† NillaMora †

By Pat Reavy

Quick quiz: what act has collected the most ARIAs (the Australian equivalent of the Grammys)?

photo by: Nabil Elderkin

Silverchair's Chris Joannou, Daniel Johns and Ben Gilllies.

If you said INXS, AC/DC, Midnight Oil, Crowded House, Little River Band, Kylie Minogue or even Men at Work, you're wrong.

The correct answer is Silverchair.

Last month, Silverchair dominated the ARIA awards in Sydney with five wins, including album and single of the year. "We didn't expect anything like that," said bassist Chris Joannou. "It was one of those nights we'll never forget."

The five awards gave Silverchair a total of 19 for its career, one more than the all-time record previously held by ... drum roll, please ... John Farnham, best known for working with Little River Band.…

1. Heart-Shaped Box

Artist: Nirvana

Director: Anton Corbijn

  2. The Perfect Drug Artist: Nine Inch Nails Direstor: Mark Romanek     3. Lallaby Artist: The Cure Director: Tim Pope     4. Emotion Sickness Artist: Silverchair Director: Cate Anderson       5. Hurt Artist : Christina Aguilera Director: Floria Sigismondi  

By David Burger
  Its grunge days long past, band from Down Under finds success exploring fresh forms of music

Silverchair's fifth studio album is "Young Modern."

It's OK if you've forgotten Silverchair. A lot of people have, since 1995.
    The Australian rock band will perform at In the Venue Friday on its second tour of the United States this year, after not visiting stateside since 1999.
    Daniel Johns, the 28-year-old singer, songwriter and guitarist of Silverchair, called from Australia just before flying across the Pacific. The first time the band played the U.S. earlier this year, it was so that people "could re-evaluate their perceptions of what Silverchair is."
    This time, he admitted with a laugh, the band comes "exploiting the popularity of 'Straight Lines.' "
    "Straight Lines," the first single…

2 bands, 34 shows, 26 towns, 24,467 kilometres, 20 arenas, 13 big top shows, 1 amphitheatre, 65 crew, 1,155 security, 5 stadium trucks, 9 outdoor trucks, 1,050 portaloos and most importantly over 220,000 screaming fans … this was the Across The Great Divide tour!

After embarking on the biggest concert tour this country has seen in a decade - across, around and ALL over Australia from Darwin to Ballarat to Toowoomba to Tasmania - the tour’s final show is coming to your loungeroom this Christmas with the release of a deluxe triple DVD.

This special three disc release is strictly a limited edition and will not be manufactured again after the 2007 holiday season. Fans can pre-order the DVD from www.acrossthegreatdivide.com.au/shop to receive a FREE Silverchair or Powderfinger T Shirt (stocks are strictly…

Silverchair, the Australian power trio that first captured the world's ear as grunge-inspired 15-year-olds after winning a contest for a record deal, seemed destined to head down the oft-flawed path of several child stars before them. After all, having radio's most heavily played song for an entire year -- 1995's "Tomorrow" -- as teenagers isn't exactly the key to a well-adjusted adolescence.

The album that spawned "Tomorrow," "Frogstomp," sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide. Its 1997 follow-up, "Freakshow," sold almost 2 million. The band -- singer/guitarist Daniel Johns, bass player Chris Joannou and drummer Ben Gillies -- were hailed around the globe as rock's new flag bearers before their 20th birthdays.

Then for Johns, the group's musical architect, the pressure of too much fame at too young an age reared its head.

 

2 bands, 34 shows, 26 towns, 24,467 kilometres, 20 arenas, 13 big top shows, 1 amphitheatre, 65 crew, 1,155 security, 5 stadium trucks, 9 outdoor trucks, 1,050 portaloos and most importantly over 220,000 screaming fans … this was the Across The Great Divide tour!

After embarking on the biggest concert tour this country has seen in a decade - across, around and ALL over Australia from Darwin to Ballarat to Toowoomba to Tasmania - the tour's final show is coming to your loungeroom this Christmas with the release of a deluxe triple DVD.

This special three disc release is strictly a limited edition and will not be manufactured again after the 2007 holiday season. Fans can pre order the DVD from 12 noon (AEST), Monday, 19 November from www.acrossthegreatdivide.com.au/shop to receive a FREE Silverchair or Powderfinger…

IN the midst of a hectic production schedule, Aussie starlet Natalie Imbruglia still found time to spend with her love when he shot into Adelaide for the day.

Cool couple in town ... Aussie starlet Natalie Imbruglia with husband Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns.

 

Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns flew in last weekend to spend a lazy Sunday with his wife when she took a break from the set of the film Elise.

Fan and photographer Andrea Laube followed the famous couple through the city after spotting Imbruglia at the wheel.

"I spotted Daniel and Natalie and after a little while they pulled over, so I pulled over too," she said.

"He hopped out of his car and saw my camera and asked if I wanted a photo of them.

"He and Natalie stood in the middle of the road. They seemed more than happy to do that."

Laube said Johns was…

By Rod Yates

HARD to think of it now, but there was a time not long ago when Daniel Johns thought everyone hated him.

 In the beginning ... Daniel Johns, right, taught himself guitar while growing up in Newcastle and formed the Innocent Criminals with schoolmates Ben Gillies, middle, Chris Joannu, left, and Tobin Finnane, back. Johns, Gillies and Joannu formed Silverchair in 2004. Picture: Andrew Derby

Silverchair’s first two albums, 1995’s Frogstomp and 1997’s Freak Show, may have been worldwide multi-platinum hits, but the constant pot shots from sniggering music critics had made an indelible mark on the young singer-songwriter. Turns out it could have been the best thing that ever happened to Silverchair.

Frogstomp ... one of Silverchair's first professional photos, with Johns, Joannu and Gillies aged between 14 and…