Jordan Luck onstage at Church Road Winery. Photo / Warren Buckland
Jordan Luck onstage at Church Road Winery. Photo / Warren Buckland
Iconic New Zealand singer Jordan Luck is about to take his band around the country, and Whanganui is one of the tour's 28 dates.
Luck, who fronted The Exponents (formerly The Dance Exponents), said he had a long history of playing in the River City, with the last gig beingin 2017.
"My first and favourite gig in Whanganui was opening for The Screaming Meemees at The Rutland around 1982," Luck said.
"There was a swimming pool there, and we were just thinking 'this is amazing'.
"I think they curtained it off that night, but if you'd gone through the curtains you would have ended up in it.
"We also played at the Barristers nightclub around 1995. It was jam-packed upstairs there, 300 people in a sardine tin."
Although he is best known for Exponents hits such as Victoria, Who Loves Who The Most and Why Does Love Do This To Me?, Luck will also play songs from The Jordan Luck Band's 2016 release, Not only.....but Also.
"There's a mixture of Exponents, Dance Exponents and new material.
"We also do some New Zealand covers. My favourite one at the moment is Forever Tuesday Morning [The Mockers].
"That's a pearler."
Luck said there was a period of around three months last year where he didn't play any shows, the longest break he'd had from the stage since he was 16.
The current incarnation of the Jordan Luck Band have been together for the past 10 years. Photo / Supplied.
"Ever since then we've been gigging pretty much every week.
"These are really good times for New Zealand live music.
"That goes for the bands obviously, but then there are the crews and PA companies and things like that. They are the ones who have kept us going through the years."
The band's upcoming Whatever Happened? tour officially begins this weekend in Gisborne, and will hit provincial centres such as Masterton, Cromwell, Tinwald, Whangaparaoa and Gore before arriving in Whanganui on August 27.
"I do have a chuckle when someone announces a New Zealand tour and there are four gigs or something," Luck said.
"I'm like 'hang on a minute'. That's not even a light shower of a tour, and it's definitely not a bathtub of a tour."
Luck said the band had written songs for a follow-up to Not only.....but Also but they couldn't blame Covid-19 for the fact that a new record hadn't been released yet.
"It's got nothing to do with what's happening in society, we are just lazy.
"There are lots of songs, and we'll get round to recording them eventually.
"It [recording] has never been the most enjoyable occupation for me, but Bryan [Bell, guitar] loves it. That's how he makes his earnings, really, through producing and engineering."
There were well over 20 shows to play before the band reached Whanganui, Luck said, with the Coopers Bar gig being the third to last stop of the tour.
"We're really looking forward to cranking down there.
"The band will be incendiary by the time August rolls around."
The Jordan Luck Band play at Coopers Cafe and Bar on Friday, August 27.
