† NillaMora †

Across the Great Divide, Silverchair and Powderfinger’s national tour, had entertained almost 200,000 fans before this weekend and easily broke through the mark with the first of their two sold-out Perth shows.

Silverchair opened proceedings, with frontman Daniel Johns telling the teeming thousands that it was “a pleasure to be back in your beautiful city”.

There was an electric atmosphere in the big tent, with a mostly great mix ensuring the distinct sounds of the band were not lost despite the huge crowd requiring plenty of volume.
  
It was bassist Chris Joannou’s birthday and Johns led the crowd in what may have been a world record attempt at Happy Birthday To You.
  
Johns was in fine voice, with strength and clarity punching through the roar…

Australian superbands Powderfinger and Silverchair rocked tens of thousands of revellers at Claremont Oval last night, with the fun set to continue again tonight with the second of two Perth shows during the Across the Great Divide tour.

PICTURE GALLERY: Powderfinger and Silverchair. Click here

The crowd had the chance to turn the tables on the rock idols, belting out a rendition of Happy Birthday to mark Silverchair bassist Chris Joannou’s birthday.

Silverchair opened the concert, with popular frontman Daniel Johns telling the sold-out arena that it was a pleasure to be back in Perth.

Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning later hailed the Perth crowd “by far the biggest and loudest” of the tour to date.

See Monday’s edition of The West Australian for the full report on the Perth leg of the Across the Great Divide concert.

Last night's Across the Great Divide concert at the Ballarat Showgrounds in Victoria starred Australian rockers Powderfinger and Silverchair, plus homegrown Ballarat band and concert support act Epicure.

Originally planned for Sunday night, concert promoters were forced to postpone the show to last night after strong winds tore a 15-metre hole in the roof of the tent on Sunday afternoon.

Silverchair's entrance onto the stage last night was met with a deafening applause.

The screams and cheers got even louder when Silverchair's Daniel Johns took off his jacket halfway through…

Silverchair has announced further North American tour dates. The dates will be in support of the band's new album Young Modern which hit the streets in July in the US and Canada on Eleven: a music company through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group.

The new dates are:

Thursday Nov. 15 - Las Vegas NV - The Joint. Tickets on sale Sept. 29
Wednesday Nov. 21 - Tempe AZ - The Marquee. Tickets on sale Sept. 29
Friday Nov. 23 - Salt Lake City UT - In The Venue. Tickets on sale Sept. 29
Saturday Nov. 24 - Boulder CO - Fox Theatre. Tickets on sale Sept. 29
Monday Nov. 26 - Oklahoma City OK - Diamond Ballroom. Tickets on sale soon
Wednesday Nov. 28 - Houston TX - Meridian. Tickets on sale Sept. 28
Thursday Nov. 29 - New Orleans LA - House Of Blues. Tickets on sale Sept. 29
Saturday Dec. 1…

IT'S simple math - two of Australia's most popular rock bands for the price of one is going to result in a sell-out joint national tour.

The Silverchair/Powderfinger Across the Great Divide dual juggernaut rolled into Rod Laver Arena for a sold out show last night, filmed for a DVD release later this year.

More a mutual respect-fest than a battle of the bands, the only winner on the night was the Australian music lover.

Silverchair's Daniel Johns has developed into one of the country's best showmen.

He used his teeth to play guitar and hunched over his feedback pedals like a mad professor to brings the bizarre ideas that inhabit his…

About 7500 people packed the Prince of Wales Showgrounds on Saturday night to see Powderchair, the combined act of two of Australia's highest-profile rock bands, Powderfinger and Silverchair.

Police and gig organisers yesterday reported exemplary crowd behaviour on big-time rock's return to the city.

Powderchair promoter Angie Vaughan said the bands had played a rare encore gig together as a sign of their appreciation for the Bendigo crowd.

"They (the bands) were on a great high last night - they really enjoyed themselves," she said.

"This is the only outdoor Victorian show we're they've done the combo encore with the two bands together. `

`They didn't do it in Mildura, they didn't do it in Wodonga, but they did it in Bendigo.

"That's something they don't plan, it's one…

Band return after five years away

Aussie rockers Silverchair have announced details of their first studio album in five years - and with it they have to set a new record in their home country.

'Young Modern' will be the band's fifth studio LP, and the follow-up to 2002's 'Diorama'.

With it, Silverchair will attempt to break the record for most Number One albums in Australia - a record currently held jointly by Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel.

According to Antimusic, when recording the new album songwriter Daniel Johns reportedly wrote "more than 20 songs" about insomnia

The band is in the midst of a sold out tour Down Under (they'll be back Stateside in Nov) and we asked frontman Daniel Johns to pick some of his favorite tracks from the new album and tell us a little bit about them. Here he is with today's song "Those Thieving Birds Part 1 / Strange Behaviour / Those Thieving Birds Part 2."

I wrote this on a rainy day in Windsor, England, and never expected it to be so long. The construction of the song was not as 'considered' as it might sound. Musically it took about 2 or…

(antiMusic exclusive) Silverchair has returned with a new studio album, "Young Modern." An album that helped them set a record for the most No. 1 albums by any band in their native Australia. (This one makes it their fifth, beating the old record they shared with Midnight Oil). The band is in the midst of a sold out tour Down Under (they'll be back Stateside in Nov) and we asked frontman Daniel Johns to pick some of his favorite tracks from the new album and tell us a little bit about them. Here he is with today's songs "Reflections Of A Sound" and "If You Keep Losing Sleep".

Reflections Of A Sound: This is a song that only existed as a chorus for more than 12 months. It was one of the last songs completed for Young Modern. It's one of the simplest and literal…