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Queen Street riot 1984
Poster for the concert that sparked the riots on Queen Street
Are the kids all right?
‘Tears, terror at the concert that made history’ was one of the newspaper headlines the day following the Queen Street riot of December 1984. It made for heady reading over the morning cornflakes as papers described screaming children, bloody head wounds and police facing ‘gun-toting’ rioters.
The ‘Thank God, it’s over’ concert took place on 7 December 1984 at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. Promoted as a summer celebration of the end of the academic year, this free event was to feature performances by top local bands Herbs, DD Smash and The Mockers. After the set by Herbs and shortly after DD Smash took the stage, the power went off.
While waiting for it to be restored, some of the 10,000-strong audience started throwing bottles at police. There were a few arrests, and more police arrived, outfitted in riot gear.
On the streets
Dave Dobbyn, DD Smash’s lead singer, then allegedly told the crowd, ‘I wish those riot squad guys would stop wanking and put their little batons away.’ The concert promoters, radio station Triple M, announced that the concert was being stopped at the request of the police.
Parts of the audience rioted. They poured onto Queen Street, smashed shop windows and left behind broken bottles, rubbish and upturned cars. Damage caused was in excess of $1 million.
The government ordered a commission of inquiry to investigate what had happened. Dobbyn was charged with inciting the riot, but he was eventually cleared of all charges.
Fran McGowan private collection
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YahooHow to cite this page: 'Queen Street riot 1984', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/queen-street-riots-1984, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 28-Mar-2008
Hi Bryce,
No worries :-)
I just wanted to add my bit that's why i posted - I bet there were others who saw different aspects as well. Mine is just one angle.
You put forward what you remember and that's great as well - no disrespect intended by my post towards you at all.
It was a shocking moment for new Zealand actually - it shattered the image of a peaceful country after that.
Sadly, I don't live in NZ now but I would return there in an instant if I could, it's still an awesome place with awesome people. NZ'ers need to stand proud of who they are and how great their country is - you have a LOT to be proud of and can hold your heads high in this world.
Look at what your prime minister is doing now - he stands alone in the world and is making correct financial decisions while the rest of the world stupidly keep s spending. NZ'ers are unique and are always prepared to stand up for what's right rather than take the easy way out! Well done ALL of you.
Thanks to the contributor who was there on the day for the enlightenment. I was only 12 so only remember TV news footage but you're so right how history can be easily rewritten.
Sorry - I have posted three times becasue each time I remembered a little more about teh events of that day.
People have short memories! I remember only too well the riots and it wasn't started by the singers comments at all. It started when a young man p*ssed on the crowd and police went and tried to arrest him. The crowd intervened and refused to let the police arrest him. Yes, it may have been teh singers comment after that but it wasn't the reason the singer spoke out it was becasue the police tried to arrest him and then teh singer spoke out telling them to put away their battons. After that the police decided the concert got out of hand and ordered it shut down and had the power tuned off. When they tried to get the urinating man down everyone stood up to the police and pulled him away from the police - this is what started it - I was there. I notice the wiki entry for this event totally ignores the urinating event also.
The police then called for reinforcements from all over greater Auckland. People were driving in from the suburbs to take part in the protests and police got teh radio stations to broadcast that police backup was pouring into the city. The riots lasted for over a day - it wasn't over in a hurry at all. The police stood defensive and allowed the riots to quell themselves. The police realised they were totally outnumbered but they also remembered that the cause of the riot would soon lose momentum so they let it die a natural death. Amazing how politicians rewrite things to make ti seem like law and order prevailed when in fact it didn't.
Until recently I condemned Dave Dobbyn for his actions that day. Unfortunately I was not familiar with the facts and have had cause to reconsidered. Undoubtedly we all jump to conclusions; the power of the media to cast adverse comment can be very seductive if we are not vigilant.
Hi there i am studying a sociology paper at Massey University and want to analysis this event in terms of small group processes. Any one able to share their experiences??
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