How many areas have powderfinger won

They were regulars at the Royal Exchange. Like, really regular. Maybe you shared a beer with them? Can you remember those carefree times? They left their home state, Queensland, for the first time. They played to seven people—one of which was future chart-topper, Alex Lloyd. Then another show at classic pub-rock venue Springfields, Kings Cross, alongside Choirboys and their ilk. They still had a few leather pants of their own.

Did you catch a glimpse back then? In amongst it all, Powderfinger recorded their second EP, Transfusion. Recorded by mate Jeff Lovejoy, the heavier-sounding tracks included their first real single, Reap What You Sow —a five-and-a-half minute song that captured their skill and potential.

The music industry began to take notice. Major labels started a-courting. It was the laid-back approach of Tim Prescott of Polydor that won their trust—and ultimately their signatures on a five-album deal. It was a Friday night at Metropolis in July when Tim saw people rocking out to Powderfinger and knew they were destined for big things. He cracked some XXXX in the kitchen at an afterparty and history was made.

Were you at the show that sealed the deal? Armed with a major budget and the pressure to perform, the result, Parables for Wooden Ears , was a hurried bloom—suffering from rehearsal room influences to sound heavier and more like their contemporaries.

It marked a massive change in direction for the band—a more aggressive, mathematical approach to playing and recording. The reviews were mixed. Still, the band continued to leave their footprint on the music scene, their dynamic live shows making up for the cluttered recording. They played their first Big Day Out in at 11am on a side-stage that was basically the back of a truck. Were you one of the faithful in the audience that day? They probably should have turned down the opening slot for Pantera—bullies to both them and their crowd.

Despite touring constantly, their growth was starting to plateau. There were only so many times they could play to the same Brisbane crowd. Yet Powderfinger were to have a shot at redemption. They decided to pare back their sound and simplify their structure and timing—and by the time Powderfinger hit the road at the end of for a week tour in support of their Mr Kneebone EP they had written a dozen new songs. One of these tracks was Pick You Up , a song that tumbled out of Bernard while missing his girlfriend on the road.

It was a turning point for the band. They played it live for the first time on a winter night at the Lismore RSL after finishing it during their now regular sound-check writing time and it had an immediate effect on the crowd. Were you one of the lucky few to hear this track for the first time? When we did something simply, it was really powerful. It was emotional power that actually carried it—it had nothing to do with distortion.

It was more about dynamics. And work it did. After playing Homebake—the annual festival all about Australian music—Powderfinger stepped into the studio to record Double Allergic. Pick You Up was released ahead of the album, and it quickly found a home on both Triple J and commercial radio.

The momentum continued with their live shows growing exponentially. Where they had made a dint in the interstate live scene of Sydney in Melbourne, they were now selling out three Corner Hotels in a row, and packing the Metro to the rafters.

They also performed latest single D. F , which jumped onto radios across the country almost as fast as its predecessor. When the album finally dropped, the reviews were glowing, and the album stayed in the top ten for ten weeks. Tim Rogers recalls the impact that Pick You Up had on the audience.

The release of Double Allergic also saw Powderfinger playing the biggest show of their career to date. The Brissie boys were first-on supports, flying in on a chartered plane to do the slot. It was their first taste of the big time, playing to more than , people. The day was full of highs and lows—literally. After playing their set, Powderfinger jetted back to Byron Bay to resume their headline tour, only to fly straight into an electrical storm.

The pilot attempted 2 dive-bomb landings before setting the aircraft down safely. Luckily the beers had been flowing freely, and the band recited air-crash melodies to pass the time. It also marked the graduation of the band to professional musicians, with royalties allowing them to pay themselves minimum wage. In the downtime before recording their next album, Powderfinger took a break from the open road, and each other.

It translated into a prolific writing period. The first track the band wrote together was The Day You Come , which saw the band experimenting with a new sound that would set the tone for their next record. It was an arrival, in more ways than one. The toll of touring permeated the song lyrics of opening track, Hindley St. Before the release of I nternationalist , Powderfinger would make their first foray into the American market.

Were you in the crowd that night, our American friends? The venues grew, and they turned their soundchecks into much-needed writing time. Much of Internationalist was formed in these sessions on the road. Some even made it into the setlist. Did you see Capoicity in its infancy, performed at the Metro back then? After losing almost every category at the ARIAs to Savage Garden, Powderfinger hit the Livid stage—not for the first or last time—before scheduling in a secret gig at the Crash and Burn under the pseudonym of Terry and the Econodogs to test a few of the new tracks in front of a live audience.

Armed with the bulk of an album, Powderfinger began a relationship with US producer Nick DiDia in early —a friendship that would last the rest of their career.

It was a big step up, and they found a producer who knew how to get the best out of them all. When Internationalist dropped six weeks later, it heralded the arrival of Powderfinger into the collective consciousness.

The gigs grew exponentially. Did you tune in to Live At The Wireless and hear Powderfinger play the new album in full just before their biggest tour yet? It was at this time that Powderfinger were also approached by Australian filmmaker Gregor Jordan to write a track for his upcoming film, Two Hands , starring Bryan Brown and a young upstart called Heath Ledger. These Days was born.

Despite the resounding success of Internationalist , ticket sales began to plateau. That was until These Days was suddenly heard everywhere alongside the hit movie it was written for , and both Heath Ledger and Powderfinger became household names. Passenge r also boomed over the airwaves and the single release sealed the deal.

These Days was the B-side. Needless to say, the tour was a resounding success. Did you see them in these halcyon days? They performed Passenger live with a brass band and backing vocals—a feat only a lucky few got to witness, while the rest of us watched on TV.

But the time had come to start thinking about their next release, and the pressure was already beginning to mount. The final track was then beamed into backyard BBQs across the country. It was These Days. Meanwhile, the backbone of Odyssey Number Five was starting to form in the rehearsal room—although not without its problems.

This time, My Happiness was to be the defining skeleton that the rest the album would hang its skin off. Again, they hit the studio with Nick DiDia to carve out the rest of the record. My Kind of Scene, in particular, took some getting right. But the growing pains were worth it. It became an anthem for a generation. Odyssey Number Five charted at number 1, and stayed there for three weeks. Powderfinger had managed to pull off mission impossible—defining a scene that had become their own. That aggression manifested in tragedy when teenager Jessica Michalik died in the moshpit in Sydney.

Limp Bizkit quit the tour and returned to the states. Powderfinger proved themselves to be statesmen of rock, stepping up to lead a tribute to Jessica at the Adelaide show a few days later. Did you hang your head that day?

The band also made their ARIAs debut that year performing the song. This time, they managed to spend a total of three weeks at the top with their fourth studio album. Once again it was a 1 debut for the band, spending three straight weeks at the top of the chart. The album won four ARIAs from seven nominations at the ceremony. Returning in with their sixth studio album, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence , Powderfinger took out their fourth 1 album. Powderfinger released their final studio album, Golden Rule , in November Like their four previous studio releases, it went straight into the Albums Chart at 1.

At the ARIAs, the band were nominated for five awards.