Powderfinger opens vault on hellraising night at a kinky club

Aussie rockers Powderfinger have reminisced about one bizarre night from their early days involving pool cues, biting and a tetanus shot, as they came together for a rare reunion to celebrate their career.

Powderfinger opened the vault on a hellraising tale from their fledgling days involving a kinky fetish club, pool cues and a hospital visit, at a music industry gala in their honour on Tuesday.

In his speech ahead of the band being awarded Support Act’s Excellence In The Community Award in Sydney, their former record label boss Tim Prescott introduced the tale of a celebratory night in 1993 in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley that ended in stitches for one member and a tetanus shot for another.

Back in those days, record labels and bands would share long, boozy dinners to celebrate signing a record deal or to workshop plans for upcoming projects.

Polygram executives, band manager Paul Piticcco and the five members of Powderfinger had enjoyed such a dinner in Brisbane and were looking for a bar to partake of one for the road.

The only place open? The Hellfire Club in Fortitude Valley’s grungey heart.

Powderfinger in 1994 when they released their debut album. Picture: Polydor

Recollections among the parties may vary — and there were no mobile phones in those days to capture the events — but their final drinks ended with the band members being chased out of the club through the back door by bouncers brandishing pool sticks, who assaulted bassist John “JC” Collins.

Guitarist Ian Haug tried to save has bandmate from the flurry of blows, putting one of their assailants in a headlock.

The next thing Collins heard was Haug exclaim to frontman Bernard Fanning: “Bernard, he’s biting me.”

The injured parties were driven to hospital by Piticco with Collins requiring stitches to his face and Haug given a tetanus shot because of the bouncer’s bite.

“Thank you for that night at the Hellfire Club,” Fanning said in his acceptance speech.

“Actually JC got bashed...and some guy bit Haugy. Me, being the lead singer, got off completely scot-free.”

To their credit, both injured musicians fronted up to play a gig supporting You Am I in Lismore the next night.

Powderfinger came together on Tuesday for a rare reunion to celebrate their illustrious career and unflagging support of artists and crew doing it tough in the music industry.

The five musicians were the honourees at the annual Music In The House industry fundraiser, with Fanning setting the scene of their hard-scrabble early days in the tightknit Brisbane music community in his speech.

“There were always bands and people trying to help each other out. We were all in the abandoned Target Building in Brisbane. There was probably 30, 40 bands in there, probably about 3,000 junkies in there, and prostitutes. It was a pretty interesting time,” he said.

They were recognised for their musical excellence and contribution to the community, including raising $500,000 for Support Act and Beyond Blue with their One Night Lonely concert to entertain fans during the early months of lockdown in 2020.

Powderfinger reunited for Music In The House, the annual Support Act industry fundraiser. Picture: Jonathan Ng

But if anyone still held hopes this latest regrouping signalled any plans to play together again, the band deflected the question with their usual humour.

When asked if they would be happy that the One Night Lonely concert, filmed remotely during the early weeks of Covid lockdowns in 2020 would be their last documented performance, drummer Jon Coghill joked: “You want us to announce (a comeback)?”

Fanning said, “If you thought (One Night Lonely) was good, then great.”

It was only the third time Bernard Fanning, Ian Haug, John Collins, Darren Middleton and Jon Coghill have publicly reunited since their final concert on the Sunsets Farewell tour in November 2010.

Middleton said he recalled feeling the same nerves he always suffered before a gig when watching One Night Only on YouTube with the rest of Australia at 7pm on May 23, 2020.

“The funny thing was when it was going live, I was sitting there nervous, as though I was about to go on stage,” he said.

Fanning said the band members had been blown away that the gig raised $500,000 for people who had no work because of the shutdown of the live music industry during the pandemic, with the repercussions from those fraught years still having a catastrophic effect on festivals and touring.

Powderfinger back in 2007. Picture: Supplied

“To be able to help out the crews as well, because they’re the unsung heroes of every show; we just stand there and mince around and wear the makeup,” he said.

Powderfinger’s musician mates were enlisted to pay tribute to the band’s stellar catalogue of hits at Music In The House.

Paul Dempsey, who just released a new collaborative record with Fanning called The Deluge, sang My Happiness.

Award-winning singer songwriter Sarah Blasko delivered an ethereal version of The Day You Come and father and daughter duo Troy and Jem Cassar-Daley performed These Days.

The five members of the iconic Aussie band were together in the same room last August 2023 to launch the 20th anniversary reissue of their Vulture Street record.

At that fan event, Fanning pre-empted the obvious question of whether they had plans to ever play music together again with the statement: “No. We’re all really busy. We have no plans.”

As Fanning closed his Music In The House award acceptance speech, he made an impassioned plea for government support for an industry on its knees.

“The music industry is now in crisis,” he said.

“We call on the policymakers to help artists, managers, promoters and fans to navigate the way forward so we can continue to tell the stories that form the backbone of our culture.”

Originally published as Powderfinger opens vault on hellraising night at a kinky club