SILVERCHAIR Announce Australian Dates

SILVERCHAIR's Daniel Johns has recovered from his battle with reactive arthritis enough to be able to go back on the road.

The band, who managed to squeeze in some Big Day Out dates before Daniel got sick, have announced a round of intimate Australian gigs for March and April of 2003.

The "Across The Night" tour will mark their first national tour since 1999 and the first headlining trek in support of "Diorama".

In a move befitting both the venues and the tour's title, "Across The Night", the group will deliver a two-part show with an intermission in between their sets. The first part of the show will focus mainly on quieter and more experimental material. After a brief interval the band will return to the stage and perform more of the heavier rock songs on which they built their formidable live reputation.

The dates are as follows:

Mar. 22 - Great Hall & Convention Centre – Brisbane, AUS
Mar. 29 - Belvoir Amphitheatre – Perth, AUS
Apr. 02 - Adelaide Festival Theatre – Adelaide, AUS
Apr. 05 - Palais – Melbourne, AUS
Apr. 10 - State Theatre – Sydney, AUS
Apr. 17 - Civic Theatre – Newcastle, AUS

Tickets will go on sale at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4.

The announcement of the "Across The Night" tour marks another highlight in a rollercoaster year for SILVERCHAIR. In April 2002, the band launched their groundbreaking album "Diorama". The disc entered the national charts at #1 and attracted the best reviews of the group's career. However, not long after this strong debut, the album's international release was severely impeded. The band was completely unable to undertake any concerts or promotional tours due to singer/songwriter Daniel Johns' battle with reactive arthritis and this situation was deeply frustrating for all concerned. Then in October, following intensive treatment, Daniel made a triumphant return to the public stage at the ARIA Awards in Sydney. He and the band performed their hit "The Greatest View" and won six categories including "Best Rock Album" and "Best Group". Since that night Daniel has recovered further, and "Diorama" has returned to the national top 20.

Plans are also currently coming together for some limited overseas dates in 2003. Some regional shows in Australia are also a possibility. Details of those shows may not be announced until early in the New Year.

The band's manager, John Watson, stated the following:

"Ben, Chris and Daniel are really keen to get back to playing lots of shows overseas and in regional Australia like they did on all their previous albums. However, we don't want to put too much pressure on Daniel right now. He's only just gotten his health back so we need to take things one step at a time. Hopefully these Aussie dates will be just the start of a lot more shows in the new year for SILVERCHAIR."