Powderfinger announce more shows, discuss split and joyful reunion

When Powderfinger broke up in 2010, their farewell tour sold 220,000 tickets.

Sixteen years later, their reunion tour has become Australia's hottest ticket. All 300,000 tickets for the Brisbane band's initial 26 shows sold out in six days.

"The response was genuinely overwhelming," guitarist Darren Middleton tells the ABC's Zan Rowe.

"As soon as tickets went on sale, we were like: 'Holy shit!'

Today, they've added nine more dates, including stops in Hobart and Canberra, to supply the intense demand.

Ticket requests have come from some unlikely places.

"It was pretty nuts," frontman Bernard Fanning says. "Not just the public response but privately.

"Like, plumbers that fixed a drain 15 years ago and still have my phone number."

Among the most beloved and best-selling Australian acts of the 90s and 2000s, Powderfinger's return was kept under wraps over 18 months of "white lies" and clandestine meetings.

In May last year, Fanning, Middleton, guitarist Ian Haug, bassist John "JC" Collins, drummer Jon Coghill and long-time manager Paul Piticco conferred to "seriously" discuss the prospect fans had longed for since the group's 2010 split.

"We got together and said, 'Let's think about if we want to do it. Is this the right time for everyone?" Middleton says.

"One idea put around was: 'No-one in the band owes Powderfinger anything.' If someone doesn't want to be a part of it, we don't do it. That's OK."

After a month away to deliberate their reasons for reuniting, they reconvened. "We got on the Zoom [call] and went, let's do it!"

One of Fanning's "main reasons" for getting back together was "for my kids".

"Because they haven't seen [us perform], they'd love to be part of it … and every one of us said exactly the same thing."

"We're never very cool in our kids' eyes," Middleton adds.

Each member has taken a different path over 16 years: from raising families to pursuing solo projects, politics and other careers.

"We've all gone through different experiences, learned to stand on our own two feet again and discover who we are," Middleton reflects.

"And actually fall in love with music and with the band again."

Fanning says time apart has deepened the bonds of their friendship.

"By the end of the band, there was tension, which is natural after 21 years [together].

"But now, all those petty differences have completely disappeared in a sea of nappies and teenage angst and whatever else.

"In the last 16 years, we've had time to think about how much fun and joy there was … try and bring that into the equation again."

It's a rare opportunity whose significance isn't lost on Middleton.

"We're still alive," he enthuses. "It sounds silly, but I've lost friends in the music industry … their bands no longer have the chance to do what they did. We're super lucky."

Powderfinger's choice to headline concerts outdoors under stadium-sized tents was inspired by attending Cold Chisel's "Big Five-O" anniversary shows.

"It feels like a festival but it's indoors, it's the best of both worlds," says Fanning, who never saw Chisel the first time round, but was thrilled when he got the chance to see them reunite.

That people feel the same way about Powderfinger "makes sense," he reasons.

The group's chart-topping, award-hoovering anthems were the soundtrack to people's lives in the pre-streaming era, ruled by CDs, TV and radio, not algorithms.

"There's a warmth of feeling for that time when Powderfinger was doing well [and] people want to recapture that a little bit," Fanning acknowledges.

"I think nostalgia gets a bad rap. Because it generates good feelings amongst people, which are seriously lacking in our society at the moment.

At a time of "so much difficulty and division in the world", harnessing live music's power to foster community was a driving force for the reunion.

Powderfinger's cross-generational popularity was evidenced by last year's Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, where the majority of voters (aged 18–29) voted in three songs.

"My 25-year-old daughter, her friends are pumped about coming. It makes me feel young again.

"People coming to see us are parents with kids who are teenagers or above. What a great experience! 'Dad, take me to see that band that you used to love …'"

Since the band bowed out in 2010, "society has devalued music incredibly", Fanning says.

Particularly Australian music, with homegrown music accounting for just 8.4 per cent of local streaming, according to a recent APRA AMCOS report.

In response to increasing festival cancellations, venue closures and declining live attendance, the frontman says there needs to be a "concentration on the arts and how important it is for our stories to be told by us".

To that end, Powderfinger are committing to an all-Australian line-up of support acts for their tour, including partnering with triple j Unearthed to give emerging acts a platform to perform for tens of thousands of people. Stay tuned for details.

All five members always voted on every major career and creative decision.

Is Powderfinger still a democracy in 2026?

"Yes, unfortunately," Fanning deadpans to hearty laughter.

"It has to be. We wouldn't be able to function any other way.

"It's part of [our] DNA … sometimes there's some late-night lobbying" with JC serving as "the whip", he continues.

Beginning rehearsals in December, each member will have a say on figuring out which tunes will make the cut.

Fanning experimented with writing a set list "of what I thought were essentials".

"There were 22 songs, which is too long."

"No way. I want the quality to be really high the whole way through," Fanning says.

Middleton counters: "We'll craft a few different set lists [that] we'll revolve."

And the burning question: Will These Days and My Happiness find new company?

"I'll happily accept criticism that it's a nostalgia tour, because we're not making new music," Fanning says.

That said, "the chemistry of the five of us being together is very unique … [we're] never closed off to the idea of a new song, from anybody," Fanning says.

"That's what I'm excited about again. That chemistry you cannot manufacture."

"All of us are approaching it with so much excitement," Fanning says.

"We know it's different now, the way that we relate to each other is different.

"We obviously have to step up to a really high level or else we will disappoint a lot of people."

But Powderfinger are intent on putting in the hard work. For them, it's about proving some chemistry, between band members, between artists and audiences, between generations, is irreplaceable. And sharing that with 300,000 people and counting.

"I don't want to anticipate how it's going to feel," Middleton says.

"All I know is it's going to be an amazing end to 2027."

Powderfinger will play the following "encore run" shows next year:

Additonally, Powderfinger will play the following sold-out 2027 shows: