New bloom fest - sydney edition
- Kaylah Chilcott
- Mar 14, 2025
- 6 min read
Since its first edition in 2024, and the Brisbane leg was cancelled due to our friend Alfred, New Bloom Fest is quickly becoming the best place for emerging and established emo, hardcore and post hardcore bands to come together. It tracks a bit offside to a lot of usual festivals we would see in Australia, having a very strong metal scene, the festival really explores genre that are growing quickly overseas, such as grunge gaze, and are starting to appear more frequently on Aussie radio and in local music.
With a sold out Melbourne edition, last year's line up was tough to beat with Citizen headlining, with support acts like Movements, Fleshwater, and No Pressure.
Somehow, they did it.
While their headlining acts have been international bands so far, Australia isn’t left out of the line up. Each city has three unique local acts to open the show up and build on our amazing Aussie scene. Australia has a lot to offer, it is great to see that they are deliberate in raising new bands in similar genres, it will be interesting to see if they choose an Aussie headliner for their 2026 shows.
Entering the venue was a bit odd compared to 2024, where we had to wait in line for at least 15 minutes to get into the venue, we were admitted and through the doors within five minutes after arriving 10 minutes late. The anticipation for being first in seemed to have worn off, though this could be attributed to how readily available merch is at the festival, and the various bars and food vendors meant you never had to wait too long for anything. For those who wait outside venues for hours to get merch - you will be safe here.
At 3pm the bands kicked off, and we were lucky to kick off with Newcastle’s own hardcore Feel the Pain. Being the first band to play isn’t easy, and they did a fantastic job to set the tone for the rest of the festival. While a bit rough around the edges, they were fun to watch on stage, and their punchy vocals set against tough guitar riffs certainly set them aside from some of the other hardcore bands we got to see. Feel the Pain released their first demo EP in 2023, and are a great band to catch live if you get the opportunity.
Gloam were my personal favourite of the Aussie openers - they flew all the way in from Perth too. Both their guitarist’s ethereal vocal harmonies layer over a shimmery guitar wash of chorus and reverb push you out in waves, and you’re dragged back in by heavier riffs to keep you from floating away. This set them apart from a lot of the other bands on the lineup, as they felt like a daydream in warm sun than high energy spin kicks. While a more subtle stage presence may not entertain some, it added to their performance and gave the audience a pause on the hot afternoon. If you love shoegaze, you will love Gloam.
The last local act we got to see was Secret World, an energetic, crowd loving six piece in their stomping ground. We got to see a lot of crowd involvement from these guys, getting down against the barrier to be one with their audience. They were a bit more on the alternative rock side of hardcore, and if you know a band called Drug Church, you will know how Secret World sounds. Their dry, gruff vocals sit nicely over their punk-ish guitars, though you would think that three guitarists would fill out their music more - it actually provides them with more space to create individual riffs. The music didn’t sound muddy or bogged down, best seen on their track “Living Less”, which seemed to strike a chord with their fans.
We hit our international acts with Glitterer, started by Ned Russin of Titlefight, hailing from Washington DC. Glitterer was the band who stood out the most against the rest, both on and off stage. Russin spent most of his time manning their merch desk, reading a book I failed to catch the name of, and they made their most of their time on stage. There was little stopping them between songs and barely an introduction to the band - when you’re working with a 30 minute set, you’ve got to be efficient. Glitterer featured Russin’s iconic rough yells, but backed into a more interesting bass centric sound, and were the only band featuring a keyboard which offset the bass and brighter element to their music.
Sweet Pill, from Philadelphia USA, breathed some energy back into the crowd - vocalist Zayna Youssef was frightening with her dominating stage presence and exaggerated expressions. I was told by another spectator that you could see the whites of her crazy eyes from the back of the UNSW Roundhouse. Their indie-emo guitars have a lot of rise and falls, where their big rock riffs kick in after a gentler verse. Their set was structured in a similar way, they performed two new unrecorded songs followed by “Diamond Eyes” bringing the mood down to a somber level, with amazing harmonies from Youssef and guitarist Sean McCall. They followed back up with some hard, angry riffs (and dog barking) to punctuate the end of their set.
Someone allegedly jumped onto the barrier, fell and concussed themselves during the opening song for One Step Closer, despite the signs around the venue strictly prohibiting such behaviour. After a momentary delay, the Pennsylvanian band provided an entertaining performance as the day turned to night, crossing the lines between emo and hardcore, giving us the heaviest performance of the day. Though their riffs and strong structure aren’t so much, their clean and harsh vocals were reminiscent of the late 2000s and early 2010s emo bands we love.
Pennsylvanian emo outfit, Balance and Composure, were one of the remaining bands on the lineup, but fell a little flat for me. They opened with “Parachutes” for an explosive start to their set, and anyone would have been impressed with how true to life Jon Simmons’ vocals are. The majority of their set played with backing tracks, even of vocal harmonies, and their performance was incredibly tight. Their interesting bass lines tied a lot of it together. The middle of the set Simmons’ voice sounded to be autotune and vocal doubling, which I found distracted from the rest of the band.
Regardless, their crowd was dedicated, knowing all the words, and their live performance would be well received by fans looking for a more polished sound.
Drain, Californian hardcore, appeared to be a crowd favourite, and were full of pure, unadulterated chaos. Unlike Glitterer, long-term front man Sammy Ciaramitaro encouraged everyone to go crazy, and most songs had a set up between them, even calling for even more crowd surfers during their final song (despite our pre established signs). Their songs are short, fast and hard. Every time the mic was thrown into the crowd like a fishing line, every ounce of anger and want to find strength in a hopeless world was screamed for everyone to feel. They’re the band to go to if you’re sick of it all and want to absolutely cut loose.
You could tell Basement was the band everyone was waiting for. For all of their songs, the English group had the whole venue singing. The alternative emo group played half of their Colourmeinkindness release and a decent mix of the rest of their albums, and a new one, expressing how important it was for them to continue to make new music. Their new song was a massive bop, with some gorgeous delayed vocal harmonies from Andrew Fisher and Alex Henery, bringing some more valleys into their music. Unfortunately we lost lead guitarist, Ronan Crix, before his solo during “Pine”, causing the whole venue’s sing along to abruptly stop - though they brought us back in at the verse before, reigniting their momentum. Their melancholic lyrics and sad riffs really brought the entire venue together, displaying the best parts of seeing live music - the community that builds around it.
New Bloom Fest’s smaller venues and highly curated bands create an incredibly intimate atmosphere. The crowd was specific to the type of music, there were no signs of anti-social behaviour, and was a safe space for people watching the festival on their own. Having spoken to a few people, it wouldn’t be hard to make friends of your own niche while you’re there.
New Bloom Fest once again smashed all expectations out of the ballpark. While I hope they continue to grow, they should strive to maintain the community they’ve built around it.
watch their instagram for updates: newbloomfestival
rating: 9/10
