Formation and early activity Goodnight Nurse formed in 2001 after bass player Paul Taite responded to a flyer Joel Little and Jaden Parkes put on the stairs at Shadows, the
Auckland University bar. Goodnight Nurse met and practiced for the first time on 25 June 2001 in Parkes' garage. At the time of their formation, Taite had only been playing bass for 3 months. Paul Taite left the band in 2007. Goodnight Nurse later became a four-piece, with the additions of Rowan Crowe and Sam McCarthy. They played their first concert at Papa Jacks / Voodoo Lounge in Auckland in early 2002. They were chosen for the Boost Mobile NZ Schools Tour in 2004, during which they played at 120 venues nationwide over a period of five months, the single largest tour done by one band in New Zealand history. Other bands that have participated in the Boost Mobile NZ Schools Tour include
Steriogram (2002), Wash (2003), My Life Story (2005), Falter (2006) and Streetwise Scarlet (2007). Goodnight Nurse have since toured New Zealand many times with bands such as Steriogram,
Elemeno P and
48May, and Australian act
The Living End. In 2006 they toured the east coast of Australia for three months on the Rock the Schools tour, and have played several other shows there since. Goodnight Nurse also played main stage at the
Big Day Out 07.
Always and Never (2006) Goodnight Nurse's debut album,
Always and Never was certified gold by
RIANZ a single week after it was released. It debuted to place number five on the RIANZ New Zealand Album Charts. Goodnight Nurse's song "My Only" was also used on the
NHL 07 soundtrack. Following the release of their debut album, Goodnight Nurse hit the road. On 5 March 2007 Goodnight Nurse opened for
Fall Out Boy on their New Zealand show. They also supported
Story of the Year and
HIM. In April 2007 they were the headline act on the MTV Mile High Gig, playing on an airplane flying at 35,000 feet over the
Tasman Sea.
Keep Me on Your Side (2008) On 24 September 2007, vocalist Joel Little announced that "the album is all recorded". Goodnight Nurse departed for "Melbourne on Monday (13 August 2007)" to record the album. He also said that they are "busy finishing mixing and getting the artwork together".
Keep Me on Your Side was released on 7 April 2008. The first single "The Night" was released on iTunes in Australia and New Zealand on 4 February 2008, with a
music video for the song being posted up on
YouTube on 26 February. The album debuted at number five on the RIANZ album charts. The track "This Is It" was used in 2008 in television adverts for the Push Play initiative. In support of the album, Goodnight Nurse scored a support show with American band
OneRepublic, following
Maroon 5 cancelling the New Zealand leg of their tour.
OneRepublic became the headlining act and needed a supporting band. Goodnight Nurse provided the support for the OneRepublic performance in Auckland. Goodnight Nurse completed their first headlining tour in New Zealand in June 2008, the "I Need This Tour". They then went to Australia and supported
The Getaway Plan on their "Where the City Meets the Sea" Australian tour in July 2008. They will be supporting
Anberlin in August 2009 for one show only. Jaden has also started a side project called "Like You Crazy", and Sam fronts the band
Kids of 88. They formed the two side projects because there were several songs that did not make it onto the
Keep Me on Your Side album which they liked.
Reunion The band reunited to open for the
My Chemical Romance concert at
Western Springs, Auckland, in March 2023. ==Genre==