Daniel Johns Sparks Silverchair Speculation Following Tribute Gig Appearance: 'It's Happening'

Daniel Johns appears to once more be leaning into sparking speculation of a Silverchair reunion, having captioned a brief appearance at an Adelaide band’s soundcheck with a rather hopeful message.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Johns shared a post captioned with the phrase “It’s happening” and the hashtag #FutureNever, instantly sparking hopes by dedicated fans of Johns and Silverchair that the long-departed group may be reuniting.

This was seemingly bolstered by a series of videos in which it was revealed that Johns had recently made an appearance with South Australian band The Lizards during a soundcheck for their recent tribute performance to Silverchair’s Frogstomp album.

Taking place on March 28th (one day after the classic album’s 30th birthday), the show took place at the “small boutique venue” of Little Bosa in Port Elliott, SA.

“It was trippy,” recalls photographer Luke Eblen in a video shared by Johns. “I went to soundcheck because I was talking to The Lizards about doing some photos for them, and Dan just rocks up at soundcheck.

“[He] played with The Lizards for a bit, did a jam, and it was just really odd. And then he came back – he wanted to come and hang out with us.”

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A post shared by Daniel Johns (@danieljohnshq)

When it came to the show itself, the elusive Johns wanted to keep a low profile, choosing to watch the performance away from the spotlight. “We went in under the cover of night, Dan didn't wanna freak anyone out,” Eblen recalled.

“We watched [the show] from the kitchen and then Dan just disappeared, just vanished. It was so trippy.”

While the comments on a post that features both a brief performance from Johns and the caption “It’s happening” seem to be leaning into the fantastical notion that Silverchair may be reuniting, the logical side of things seems to indicate that the post is in reference to the long-awaited filmed companion to Johns’ latest album, FutureNever.

Released in April 2022, FutureNever was Johns’ second solo album, and focused around the notion of “What if the future never happened?” A companion film has been teased, and in recent months, Johns has made a return to social media in which he has shared old photos and clips that seemingly refer to both the past and the future simultaneously alongside mentions of “unfinished business.”

Silverchair officially disbanded in 2011, four years after the release of their final album, Young Modern. Since then, Johns has remained adamant that the beloved band would never reunite.

“I was firm that Silverchair was not getting back together and one of the other members kept saying ‘No, we’re just on a break and we’ll be back,’” he told The Project in 2021. "So I was like, 'I wouldn't get Silverchair back together with a gun to my head for a million dollars'. Maybe that was too harsh in hindsight."

Gillies and Joannou have remained active in the years since the band’s dissolution, even issuing a book in 2023 titled Love & Pain. The band’s history was the subject of an episode of Australian Story, which was later pulled from ABC iView, and prompted Johns to issue a statement in response to the controversy it generated.

Earlier this year, both Gillies and Joannou took part in a special anniversary event in honour of Frogstomp’s anniversary, though Johns was not in attendance.