Jordan Luck Band to rock Gisborne with special Smash Palace gig

The Jordan Luck Band are to perform at Smash Palace in Gisborne on May 24. Photo / Megan Moss

• Jordan Luck and the Jordan Luck Band will perform in Gisborne at Smash Palace on May 24, 2025.
• The show is dedicated to the late Darryl Monteith, former owner-operator of Smash Palace.
• Fans can expect classic hits and new tracks from the band’s album “Not Only ... But Also”.

He first rolled into Gisborne in the early ’80s. More than four decades later, Kiwi rock legend Jordan Luck is still at it and still calls Gisborne one of his favourite stops.

“I can’t wait to get started. We’ve got plenty of friends,” says Luck, ahead of his May 24 show with the Jordan Luck Band at Smash Palace.

Best known as the voice behind classic Kiwi band, the Dance Exponents, and later the Exponents, Luck says the upcoming show will be special.

The gig is dedicated to Smash Palace’s late owner-operator Darryl Monteith, who passed away last year.

Darryl Monteith.

“We miss Darryl,” Luck says, pointing out Monteith’s “treasure trove of vinyl” and hard work that had gone into his many years at the venue.

As for the band, Luck says he loves to play and travel with them. “They are on fire, and we travel well together.”

The group’s lineup includes Kiwi music identity Bryan Bell, former frontman of the Dead Flowers; Beaver, drummer of the D4; Rich Mixture (D4, Dead Flowers); and Joe Walsh, frontman of Ekko Park.

Fans can expect a set packed with crowd favourites — songs like Why Does Love Do This Me?, Victoria, Who Loves Who The Most, and, I’ll Say Goodbye (Even Though I’m Blue).

The Exponents, as seen in the 90s. Photo / Supplied

“We’re lucky we have a great catalogue of songs,” says Luck, who in 2007 was the inaugural inductee into the NZ Music Hall of Fame - the Exponents were inducted in 2015.

He also says to expect a few new tracks, including I Help You? from the band’s album Not Only ... But Also, describing the current incarnation of the band as a “feisty beast”.

Based on Banks Peninsula, Luck is on the road for a three-month tour around New Zealand.

Gisborne holds a special place for him, and he has a message for local fans, He hopes they will once again be the loudest singers in New Zealand — well, at least louder than Napier.