Powderfinger Drummer On Being Left Out Of Splendour Set: 'I Just Thought, What's Going On?'

24 July 2017 | 12:36 pm | Staff Writer

'I saw it, and I thought that's a bit strange.'

Powderfinger @ Splendour 2017. Pic by Clare Hawley

Powderfinger @ Splendour 2017. Pic by Clare Hawley

More Powderfinger More Powderfinger

Though the vast majority of fans were beyond stoked to see Powderfinger unite for a mini-reunion at Splendour In The Grass this past weekend, many did note the absence of drummer Jon Coghill.

Speaking on ABC, the 45-year-old admitted he only found out about the gig from a friend who was at the festival.

"When I heard about it, someone texted me to say, 'Oh I loved the gig' and stuff like that," Coghill said.

"I just thought, what's going on? And I saw it, and I thought oh that's a bit strange.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

"So I was a bit surprised, but it is what it is."

Coghill, who now works as a presenter for ABC on the Sunshine Coast, said he hopes the decision to leave him out wasn't intentional move by the band.

"You got to remember that we were together for 20 years and for about the first 10 years of that… I was a bit of a mean guy who didn't like to lose an argument," he said.

"So if those guys feel like there's a bit of bad blood, I don't blame them.

"But I really don't think there is, I think [the set was] completely innocent and it's been taken out of proportion."

Frontman Bernard Fanning's own drummer rounded out the Powderfinger set on Saturday night.

Coghill added that he has been in touch with Fanning since the show. 

"I was texting Bernie yesterday, and he was saying, 'look it was sort of a last minute thing and it's now been blown out of proportion'."

Coghill also revealed that the band is scheduled to meet with its management this week, sparking more talk of a reunion tour. 

However, speaking to Huffington Post Australia at Splendour, Fanning insisted the reunion was "absolutely one-off".

"There's no plans or ideas for a reunion or a tour or anything like that," the singer said.

"It's just something that may happen from time to time, whenever we're all in the same place at the same time.

"I think people want that to be the case —  they want there to be a reunion and they want there to be a tour, but we don't want that. None of us want that.

"The only circumstances under which that would happen would be if we really wanted to do it.

"So, you know, It's just not on the books for us."