Powderfinger Just Reformed Live On Stage At Splendour In The Grass

Bernard Fanning’s mid-afternoon set today at Splendour in the Grass came with a pretty massive surprise — the near-reformation of his old band Powderfinger, live on stage.

For his final three songs, Fanning pulled up guitarist Darren Middleton, bassist John Collins and guitarist Ian Haug  — the main players from one of Australia’s most iconic bands, with the exception of drummer Jon Coghill.

“You know… it’s ten years since we last played Splendour. So let’s have a little anniversary party,” Fanning told the crowd, following a solo rendition of Powderfinger’s ‘Sail The Wildest Stretch’. Together, they played a massive one-two punch of ‘(Baby I’ve Got You) On My Mind’ and ‘These Days’.

It wasn’t the only unexpected appearance from Brisbane royalty — earlier in the day, Robert Forster popped up on the GW McLennan stage (named in memory of his Go-Betweens bandmate) with Bad//Dreems, joining them for their track ‘My Only Friend’ and the Go-Betweens classic ‘Spring Rain’.

And earlier in the day, Dune Rats were joined by Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson and Violent Soho’s James Tidwell. Together, they covered the Grinspoon classic ‘Just Ace’ in front of a huge mid-afternoon amphitheatre crowd.

Powderfinger called it quits in 2010, explaining that they felt “that we have said all that we want to say as a musical group.” The band last reunited in 2015, covering Neil Young at a one-off show in Brisbane.

Splendour in the Grass kicked off yesterday at the North Byron Parklands and won’t wrap up until Sunday night, when LCD Soundsystem will play their first Australian show since their own “farewell” tour here in 2010.