Powderfinger reveal dates for national comeback tour

Australian rock band Powderfinger have confirmed their national tour dates just days after announcing their reunion – and 16 years after breaking up.

The 18-stadium show tour includes dates in Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Perth, and Adelaide and kicks off in the band’s hometown, Brisbane.

Described on the band’s website as a “travelling rock’n’roll circus”, Powderfinger said the shows would be “part festival, part spectacle and set to be filled with the communal joy of thousands of fans, gathering offline to experience the music they love, together”.

“We are absolutely ecstatic to be coming together to play again,” the band said in a statement posted to a new website on Monday morning. “Over the years there have been tons of suggestions for us to go back on the road but, until now, it never felt quite right or lined up for all of us.”

The band will curate an all-Australian lineup of support acts – with different artists joining in each city – and the tour is partnering with homeless charity Mission Australia.

On Friday, the band uploaded videos to various social media platforms to confirm their reunion and announce a national tour after much speculation.

“Hello, everyone. We’re Powderfinger, and we’ve got a little announcement to make for you today,” guitarist and vocalist Bernard “Bernie” Fanning said in the YouTube video.

“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. And so now you’re the first to know. We’re going to do some shows all around Australia from September next year.”

In the days leading up to the announcement, displays in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney featured sprawling letters, symbols and numbers connected to an Instagram account called The Return of the Electric Horsemen.

Fans speculated it referenced Powderfinger’s song (Return of) The Electric Horseman from their 1996 album Double Allergic. Later, the band’s official Instagram posted the same image.

The band last performed at an impromptu reunion during Splendour in the Grass in 2017.

Fans perched above the Amphitheatre leapt to their feet and screamed with approval as Fanning’s former bandmates – Darren “Darius” Middleton, Ian “Hoggy” Haug and John “JC” Collins – readied their instruments. Drummer Jonathon “Cogsy” Coghill was the only absent member.

In the note to fans on their website, Powderfinger said support from both new and long-term fans had prompted the new tour.

“It feels right to bring all of these people – including our kids who were too young to see us play – together for a special run of shows around the country next year,” the statement said.

“People often tell us that our music is connected to their most treasured and joyous memories. We hope to spread a little more of that joy when we make our way around the country with some of Australia’s best established and upcoming talent, and to make some new memories for us all.”

Powderfinger formed in Brisbane in 1989 after Haug, an aspiring rock star who had played in pubs illegally as a teenager, created the band with two other high school friends, including Collins. Not long after, the five-piece as we know them today formed under a name inspired by a Neil Young song.

In 1992, the band recorded their self-titled debut EP Powderfinger, also called The Blue. They soon left Queensland for Sydney, where they recorded a second EP, Transfusion, and began attracting major music labels’ attention, touring worldwide, topping Triple J and ARIA charts, as well as booking big festival slots, including all dates for Big Day Out.

In total, Powderfinger have released seven studio albums, including anthems such as My Happiness, These Days, Sunsets, On My Mind, Burn Your Name and Pick You Up.

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Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.