Powderfinger is an indie and alternative rock band, which formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1989, as a classic rock inspired school formed band. They played oldies but goodies, such as Neil Young, who's 1975 song "Powderfinger", inspired the band's name.
After 1992, the band's line-up consisted of Bernard Fanning on vocals and harmonica, Darren Middleton on guitar and keyboard, along with Ian Haug on back up guitar (with contributions to back up vocals as well), John Collins on the bass guitar, and Jon Coghill on drums and percussion. The original drummer was Steven Bishop, but he left the band to pursue his studies.
The band became rather successful after releasing their third album recorded in studio, Internationalist in 1998. After that, a series of hit singles, including "My Happiness" on Odyssey Number Five and "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind" on Vulture Street gained them a large fan base and great acclaim from the critics internationally. Their latest album is Golden Rule, released in 2009.
Over Powderfinger's sixteen year long career, they have been involved in several philanthropic projects. These include performing in a WaveAid benefit concert in Sydney, Australia, to raise money for areas destroyed by the earthquake that took place in the Indian Ocean in 2004, to one of their most recent tours, "Across the Great Divide", which aimed to increase the effects of Reconciliation Australia, as well as to educate their fans of the drastic jump in length of life, quality of life, and infant death rates when comparing Indigenous to non-Indigenous children of Australia. They have won fifteen ARIA Awards.
On the morning of April 9th, 2010, the band issued a press release stating that, after the completion of their tour, they would break up. Front man Bernard Fanning said that the "The Sunsets" tour is to be the last tour of Powderfinger's career, because the band had said everything they felt a need to say musically.
To catch the last Powderfinger tour ever, catch the shows throughout September all over, including stops in Wollongong, Perth, Glenorchy, North Adelaide, Toowoomba, Bendigo, and several more across the country. Or, if you cannot attend the Powderfinger concert, there is talk of a DVD recording of the tour to be issued later this fall. If it is anything like the unmatched recording quality of These Days: Live in Concert, Powderfinger's first DVD, it will be worth the purchase.
To listen to the agile sounds of the innovative baselines, driving drum work, and distinctive voice work; check out, in addition to their latest album Golden Rules, their most expansive work to date: Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, released in 2007. It went Platinum in Australia three times, and continues to excite Powderfinger fans the world over. The Powderfinger tour may be the last installment in their long, illustrious career, but their music spans all epochs, and touches the hearts of all.
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