (magazine) | Dub localization | Darkwood Dub |
The settlement was immortalised in song by Crowded House on their Together Alone album in 1993, much of which was recorded at Karekare; the well known Dub/Reggae group, Salmonella Dub, used the name as well on their album Feel the Seasons Change - Live with the NZSO.