Cryptic billboards have Powderfinger fans in a whirl of wonder
Cryptic billboards in three of Australia’s major cities have prompted rumours that iconic homegrown band Powderfinger is set to reunite, 16 years on from their break-up, and almost a decade from their last performance.
Photos of billboards in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney have been shared to an Instagram account called The Return of the Electric Horsemen, which could be a reference to the band’s song (Return of) The Electric Horseman from their 1996 album Double Allergic.
Brisbane’s billboard was located on the corner of James and Ann streets in Fortitude Valley.
The account’s most recent post is a video with “Melbourne, do you see the signs on the street now?” written over it.
“I’ll watch from the other side of the road,” the caption reads.
The caption could be a reference to the opening line of the song My Happiness: “I see your shadow on the street now.”
The Return of the Electric Horsemen account does not follow anyone, but the official Powderfinger account does follow them.
Powderfinger, made up of Bernard Fanning, Darren Middleton, Ian Haug, Jon Coghill and John Collins, formed in 1989 and broke up in 2010.
Fanning went on to have a successful solo career, and last released music in 2024.
Middleton last toured in 2016 for a solo project; the official Powderfinger Instagram account was spruiking a new album by Haug’s band, The Church, just two weeks ago; and Coghill studied at Griffith University after the band broke up before working as a journalist for the ABC.
Collins is currently Queensland’s first Night-Life Economy Commissioner, a role to which he was appointed in 2024.
The last time the band performed was in 2017.
In the dying minutes of his solo set at Splendour in the Grass in 2017, former Powderfinger lead singer Bernard Fanning made an announcement that sparked an eruption of excitement from hundreds of unsuspecting festival goers.
“It’s been 10 years since Powderfinger played Splendour, so let’s have a little anniversary,” Fanning said.
Fans perched above the Amphitheatre leapt to their feet and screamed with approval as Fanning’s former bandmates – Middleton, Haug and Collins – readied their instruments. Drummer Coghill was the only absent member.
For about 15 brief but glorious minutes, punters were transported back to the 2000s to relish in two of the Brisbane rockers’ most iconic hits: (Baby I’ve Got You) On My Mind and These Days.
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