After last year's hugely successful event, New Bloom Fest returned in a big way to Melbourne.
Now hosted at Port Melbourne's The Timberyard, this year saw the expansion of the festival that took place on the Labour Day holiday (10 March).Despite an experience of walking into what felt like a hole in the wall in an industrial zone, New Bloom Fest welcomed back its punters with sprawling merch stands, photo booths, food trucks and, of course, a well stocked bar. On a 34-degree day, it was a pleasant relief to see plentiful shade and ways to escape the sun.
With local acts Crawling, Wayside and Horsepower opening the day, each band brought their own type of fury to the stage. With the venue still filling up, each band did an incredible job to prepare the audience for the all-star international spread to come.
Horsepower - image © Harrison Innes
As the night started to get real, Glitterer were the first of the overseas roster to take the stage. Hype for the band was clear to anyone paying attention as old Title Fight shirts littered the crowd, paying homage to Glitterer frontman Ned Russin's previous project. This new project captivated the crowd gathered for them, with their fusion of post-hardcore and alternative rock topped by sparkles of synths that hit just right.
Next up, it was Philadelphia's Sweet Pill's turn to rock the stage. Walking onstage to yells of "Go Birds," the melodic hardcore band wasted no time making themselves feel at home.
Intricate instrumentals were backed up by Zayna Youssef's chaotic energy and her thrilling voice. After a premiere of two new songs teased to be released soon, the band got the Melbourne crowd barking with their track 'Dog Song' to close out their set.
Sweet Pill - image © Harrison Innes
One Step Closer then made a huge debut appearance to the Melbourne audience. The Wilkes-Barre hardcore-adjacent band brought their big energy both onstage and into the audience, with each member of the band getting serious airtime. The band urged for more, however reminding the crowd not to repeat an incident at the Sydney festival, in which a punter stacked an attempted front flip putting the show on hold.
The band's vocals hit just as hard as Knocked Loose, while providing a little bit more melody for those unfamiliar to the act. With a large amount of the crowd seemingly unsure of where they were, One Step Closer's energy felt enough to remind what kind of event punters were at.
With seemingly tranquil house music draining the energy within the room after each set, Pennsylvania's Balance and Composure had the task of once again bringing that energy back up. The band, being around since 2007, came at this objective from a new, more emotional energy.
Playing a mix of both their old and newer material, like 2024's 'With You In Spirit', the band easily played off many older fans' heart strings. It was however 'Tiny Raindrop' that really had most of the crowd singing and swaying along, regardless of a fatigued lead vocalist Jon Simmons faltering vocals, which gave it all that more oomph.
Balance and Composure - image © Harrison Innes
As the sun set and dove the venue into darkness, it was bad news for those standing still; it was time for DRAIN. If punters were looking for a pick me up, it was this Santa Cruz hardcore band.
For those new to the band, DRAIN is undoubtedly one of the funnest bands to watch; between their onstage antics, high energy and crowd interaction, this instantly became the best set of the night for many.
"Yo, I'm on a sick one!" yelled frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro. Between making the whole mosh pit swarm the bar inside, having an endless stream of crowd surfers up in the air (including at one point a punter in a wheelchair, and one fan dressed in a shark outfit encouraging a circle pit), Sammy couldn't wipe the smile from his face.
Between jumping into the frantic crowd and dangling the microphone above fans heads to give them a chance to yell, the band's chugging riffs kept people moving throughout their entire 35-minute set.
DRAIN - image © Harrison Innes
Finally, the sweaty crowd was ready for the UK heavyweights Basement. Their first time in the country since 2019, and fans were happy to see them back. Opening with the fast moving 'Whole', the crowd was immediately into it.
Sadly, the energy from DRAIN didn't seem to translate to those standing on the outskirts of the crowd, choosing instead to use their voices from afar. The best sing-alongs that came from the set included tracks like 'Crickets Throw Their Voice', 'Are You The One' and of course, 'Covet'. Those not singing were seen busy crawling their way over bodies and running out of the photo pit, quickly reentering the fun.
The public holiday's night came to a close on a high, Basement waving to the crowd with promises to be back soon, and in a big way. Attendees of the festival streamed out of the venue into (finally) a cool breeze, many awaiting a return to reality the following day and a comedown from the high of New Bloom Fest 2025.
More photos from the festival.
