Friday 15 March
Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Bands: Citizen, Movements, Touche Amore, No Pressure, Softcult, Nerve Damage, World of Joy, Eat Your Heart Out, Blind Girls, Bad Neighbour, Sunbleached
Australia’s newest music festival, New Bloom Festival, made its debut over the weekend across the east coast and we were there to experience the show firsthand. Soaking up the atmosphere on night #1 of the tour in the heart of the Valley, the event certainly showed plenty of potential to return for a second edition. With boutique festivals being curated even more these days, it’s a sign of the times. Large scale festivals like Good Things and Knotfest tend to heed focus on those bigger bands and aim to shine a light on Australia’s festival scene on the world stage. New Bloom (similar to last month’s CVLTFEST) is carefully curated and provides a space for the new wave alternative/emo/rock community to grow and ultimately, thrive.
It was an interesting setup for the Brisbane leg. Given I’d only previously gone to the Music Hall for straight up concerts in the main stage area, I did wonder how the Outpost Bar would be affected by the bigger stage’s noise. You know what? There were barely any interruptions and it was actually cool that the sound from main stage bands was sent through the PA so punters upstairs enjoying a drink with their mates could keep track of who was playing.
While I didn’t get a chance to catch Sunbleached open up the evening, I did arrive to fellow Brissie crew Bad Neighbour kick off upstairs to quite the energetic crowd. Look, having come fresh off a sold out Hot Mulligan tour the weekend prior definitely worked in their favour as they seemed to have collected quite a loyal following. The band are proving to be a strong unit amidst the local community and it shows.
Softcult were next on my schedule and they were my favourite discovery of the night. The Canadian alt/pop/grunge duo performed ethereal tunes that kind of sent you into another headspace. Their second track ‘Spit It Out’ carried just enough energy to keep me transfixed on this formative act who are seemingly playing music on their own terms. Upstairs, Newcastle emo/pop punk mainstays Eat Your Heart Out played to a loyal crowd of followers. Having last released an album in 2022, it’s nice to see a familiar face fronting a brand new festival and vocalist Caitlin Henry showed her absolute gratitude to festival organisers by telling the room, “This is the best lineup we’ve ever been apart of!”
One of the huge perks I found that evening was the no-clash setup of New Bloom Festival. This is a trend started by last year’s Knotfest event whereby a dual stage setup saw minimal issues with scheduling and therefore a lot less stressful for the fans. Honestly, I feel like more festivals need to adopt this concept, as it really does make things a little more memorable and unique.
California’s No Pressure were the token pop punk outfit of the night and if you were hanging out for an all-out circlepit to break out, this highly likely would have been your main event. Decked out with a backpack and all, frontman Parker Cannon took the crowd back to school with the band’s fast-paced brand of debauchery. Reminding me of 2000s blink-182 and OG The Story So Far, No Pressure brought one of the more vibrant performances of the evening.
Fellow Cali act Touché Amoré took the evening from a slightly different perspective with their new wave post-hardcore emo. However, even if you weren’t familiar with their music, vocalist Jeremy Bolm knew how to captivate an audience and the band’s first return to Australia since 2017 was welcomed with a warm embrace.
Fortitude Music Hall heated right up as Movements took to the stage, opening up with the alt/rock anthem ‘Lead Pipe‘. This emo/post-hardcore act is a band I’ve yet to uncover why they’re causing much RUCKUS in the scene, but after watching them tonight, you can consider me a newfound listener. Vocalist Patrick Miranda sings with so much passion and that is what stuck with me most. Brissie fans were even treated to a special performance of ‘Skin to Skin‘ two songs in, while ‘Full Circle‘ proved the band’s presence in Australia was stronger than ever.
Headliners Citizen need no introduction. The US rock act took to the Aussie stage for the first time since 2018 for a good forty-five minutes. While some were more familiar with their 2013 LP Youth, with tracks like ‘The Summer‘ and ‘The Night I Drove Alone‘, it was actually the band’s newer, dance-rock tracks that captivated the crowd with so much enthusiasm. Vocalist Mat Kerekes was incredibly thankful and fans reciprocated by showing the band their appetite for a good ol’ moshpit. ‘Death Dance Approximately‘ was quite the vibe!
Did New Bloom Festival prove it was strong enough to make a return in 2025? Honestly, if the next edition provides a similar balance of carefully curated alternative/emo/punk from the mid-2000s and beyond, our answer is yes. New Bloom offers a platform for these acts to shine their brightest as opposed to performing a shorter set on large-scale events. It’s that punk kinda atmosphere that’s so prevalent in the US market and I am very stoked that we now have an emo/punk festival on homesoil.
Review by Tamara May @citylightstam
Photos by Gabrielle Morri @gabbitakesphotos
Sunbleached
Softcult
No Pressure
Touché Amoré
Movements
Citizen
