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Powderfinger’s farewell tour

Mon 12th Apr, 2010 in Local News

At a press conference in Sydney this morning all five Powderfinger members announced their most extensive Australian tour ever – but there’s a sad reason behind the tour with the band splitting as a “touring and recording” project after the final show.

In a statement read out by lead singer Bernard Fanning, the band said that “With the completion of our last album, Golden Rule, we feel that we have said all that we want to say as a musical group. We firmly believe that it is our most complete and satisfying album and can’t think of a better way to farewell our fans than with music that we all believe in and also with, hopefully, our best tour to date.”

The first three dates of the tour will be supported by The Vines, before Jet take over the opening duties.

While the announced tour closes in Ballarat, expect to hear further details about the bands plans for their final ever show to be revealed soon.

Watch the Powderfinger press conference

Powderfinger’s ‘Sunsets’ farewell tour

Wednesday 1 September – Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Friday 3 September – Gold Coast Convention Centre
Saturday 4 September – Riverstage, Brisbane
Tuesday 7 September – Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre
Thursday 9 September – Win Entertainment Centre, Woolongong
Friday 10 September – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Tuesday 14 September – Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart
Thursday 16 September – Memorial Drive, Adelaide
Saturday 18 September – Sydney Entertainment Centre
Friday 24 September – Supreme Court Gardens, Perth
Sunday 26 September – Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin
Tuesday 28 September – Convention Centre, Cairns
Friday 1 October – Entertainment Centre, Townsvile
Sunday 3 October – Showgrounds, Mackay
Thursday 7 October – Showgrounds, Rockhampton
Thursday 7 October – Caloundra Music Festival, Kings Beach
Saturday 9 October – University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba
Tuesday 12 October – University of Canberra
Wednesday 13 October – Sports Ground, Albury
Friday 15 October – Showgrounds, Bendigo
Saturday 16 October – North Gardens, Ballarat

Tickets will go on sale 9am Friday 30th April

Check out FasterLouder’s tribute to Powderfinger

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deanoss

deanoss said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Powderfinger confirm the Sunsets farewell tour to be their last

POWDERFINGER have confirmed one of rock's worst kept secrets - they will be disbanding later this year, after completing one final Sunsets tour.
The Brisbane rockers announced at a press conference this morning the details of the tour - their first major national tour for three years - together with the news that this tour will be, as widely predicted, their last as a group.

The tour will include dates in 21cities across Australia, kicking off in early September.

However, it will definitely be their last.

"We have decided, after much deliberation and agonising, that after this final tour we will call it a day," was the wording of a carefully prepared statement.

"With the completion of our last album, Golden Rule, we feel that we have said all that we want to say as a musical group."

The band affirmed that they thought this album had been their best work, and wanted to finish off with "music they all believed in, and hopefully the best tour to date".

On their tour, the band will be supported by fellow circuit veterans, JET. Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Friday 30th April.

Powderfinger have sold more than 2.5million albums in Australia, seen seven studio albums go to the top of the ARIA Album chart, won 16 ARIA Awards - including an unprecedented back-to-back three awards for Album of the Year - in a career as a band lasting nearly two decades.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

My happiness is slowly creeping back!

lukey26

lukey26 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

This news makes me sad :(

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Once they retire for a few years they can do a Don't Look Back tour of Double Allergic and everyone will be happy.

Demosthenes

Demosthenes said on the 9th Apr, 2010

What Braveheart said. Reunion in abut 10 years time gotta be pretty much a banker.

deanoss

deanoss said on the 9th Apr, 2010

So Powderfinger, Jet and the Vines huh...

got enough MOR?

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Double Allergic AND Internationalist...

i_have_ADD

i_have_ADD said on the 9th Apr, 2010

probably means there's more solo material from bernard fanning on the horizon :(

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Double Allergic 20 year anniversary tour in 2016.

grattan

grattan said on the 9th Apr, 2010

confirmed - new solo record in 2011.

And there's another 'Best of' album on the band's contract - prob a live record from the send off tour.

AndyLedHead

AndyLedHead said on the 9th Apr, 2010

how much would tickets be? i wanna see the vines

craig123

craig123 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

last couple of times I've seen the Vines theyve been pretty good - would much rather see them than Jet.

deanoss

deanoss said on the 9th Apr, 2010

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/godisradio/Powderfinger.jpg

Chan_Marshall

Chan_Marshall said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Sad news, but still, they had a good run. I'd be interested to see what kind of Setlist they're preparing for these shows. Double Allergic, Internationalist and Odyssey Number 5 are still damn fine records.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

why are Jet playing between "during Powderfinger" and "after Powderfinger" - how would that even work?

Zeppeloholic

Zeppeloholic said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Sad news? Why the hell is this sad news? People should be dancing in the streets! Fuck Powderfinger and the shit they gave us for 20 years.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Somewhere during his count of how many cans of bourbon can I drink whilst listening to an Airbourne album? his graph lost all logic.

TifferificSince1988

TifferificSince1988 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

i'm do not wanna miss this, do i?

Alexphotosite

Alexphotosite said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Yes, yes you do. Unless the bogan inside of you takes control of your musical and social choices, then you may not have a choice!

ashryn

ashryn said on the 9th Apr, 2010

and not before time imho

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Wow. I didn't like Golden Rule at all, but this is huge news. Will attend.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Sunnyboyz

Sunnyboyz said on the 9th Apr, 2010

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Quality posting.

Well, they might not mean much to you, Dad, but I used to love Powderfinger a lot.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

I was referring to your last sentence.

As I said, when they play a 20 year anniversary show of Double Allergic in 2016, I'll go to that!

Ferguses said on the 9th Apr, 2010

i agree with the band, in my opinion golden rule is their best since odyssey number 5 so im glad they are signing off before making another mediocre album.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Really? I thought Golden Rule was their most mediocre album to date.

deanoss

deanoss said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Graph refers to when the band was in existence not when they are playing their gig

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

I think it's fairly hard to argue that their albums haven't got progressively worse since Double Allergic.

Double Allergic > Internationalist > Odyssey #5 > Vulture Street >>>> Dream Days and Golden Rule.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

I think Internationalist might be my favourite, actually.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

some of us remember how awesome they were before they got famous for the wrong songs, and how their live show still blows most bands out of the water...

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Same, I rate Internationalist above Double Allergic, and Odyssey #5 and Vulture Street below them, and then their most recent 2 off the scale altogether...

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Dream Days actually has some really, really good songs on it. Head Up In The Clouds, Nobody Sees and Black Tears are all great. But yeah, Golden Rule was pretty crap.

ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb said on the 9th Apr, 2010

at least they *tried* to branch out a bit and mess around with structure, a la fight about money, which i never guessed was them when i heard it on triple j. bernard does well mixing up his vocal style too. background symphonics in golden rule the song are nice and intricate, although over-understated in typical 'finger fashion. vulture street was far better than either, but these last two albums have been (discounting both lead singles) far from mediocre.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Welcome to the site, but you're wrong.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

I thought they over-understated things nicely.

dkos

dkos said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Yeah!

I also remember being really really bored the 3 times I've seen them live.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

The only time I've ever had a fender bender was about 11 years ago when my girlfriend at the time was fucking with my car radio and singing My Happiness at the top of her lungs in an intentionally terrible singing voice.

True story. Fuck you Powderfinger.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

I've only seen Powderfinger once properly, at Across the Great Divide. It was pretty good, but Silverchair blew them off the stage. If the lineup was rearranged, it would have been better.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

The only time I've ever had a fender bender was about 11 years ago when my girlfriend at the time was fucking with my car radio and singing My Happiness at the top of her lungs in an intentionally terrible singing voice.

True story. Fuck you Powderfinger.

i hope that when you broke up with her, you told her that if it wasnt for people like her, powderfinger might've stayed awesome...

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 9th Apr, 2010

She didn't like Powderfinger at all. She just used to sing that song in a ridiculously painful voice to piss me off.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 9th Apr, 2010

She sounds like a keeper.

Joe Smiggens

Joe Smiggens said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Do you think Bernard will finally show us his fanny?

Chan_Marshall

Chan_Marshall said on the 9th Apr, 2010

Agreed.

Internationalist is by far the best thing they did. Just an awesome record from start to finish.

On the same yet slightly unrelated topic I remember seeing a poster in Skinny's Music in Brisbane for Pantera's Great Southern Trendkill tour of Australia back in around 1996 / 1997 and Powderfinger supported them. An odd pairing I must say. Good times.

Anyway.

Stefan Beck

Stefan Beck said on the 9th Apr, 2010

It's like my birthday and Christmas on the same day!

The Fool

The Fool said on the 9th Apr, 2010

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/5576/thefool.jpg

Hinee

Hinee said on the 10th Apr, 2010

Stoked that The Vines are playing the Brisbane show over Jet

Piko

Piko said on the 10th Apr, 2010

Powderfinger were OK live, if you saw them before vulture street, to be honest, i last saw them in 99 so this is only an assumption, but atleast when they played new songs in 99 they were these days and my kind of scene so a great set list really, one they will never do again.

And no way i would see them now! but yer maybe at a 20 year anniversary gig

lineofbestfit

lineofbestfit said on the 11th Apr, 2010

bernie will revert back to heroin dealer to support his raging habit which is brisbane's best kept secret, oh wai....

Sunnyboyz

Sunnyboyz said on the 11th Apr, 2010

Garetj will troll on forums to hide the fact that he is actually retarded which is lismore's best kept secret, oh wai...

lineofbestfit

lineofbestfit said on the 11th Apr, 2010

afraid i'm not actually retarded unlike the entire population (sans heath ledger but at least he got out) of perth. powderfinger are and always will be an embarassment to brisbane , mediocre neil young rip offs.

Zeppeloholic

Zeppeloholic said on the 11th Apr, 2010

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 11th Apr, 2010

No.

Great conversation, would have again.

Zeppeloholic

Zeppeloholic said on the 11th Apr, 2010

No.

Great conversation, would have again.

Haha you'd call it great? I'd call it a conversation about Powderfinger so it's far from great.

While my response to your defensive little retort seemed juvenile I think it stands true. I remember Powderfinger as well and my opinion differs greatly from yours. I've seen them live and I've also seen many local Perth bands that put on a far better show than those hacks. All Powderfinger songs are wrong. They are boring, generic pub rock songs that are easily emulated by any second rate cover band. Sure they have a couple of decent tracks that aren't quite as offensive as the rest but they are still more over rated than any other band this country has produced, with the exception of Jet I suppose.

So I believe that for you to believe they are or ever have been good in any way you must be high.

Hows that reply? More up to your standards oh lord? Just doesn't seem as fun as simply asking if you're high..

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 11th Apr, 2010

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 11th Apr, 2010

Not worth your time, Liam. Ranty bullshit about how Powderfinger can't possibly be good because he says so.

mooney88

mooney88 said on the 11th Apr, 2010

you do this sort of thing more than anyone.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 11th Apr, 2010

Zeppeloholic

Zeppeloholic said on the 12th Apr, 2010

Well that sure was witty and insightful.

What I say goes mister and don't you forget it!

lineofbestfit

lineofbestfit said on the 12th Apr, 2010

custard are and always will be far better, that q105 show showed everyone that.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 12th Apr, 2010

Seriously, man, please dont call me by my first name. All it does is confuse people who don't know who is who, which is still me, for the most part.

if you want to make it clear you're talking to me, use my username, or use the quote button.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 12th Apr, 2010

You can be Mr. Pink, then.

Sunnyboyz

Sunnyboyz said on the 13th Apr, 2010

Is Liam Gallagher posting on these forums?

OMG.

disco

disco said on the 17th Apr, 2010

$105 a ticket?!
"fuck you australia, goodnight!"

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 18th Apr, 2010

$105 a ticket?!
"fuck you australia, goodnight!"

As if this tour won't sell out.

They'd be crazy to charge anything less.

Demosthenes

Demosthenes said on the 18th Apr, 2010

Okay, looking at it this way: I paid around $200 to see Leonard Cohen -- probably the most money I've shelled out to see any single artist. Powderfinger, ( bless 'em) are not half a Leonard Cohen. No wai.

tauiwi

tauiwi said on the 30th Apr, 2010

Tickets were a nightmare to get this morning. Rod Laver is the worst along with ticketek which makes for a potently crapola combination.

But there'll be a 3rd show in Melb, I will just wait until thats announced

grattan

grattan said on the 5th Oct, 2011

From Twitter - Good afternoon... we have a surprise for you on Friday morning! Keep an eye on here around 9am EST

Surely not a comeback show already!

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 5th Oct, 2011

In slightly related news:

Red Door is pleased and very excited to announce a new friend in producing and songwriting talent Darren Middleton. After 20 years, 16 ARIA Awards and a swag of #1’s with his little ‘ol band Powderfinger (plus side project DRAG) Darren has relocated to Melbourne with a view to working with fellow artists in a producing and songwriting capacity. Over the last 10 years, Darren has produced and written with many up and coming artists including Jac Stone, Renee Cassar and Wall Street Riots (UK). He has also written musical works speciﬁcally for films such as Two Hands (Heath Ledger), and Love the Beast (Eric Bana). A seriously talented composer, Darren’s skills lend themselves not only to guitar but also string and brass arrangements. More information and Darren’s credits can be found at his website www.darrenmiddleton.com. In short; welcome Darren!

Red Door is the studio in Fitzroy co-owned by Chris Cheney, btw.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 5th Oct, 2011

isn't soundwave also being announced on friday morning?

surely not...

Maximillian Billion

Maximillian Billion said on the 5th Oct, 2011

From Twitter - Good afternoon... we have a surprise for you on Friday morning! Keep an eye on here around 9am EST

Surely not a comeback show already!

In all seriousness, is it going to be a DVD or something? Or have they already done that?

postman_pm

postman_pm said on the 5th Oct, 2011

Powderfinger did play their 1st BDO the same year Soundgarden did .....
But surely they can't go down the 'John Farnham endless farewell tour' road ....

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 5th Oct, 2011

Done.

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/rkt/MEDIUM/43/96/4396697.jpg

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 5th Oct, 2011

maybe a live album to go with it - thats what I always wanted- i dont watch live dvds enough to justify the purchase...

deenie

deenie said on the 5th Oct, 2011

they did them while the tour was happening, if I recall correctly they were only available during the tour and weren't going to be in stores but I could be wrong. they did one for every show. if you are really keen and look into it, you might be able to still get them through their online merch store.

I would highly recommend it, I have mine from their second last show on the Friday night in Brissie, awesome recording, so many great memories. :)

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 7th Oct, 2011

6. Check this out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImAl6cPvwrU
5. There'll be a video for "Empty Space" in the coming weeks!
4. "Empy Space", one of the new tracks, will be at radio and online from Monday morning!
3. 'Footprints' will include 2 new, previously unreleased tracks powderfinger.com
2. 'Footprints - the best of Powderfinger 2001-2011' is out Nov 4, & is also available as part the Ultimate Collection (1994-2011).
1. Our first & only authorised biography, 'Footprints', is out Nov 8. powderfinger.com
Ok, 6 pieces of news coming up! Here we go

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Oct, 2011

Best of Powderfinger 2001-2011?

But almost all their best songs were written before then.

Fake Plastic Android

Fake Plastic Android said on the 7th Oct, 2011

Best of Powderfinger 2001-2011?

But all of their best songs were written before then.

ftfy

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 7th Oct, 2011

I hope book covers Bernards range of haircuts over the years.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Oct, 2011

I really only included the almost to avoid someone saying "but xxx song is definitely one of their 20 best songs" or something equally pointless.

I agree with your fix.

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 7th Oct, 2011

I don't think Powderfinger have ever done anything as remotely exciting as writing a xxx song.

Fake Plastic Android

Fake Plastic Android said on the 7th Oct, 2011

I think they wrote an xxx song about Ray Martin.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Oct, 2011

You guys should form a comedy duo.

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 7th Oct, 2011

Best of Powderfinger 2001-2011?

But almost all their best songs were written before then.

yeah but they already have a best-of covering their early years. Unsurprisingly, only one song from Parables made it on, and it was the last track on the best-of.