Across The Great Divide kicked off officially last night with the first show rocking the Newcastle Entertainment Centre and showing exactly why this will be a tour no one will want to miss! The last time they shared a Novocastrian stage was back in 1994 when both bands supported Pantera…this time around they showed Newcastle exactly what they are made of!

Silverchair rolled into Young Modern Station starting with the title track of their latest album and ending with their classic Freak, with a whole lot of carriages in between of new songs and old favourites. Ben Gillies said "There's nothing like playing to a home town crowd. Having our friends and family there made a special show even more special!"

Then Powderfinger roared through a Thrillology of a set playing the first song off their new album Dream Days and ending with favourite These Days. Emotion was high when Bernard performed Black Tears to a silent crowd. "Wow, what an audience to kick off the tour.  We can't wait to get home to Brisbane and play for everyone up there, then, bloody hell … another eight weeks.  Bring it on" Bernard Fanning said as he came off stage.

Joining these two bands onstage was Northern Territory locals Nabarlek with a smashing rendition of Down Under closing their set. They started the conversation with the rest of the bands continuing! Before Silverchair took the stage, a welcome to country from Bernard Fanning and Daniel Johns opened the show.

For ticketing info, check out Silverchair's MySpace page or Chairpage.com.