After studio time, nothing beats live performance

FRESH MATERIAL: The Jordan Luck band are playing at Stellar on Saturday night. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Those with a keen ear for lyrics may pick out a reference to Whanganui when the Jordan Luck Band plays at the city's Stellar bar this weekend.

In the song Stevie off the band's debut album Not Only ... But Also, which was released last week, Luck sings "along the Whanganui River, we watch the headlights battle with the moon".

It's a reference to an unintended detour the band made in 1982 when driving from Christchurch to Auckland to record Dance Exponents' debut single Victoria.

The band was supposed to head up State Highway 1 at Bulls, but Luck ended up driving through Whanganui to Raetihi in the middle of the night and low on fuel.

Luck went on to write and record 18 Top 40 singles with Dance Exponents (later The Exponents), including Why Does Love Do This To Me, I'll Say Goodbye, Who Loves Who The Most, many of which will be part of the Jordan Luck Band's set at Stellar this Saturday.

But it will also be a chance for Luck to showcase Not Only ... But Also, which was recorded in the first three months of this year.

He said the album had been well received so far and a second run was already on the cards while a vinyl pressing was also planned.

"We got told that, essentially, most stuff is downloads, but it's turned out that the physical CD ... there's still a huge market," he said.

Luck's current line-up has been together for about five years, but it wasn't until a date was set and a tour mapped out that Luck got down to making the album.

"Basically, that's when I went and listened to what I had recorded and looked at what we should finish," Luck said. "You could say it was nothing and there was everything.

"Me and Bryan [guitarist Bryan Bell] are really fanatic on deadlines. It's just good working at a pace."

The tour kicked off in Hamilton last weekend and heads to Napier before Saturday's Whanganui gig.

"I love doing studio work and that all that kind of thing, but there's nothing like playing live."

-Tickets for the Jordan Luck Band, supported by Ekko Park at Stellar on May 7, are available from Avenue Choices and riversidemedia.co.nz/store