Australian rock legends Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey left ABC viewers divided on Tuesday night as they performed at the network’s New Year’s Eve festivities.

The iconic musicians took to the stage as the new duo Fanning Dempsey National Park, a band they debuted this year with their first collaborative album Deluge.

Now the Powderfinger and Something For Kate frontmen have taken to the stage with a slate of covers and original songs, but not all viewers on X were happy to see them. 

‘Bernard Fanning singing These Days on the #ABCNYE coverage genuinely making me not want to live to see the new year,’ one person brutally wrote.

Another said: ‘Ancient crones Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey break out falsetto in s*** brown coloured suit.’

Despite some of the nasty comments left on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, fans flocked to support the Aussie rock legends.  

Pictured: Bernard Fanning

Australian rock legends Bernard Fanning, 55, (right) and Paul Dempsey, 48, (left) left ABC viewers divided on Tuesday night as they performed at the network’s New Year’s Eve festivities 

‘Not a fan of the ABC, but the Paul Dempsey and Bernard Fanning concert was perfect,’ one viewer at home said.

‘Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey. On fire. Brilliant,’ another commented.

A third wrote: ‘Hands down the best thing on ABC is Something For Kate and Bernard Fanning. Running rings around the poor 9pm fireworks!’

‘I’m genuinely shocked how good this year’s concert is so far. Never even crossed my mind that Bernard Fanning could sound like Bowie,’ one viewer added.

Bernard, 55, and Paul, 48, went public with their new band Fanning Dempsey National Park earlier this year. 

The debuted their first album Deluge shortly after with Disconnect the name of its leading single.

Their live debut came just weeks later in October with the Deluge Tour, playing in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, and returning to Brisbane again.  

Bernard said in an Instagram video back in May that the debut single Disconnect was about walking away from a love that is ‘no longer working for you’.

The iconic musicians took to the stage as the new duo Fanning Dempsey National Park, a band they debuted this year with their first collaborative album Deluge

The iconic musicians took to the stage as the new duo Fanning Dempsey National Park, a band they debuted this year with their first collaborative album Deluge

Paul later added: ‘This started out with almost a gospel kinda feel but over a few drafts the drums got punchier and the guitars got hookier.

‘Then we started throwing horns at everything and suddenly the party was on.’

Opening up about two of the greatest rock frontmen joining to form a new band, Bernard and Paul said they wanted to defy expectations. 

‘We didn’t want it to sound like a Fanning record or a Dempsey record, we wanted it to sound like a band,’ Bernard told the ABC in May.

The developed the name Fanning Dempsey National Park to give a ‘sense of an organisation bigger than the two of us’. 

‘It’s so pompous that it made us laugh every time we said it,’ Paul joked.

Now the Powderfinger and Something For Kate frontmen have taken to the stage with a slate of covers and original songs, but not all viewers on X were happy to see them

Now the Powderfinger and Something For Kate frontmen have taken to the stage with a slate of covers and original songs, but not all viewers on X were happy to see them

Despite some of the nasty comments left on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, fans flocked to support the Aussie rock legends

Despite some of the nasty comments left on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, fans flocked to support the Aussie rock legends

Bernard and Paul have been friends for decades since their bands Powderfinger and Something For Kate first came onto the alt-rock scene in the 1990s. 

They became closer during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic when they made a viral video of themselves covering Queen and David Bowie’s classic duet Under Pressure. 

Bernard also lent his vocals to the Something For Kate track Inside Job from their 2020 album The Modern Medieval. 

Ever since, the pair said they have been ‘trading songs and ideas online’ until it developed into their newest rock band. 

Powderfinger first formed in Brisbane in 1989, with the line-up consisting of Bernard, Darren Middleton, Ian Haug, John Collins and Jon Coghill from 1992 to 2010.

While the band officially broke up in 2010, they have reunited multiple times in recent years.

Meanwhile, Something For Kate was formed in 1994 by Paul and Clint Hyndman with Stephanie Ashworth joining in 1998. The band is still together.

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