Arabic version: باودرفينغر تؤكد حفلات لمّ الشمل في أستراليا

According to ABC News, Brisbane rock band Powderfinger have confirmed they are reforming, 16 years after breaking up. In a video posted to the band’s social media, frontman Bernard Fanning said the group would “do some shows all around Australia from September next year”.

Fanning said fans would be the first to know if the band returned to perform. Guitarist Darren Middleton said the group would build “something pretty special” for fans and added, “We’ll see you from the stage.” The announcement followed days of speculation prompted by cryptic teasers that appeared around the country.

Fans linked opaque imagery from an account called The Return of the Electric Horsemen to Powderfinger, with references to the band also projected onto landmarks. The band’s official account, which had recently been wiped clean, then posted a message saying: “Add enough time to enough variables and something extraordinary happens…”

Formed in Brisbane in 1989, Powderfinger gained national acclaim with its 1996 album Double Allergic. Its 2000 record Odyssey Number Five topped the charts and won six ARIA awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for My Happiness. The band split in 2010 after a farewell tour that sold more than 200,000 tickets across 34 shows.

Powderfinger has not provided further details on the planned shows. Four members performed together at Splendour in the Grass in 2017, while a virtual performance during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns raised more than $450,000 for Support Act and Beyond Blue.