Powderfinger to Split

OMG! I feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

In an announcement that has shocked Australia, and their hoards of fans world wide, Bernard Fanning and his multi-award winning band “Powderfinger” announced a short time ago in a press conference that they will split at the end of the year following what will be their most extensive Australian tour yet.

Sadly, the boys from Brisbane will play their last ever concert together at the conclusion of their “Sunsets Tour” in Ballarat (oddly enough) on Saturday, October 16th. While the concerts in all the major capital cities across Australia will sell out in seconds, you can bet that the Ballarat show will be the hottest concert ticket in Australia this year.

During this morning’s press conference, Bernard read out the following 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. 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. (source: www.powderfinger.com)

Together Bernard, Ian, Darren, JC and Cogsy have released 7 studio albums and amassed a stunning 15 Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIAs) across five different categories over the past 16 years. They are, without question, one of the most iconic domestic Australian bands from over the past 15 years with a swag of great hits-come-Aussie-anthems like “Pick You Up”, “The Day You Come”, “Passenger”, “Sunsets”, “Love Your Way”, “Head Up In The Clouds”, “All of the Dreamers” and of course, “On My Mind” (see below).

They are, and will forever be one of my all-time favourite acts – that goes without question. All I ever wanted was to see the guys play, one day, here in Vancouver… or even up in Whistler (“Little Australia”) for that matter. Just yesterday I tweeted that I hoped that’s what today’s press conference was being called to announce. Sadly, my dream seems certain to never become a reality.

*sob, sob*

For those of you lucky enough to be in Australia for the final shows, tickets for the “Sunsets Tour” will go on sale on at 9am Friday 30th April. Check out the Ticketmaster Australia website or the band’s official website for more details.