Top band to play live show on internet
The Age
Thursday November 12, 2009
AT THE very least it's unconventional. Yet Powderfinger, Australia's most locally successful rock band of the past 20 years, appears unafraid to break with tradition.As the band gets set to release seventh album Golden Rule tomorrow, it will eschew a conventional launch gig, instead playing a live show to be streamed around the world on the internet.With the band's contract with its label expiring with this release, rumours have persisted that the album will be the band's final studio record.Frontman Bernard Fanning told The Age the band's future beyond a national tour planned for next year was undecided. Fanning is contracted to record a second solo album next year."There is so little advantage in the band signing a new deal," he said."And every year there is a new way to deliver music to people. I've signed to make my own record. But that's really all."Every record we have made since Vulture Street, there has been speculation it's our last record. But now, for instance, our kids have become more important to all of us."The band's manager, Paul Piticco, said yesterday that Powderfinger had traditionally launched albums by playing live shows."While there is nothing like being a fan lucky enough to be in the room for a gig, we've always thought that there's people in London or Broome or Cairns that miss out," he said.Although seeing the band in person would be compromised, the music would be exposed to a worldwide audience.
© 2009 The Age