Concert Review - Jenny Don't & the Spurs - Hawke's Bay - 10th December 2025

Presented By Small Hall Sessions

Jenny Don't & the Spurs - photo credit Chris Hogge

Review By: Rob Harbers

Artist/Band: Jenny Don't & the Spurs

Venue/City: Haumoana Community Hall, Haumoana, Hawke’s Bay

Date of Event: Wednesday 10th December 2025

The Small Hall Sessions are the epitome of localism, bringing the sounds of a diverse range of artists into the community halls of Te-Matau-a-Māui. But when it comes to the selection of the artists in question, their reach is truly international, having featured music from various points across the globe. Imagine, if you will, a massive funnel – one whose inlet is very wide, but with a comparatively tiny outlet. Such is the function of the Sessions, ranging far and wide to bring some of the best from the wider world into the small communities of the province, scattering the joy, truth and sheer power of music and shared experiences among some very fine people.

Last night the hugely appealing sounds of Jenny Don’t & the Spurs, all the way from Portland, Oregon, rang out across the Haumoana Community Hall. Having recently received extensive enhancements to bring it up to earthquake compliance standards, the venue was ready for this visit – a trip through the heart of the American West on a bullet train. Their music resides somewhere at the intersection of three genres: Country, Western, and Punk. What The Pogues are to Irish music is something akin to what these guys are to Country, taking its very essence, turning the volume up to 11 and taking the speed into redline territory! Such is their appeal (or ours, maybe?) that this marks the second round of Small Hall Sessions for the band, having first visited just over two years ago. In the meantime the sound has only got louder and faster – both good things, to these ears, and quite clearly likewise to many others present!

Any attempt at a song-by-song analysis of the event would be doomed to failure, such is the breakneck speed at which it occurred. Suffice to say that it all rocked – except when it rolled, that is! From the towering riffs of the instrumental intro, which set out the cart of what was to follow, through to the closing bars of the final song, it was full-on for 90-odd minutes, leaving pleasurable exhaustion in its wake. As Jenny explained, the search for their sound was fueled by a desire to have a repertoire that enables them to play a wider range of places than the usual axis of the big cities, meaning they can crank it up or slow it down as appropriate to the locale. And clearly the otherwise sleepy settlement of Haumoana, tucked in beside the ocean, was ready for the rocking version – as she said, while inviting dancing and social interaction during the set, “No one will be louder than us!”

Jenny’s voice and rhythm guitar rings out across a musical base laid down by fellow travellers Buddy Weeks (drums), Christopher March (loud and fast lead guitar) and Kelly Haliburton (bass, rockstar cool, spouse of Jenny!) Together this crew concoct a heady brew, a mix that expands into the surf sounds of the likes of Dick Dale, even. Surfing on a Desert Rose, anyone? But it all comes together in the most glorious fashion, testament to the 200+ gigs they perform per year – songs battered into shape on the forge of the road! A very fitting way to end another year of Small Hall triumphs, and a great respite, if only for a brief time, from the madness going on outside of this experience. Kia kaha to the Sessions – long may they continue. And on this evidence, they are very strong indeed!

Tickets available from smallhallsessions.co.nz.

Setlist

Intro
Flyin’ High
Trouble With The Law
On the Run
Alamo
Black Cadillac (Sonny Wallace cover)
Too Late
Sidewinder
Right from the Start
California Cowboy
Fire on the Ridge
Unlucky Love
Restless Moon
War Cry (Tony and The Initials cover)
Still As The Night
Call Of The Road
My Baby’s Gone
Broken Hearted Blue
One More Night
Rain in My Heart
You’re What I Need
Three Or Four Nights
The Fire/Paso Del Norte
Your Cheatin’ Heart (Hank Williams cover)
Lovesick Crawl

Jenny Don't & the Spurs 2025 PR

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