It should take a lot to surprise the members of Powderfinger, one of Australia’s most successful rock bands of the past 30 years. When the pre-sale opened this week for the band’s reunion tour, the Powderfinger camp was collectively gobsmacked.
“Holy s—!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!,” reads a message from the Finger, whose classic lineup of Bernard Fanning (vocals), Ian Haug (guitars), Darren Middleton (guitars), John “JC” Collins (bass) and Jon Coghill (drums) are on the comeback trail.
When pre-sales began Wednesday, Oct. 14, fans “showed up for us in a way none of us saw coming,” the note continues. “You set alarms, sat in queues and cheered each other on in the comments. Some of you are planning to travel across the country, and some from the other side of the world. After all these years, that means more to us than we can put into words.”
After five consecutive ARIA No. 1 albums, 18 ARIA Awards and three APRA Awards including a brace for song of the year, Powderfinger called time on their illustrious career with The Sunsets Farewell tour, a 34-date national trek in September–November 2010.
Taking its name from the classic song from 2004’s ARIA No. 1 album Vulture Street, the Sunsets jaunt shifted more than 300,000 tickets. Few Aussie acts can command that type of box office action.
Next year’s tour promises to dwarf it.
The 18 dates announced at the start of last week has now ballooned to 26, and stretches into November 2027, with additional shows locked in for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
“The demand blew us away,” the message continues. “It went so far beyond the presale allocation that we added six new shows across Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, and those tickets flew too.”
Powderfinger’s tour will feature a homegrown support cast, all of them performing under “stadium-sized big top” in central city locations across the country, including multiple dates in Cairns, far north Queensland.
The general on-sale starts from Monday, Oct. 19.
Powderfinger Australia Tour 2027:
Friday, Sept. 3 – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Saturday, Sept. 4 – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Monday, Sept. 6 – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Wednesday, Sept. 8 – Brisbane Showgrounds
Friday, Sept. 10 – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Saturday, Sept. 11 – Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds
Friday, Sept. 17 – Cazalys Stadium, Cairns
Saturday, Sept. 18 — Cazalys Stadium, Cairns
Friday, Sept. 24 — Wellington Square, Perth
Saturday, Sept. 25 — Wellington Square, Perth
Monday, Sept. 27 — Wellington Square, Perth
Friday, Oct. 1 — The Domain, Sydney
Saturday, Oct. 2 — The Domain, Sydney
Monday, Oct. 4 — The Domain, Sydney
Wednesday, Oct. 6 — The Domain, Sydney
Friday, Oct. 8 — The Domain, Sydney
Saturday, Oct. 9 — The Domain, Sydney
Friday, Oct. 15 — Ellis Park, Adelaide
Saturday, Oct. 16 — Ellis Park, Adelaide
Friday, Oct. 22 — Melbourne Park Oval
Saturday, Oct. 23 — Melbourne Park Oval
Monday Oct. 25 — Melbourne Park Oval
Wednesday, Oct. 27 — Melbourne Park Oval
Friday, Oct. 29 — Melbourne Park Oval
Saturday, October 30 – Melbourne Park Oval
Monday, Nov. 1 — Melbourne Park Oval