Across the Great Divide tour

The Across the Great Divide tour was a concert tour by Australian alternative rock bands Powderfinger and Silverchair in 2007. The tour featured concerts in 26 towns across Australia and multiple shows in New Zealand. According to Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning, the aim of the tour was to "show [that] both bands are behind the idea of reconciliation."[1] Both bands aimed to increase awareness of the efforts of Reconciliation Australia to reduce the current 17-year gap in life expectancy between the average Australian life and that of Indigenous Australians.[2] A triple DVD set was released with the same title as the tour on 1 December 2007 with the Melbourne performances for both bands and backstage occurrences from the tour.

Across the Great Divide tour

Tour by Powderfinger and Silverchair
Location	Australia, New Zealand
Associated album	Dream Days at the Hotel Existence (by Powderfinger) Young Modern (by Silverchair)
Legs	1
No. of shows	25 (Australia) 4 (New Zealand) Total shows: 29

Background

Prior to the tour, Powderfinger and Silverchair performed numerous MySpace-exclusive concerts, with only 200 tickets made available. The majority of tickets were sold within 30 minutes.[3]

Unlike many conventional tours, the Across the Great Divide tour entered many regional centres across the country, which was supported by the districts the bands went into, being regarded by some as "phenomenal".[4] At nine weeks long, the tour was the longest yet for both bands. The tour began in Silverchair's home town of Newcastle, and then moved directly north to Powderfinger's home city Brisbane, before continuing to other parts of Australia.[1][5]

Tickets went on sale on 9 July and the shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Wollongong all sold out within half an hour. The Gold Coast and Newcastle shows sold out by mid-morning, and Perth also sold out within hours. Extra shows were announced in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Wollongong, Newcastle and Perth to meet the high demand.[6]

Powderfinger and Silverchair appeared onstage together for the first time in the tour on 8 September, in Sydney, performing a cover of The Who's "Substitute" to close the show. Fanning said of the performance, "This is the very first time we've done this", and it was reported that he and Johns showed a mutual affection and respect for each other and their bands.[7] Together, the band wrote the song "Jake", which they recorded and released as a free 39 second ringtone on the tour's website.

On 9 September, while performing at Sydney's Acer Arena, Fanning made news for attacking the 2007 APEC Australia Summit in Sydney. In a pause between songs, Fanning described the participants in the summit as "fuckwits".[8]

The Ballarat show originally scheduled for 16 September, was postponed due to a fifteen-metre tear in the performance tent, which is being used in regional areas as the concert arena, where large enough venues are not available. The concert instead went ahead the next night.[9]

Show format

As the show entered many rural and regional centres, many locations did not have arenas or stages available, and for these locations, a tent was constructed in which the bands would perform for their audiences. An illustration of this tent was shown at the bottom of the promotional posters and the cover of the DVD of the tour.

The performances schedule consisted of three main parts, beginning with the supporting artist performing one set, followed by Silverchair and then Powderfinger would play the final set of the night. The two bands united for only three performances onstage at the one time throughout the tour. The supporting artists varied from location to location. These artists included Epicure, Dan Kelly, Expatriate, Youth Group, The Scare, Nabarlek, Blue King Brown, The Beautiful Girls,[10] Something With Numbers, Kev Carmody, Kisschasy, Andrew Morris, Wire MC and Street Warriors.[11]

Response

The response to the Across the Great Divide tour was highly positive, both musically and for the purpose that it was held. Following the tour's second concert at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Rave Magazine reviewer Simon Topper comments Silverchair as "Visually stunning, and giving goosebumps during 'The Greatest View' and 'Straight Lines', Silverchair still elicit the screaming throng mentality, although it's not until final blast 'Freak' that anything resembling a mosh starts." Topper's comments of Powderfinger are equally positive, though defines them differently as "still just a bunch of blokes who could just as easily play a beer garden, but happen to have written some of this generation's anthems."[12] Law enforcement representatives praised the tour's low rate of incidents,[13] some attributing the success to the maturity of the crowds, with Wodonga police officials commenting that less than 1,000 of the 8,000 people in attendance at the Wodonga show were under the age of 18 and that the average age of attendance was "about 30 [years old]".[14]

Tour itinerary

Daniel Johns and Bernard Fanning at the tour in Sydney.

Tour venues[15]

Date	City	Country	Venue
29 August 2007	Newcastle	Australia	Newcastle Entertainment Centre
31 August 2007	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
1 September 2007
2 September 2007	Gold Coast		Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
4 September 2007	Tamworth		Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre
6 September 2007	Coffs Harbour		Coffs Harbour Showgrounds
8 September 2007	Sydney		Acer Arena, Homebush
9 September 2007
11 September 2007	Canberra		John Dunmore Lang Place
12 September 2007	Wodonga		Gateway Island, Lincoln Causeway
14 September 2007	Mildura		Ornamental Gardens
15 September 2007	Bendigo		Bendigo Showgrounds
16 September 2007	Ballarat		Ballarat Showgrounds (postponed)[9]
18 September 2007	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena
19 September 2007
22 September 2007	Perth		Claremont Oval
23 September 2007
26 September 2007	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre
29 September 2007	Hobart		Derwent Entertainment Centre
5 October 2007	Darwin		Darwin Showgrounds
7 October 2007	Cairns		Cairns Showgrounds
8 October 2007	Townsville		Townsville Entertainment Centre
9 October 2007
11 October 2007	Mackay		Mackay Showgrounds
12 October 2007	Rockhampton		Rockhampton Music Bowl
14 October 2007	Toowoomba		University of Southern Queensland Oval
16 October 2007	Christchurch	New Zealand	Westpac Arena
18 October 2007	Wellington		TSB Bank Arena
19 October 2007	Palmerston North		Arena Manawatu
20 October 2007	Auckland		Vector Arena
23 October 2007	Wollongong	Australia	WIN Entertainment Centre
24 October 2007
26 October 2007	Newcastle		Newcastle Entertainment Centre

Notes

1. Emily Dunn (13 June 2007). "In concert - rock and reconciliation". The Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
2. Matt (12 June 2007). "Powderfinger and Silverchair announce 'Across the Great Divide' National Tour". The Dwarf. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
3. Neil Keene (30 August 2007). "I'll cry if I don't see 'Chair". The Daily Telegraph. News.com.au. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
4. Taylor, James (13 June 2007). "Bendigo gig a cause for celebrations". The Advertiser (Bendigo). Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
5. Iain Shedden (30 August 2007). "Silverchair returns to steel city". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
6. "Powderchair gig sparks a frenzy". The Border Mail. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
7. "Johns and Fanning share Powderchair moment". ninemsn. 9 September 2007. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
8. Steven Deare (10 September 2007). "Finger frontman denounces APEC leaders". LIVENEWS.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
9. Cashmere, Paul (16 September 2007). "Winds Blow Silverchair Powderfinger Gig Off Track in Ballarat". Undercover. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
10. Matthew Heath (11 September 2007). "Capital on roll as stars rock up". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
11. "Latest Tour News". Across the Great Divide tour. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
12. Topper, Simon (31 August 2007). "Across The Great Divide – Powderfinger / Silverchair". Rave Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
13. "Police praise crowd". The Advertiser (Bendigo). 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
14. Dean, Sarah (14 September 2007). "Crowd was well behaved". The Border Mail. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
15. "Tour Dates". Across The Great Divide Tour. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.