Sixteen years. That’s how long fans have waited. Powderfinger are getting back together.
It came in a video on Friday. The Powderfinger reunion is real. Frontman Bernard Fanning said they’d “do some shows all around Australia from September next year”.
That’s about all we know for now. No cities, no venues, no ticket dates yet. But for a generation of Aussie music fans, that one line was plenty.
How the teasers gave it away
The hints started a week ago. Cryptic posts popped up around the country from a new account called The Return of the Electric Horsemen. Messages were even projected onto landmarks.
Fans didn’t take long to join the dots. Then the band’s official account, which had recently been wiped clean, posted its first tease on 8 October.
“Add enough time to enough variables and something extraordinary happens…” the caption read.
A day later, it was official.
What the band said
Fanning kept it simple. “We always said that if we were going to get back together to do some shows, that you guys would be the first to know,” he said.
Guitarist Darren Middleton promised fans a proper show. “We’re going to build something pretty special just for you guys.”
Why this is a big deal
If you grew up in Australia in the late ’90s or 2000s, chances are Powderfinger was on your stereo. Or the car radio. Or the school formal playlist.
The band formed in Brisbane in 1989. Album two, Double Allergic, landed in 1996. That’s when things really took off. Then Odyssey Number Five came along in 2000, went to number one and picked up six ARIA awards, including Album of the Year. Its single “My Happiness” won Record of the Year.
All up, they won 18 ARIAs. They topped the triple j Hottest 100 in both 1999 and 2000, and have made the countdown 22 times. Even last year, they had three songs in the Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, one of them in the top 10.
Songs like “These Days”, “Lost and Running” and “(Baby I’ve Got You) On My Mind” still get a sing-along at just about any pub in the country.
The goodbye that wasn’t quite goodbye
Powderfinger split in 2010. Their farewell tour ran to 34 shows and sold more than 200,000 tickets. The last one was at Brisbane’s Riverstage on 13 November 2010, in front of about 10,000 fans.
They never totally disappeared, though. Four members played at Splendour in the Grass in 2017.
Then in May 2020, in the middle of COVID lockdowns, the five of them came together for a one-off livestream. It raised more than $450,000 for Support Act and Beyond Blue.
The line-up fans know best is Bernard Fanning on vocals, Ian Haug and Darren Middleton on guitars, John Collins on bass and Jon Coghill on drums.
When can you get tickets?
Not yet. The band hasn’t announced cities, venues or on-sale dates. If last time is anything to go by, though, demand will be huge. The farewell tour sold out across the country.
Best move for now? Keep an eye on the band’s socials. Get on the mailing list if there is one. That’s usually where presale details turn up first.
Counting down
September next year. That’s when it starts. Between now and then, expect a drip-feed of announcements, and plenty of arguments about which songs make the setlist.
Sixteen years is a long time between gigs. Most fans would happily wait a little longer to hear “My Happiness” live one more time.