Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer Jon Coghill. The group's third studio album Internationalist peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in September 1998. They followed with four more number-one studio albums in a row: Odyssey Number Five (September 2000), Vulture Street (July 2003), Dream Days at the Hotel Existence (June 2007) and Golden Rule (November 2009). Their top-ten hit singles are "My Happiness" (2000), "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" (2003) and "Lost and Running" (2007). Powderfinger earned a total of eighteen ARIA Awards, making them the second-most-awarded band, behind Silverchair. Ten Powderfinger albums and DVDs certified multiple-platinum, with Odyssey Number Five—their most successful album—achieving eightfold platinum certification for shipment of over 560,000 units.

After the release of their first DVD, These Days: Live in Concert (September 2004), and the compilation album Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994–2000 (November 2004), the group announced a hiatus in 2005. The June 2007 announcement of a two-month-long nationwide tour with Silverchair, Across the Great Divide tour, followed the release of Dream Days at the Hotel Existence. Powderfinger were also involved in various philanthropic causes. In 2005, they performed at a WaveAid concert in Sydney, to help raise funds for areas affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Another performance at the Sydney Opera House in October 2007 raised funds for breast cancer victims and their families. One aim of their Across the Great Divide Tour was to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia, and awareness of the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. In April 2010, Powderfinger announced that they would be breaking up after their Sunsets Farewell Tour, declaring it would be their last, as they had musically said everything they wanted to say. On 13 November 2010, they played their last concert, signifying their disbandment. In November the following year, rock music journalist Dino Scatena and Powderfinger published a biography, Footprints: the inside story of Australia's best loved band.

On 23 May 2020, the band reformed for a one-off live-streamed charity performance, One Night Lonely.

History

1989–1993: Formation and early releases

<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|left|alt=Black and white photo showing two men. Man at left is leaning forward, biting the knuckle of his right fore-finger. He is partly obscured by the next man who is shown in left profile, he is holding a typed document and is looking down at it. He has a pen in his right hand, his left is out of shot.|[[Darren Middleton (left) and Jon Coghill prepare to sign a contract with Polydor, late 1993.]] -->

Powderfinger were formed in 1989 by Steven Bishop (ex–the Eternal) on drums, John Collins (ex-the Eternal) on bass guitar, and Ian Haug (the Vibrants, the Fossils) on guitar and vocals.

On 31 August 2020, Powderfinger confirmed the release of a compilation album of unreleased songs titled Unreleased (1998–2010), released on 27 November 2020. It was preceded by the single "Day by Day", released on 18 September.

On 13 November 2020, Powderfinger released "Daybreak", the second single preceding the release of the album.

Musical style

Powderfinger's musical style includes hard rock and alternative music and, according to McFarlane, "the band made its mark with an earthy, blues-based sound that combined soaring, 1970s-influenced riff-rock with 1990s studio technology. With the added textures of folk, country and a soulful groove, the band was able to head in any direction". At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996, they performed "Pick You Up"; in 2019, Dan Condon of Double J rated this as one of the "7 great performances from the history of the ARIA Awards."

Discography

  • Parables for Wooden Ears (1994)
  • Double Allergic (1996)
  • Internationalist (1998)
  • Odyssey Number Five (2000)
  • Vulture Street (2003)
  • Dream Days at the Hotel Existence (2007)
  • Golden Rule (2009)

See also

  • Music of Australia
  • Popular entertainment in Brisbane

References

General

  • Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.

Specific

  • Darren Middleton Interview with Nils Hay of Reviewed Music on 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013.