Photos by: Mark Bodna
Words by: Ali Williams
Special thanks to Destroy All Lines
Friday the 13th usually brings bad luck and half-remembered horror movies. At Mo’s Desert Clubhouse on Feb’ 13, what we got instead was a four-band masterclass in how to turn your emotional thermostat up, then smash it with a sledgehammer.
Sydney’s metalcore powerhouse Bloom rolled on in as part of their The Light We Chase headline Australian tour. Bringing a few friends along with them and they did not disappoint. HEAVY MAG sent along Ali Williams to experience the emotional firepower live and loud.
Garden Eyes kicked things off with that easy-to-like, slow-burning energy. There was no frantic dash to win the crowd — just lush layers and melodies that hovered long after the amp lights blinked off. A perfect palate cleanser before the venom and fire started pouring in. We hope to see more of what these guys can produce in the future.
Saving Face followed and brought a heavier bite. They’ve got this uncanny ability to swing from melancholic verse to powerhouse chorus without it feeling like a costume change. The crowd swayed, fists thumped, and by the time they wrapped up, they signalled that the night was far from over, the room was well and truly awake.
Storming in straight from the US, AVOID arrived like a Category 5 weather system. Their set was all about angular riffs and full-throttle chaos; moshing wasn’t invited — it was mandatory. And yes there’s the photo evidence of our own little dark horse Ali crowd surfing like the mosh pit queen she is. Every breakdown left an impression, and the crowd lapped it up like they’d been waiting all week for that kind of glorious damage.
But the real reason why everyone really showed up: Bloom and the live baptism of their new album The Light We Chase.
The light Bloom chase is not some laser pointer trick. It’s the duality at the core of their sound — brutal yet beautiful, heavy yet heart-on-sleeve honest — and live, it hits like a freight train with perfect brakes. Frontman and lead vocalist Jono Hawkey had the crowd locked in from the first lyric. Bright eyed and baby faced Hawkey’s vocal range is deeper and louder than some seasoned veterans in the game, leaving us wondering if he was born with those set pipes or they came with age.
Kicking off their set the crowd immediately felt like they were part of the narrative, not just watching it. Bloom’s guitar attack — precise but fluid — carved through the room, and every transition from groove to breakdown was tight enough to need a seatbelt. There’s no questioning that the vocal interplay carried real weight; when screams gave way to cleaner lines it wasn’t a relief so much as an emotional expansion. The band didn’t just play the songs — they lived them in front of us, and the audience answered back in kind.
Bloom’s live chemistry is no accident. They know when to lean into heaviness and when to let melody do the work. The Light We Chase balanced those forces brilliantly; in the Clubhouse, that balance turned kinetic. The crowd didn’t just headbang — they engaged, like they were decapitating internal demons together.
So, while Friday the 13th is supposed to be cursed, this one felt blessed — by distortion, by catharsis, by a room full of people who’d rather chase light with guitars than sit quietly in the dark. There’s something refreshing about a Bloom show. It doesn’t feel performative or distant. It’s more of shared reverence with a collective exhale. Friday the 13th might be cursed on paper, but tonight at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, it felt more like a reminder that live music still does what it’s supposed to do; bring people together, shake the dust loose, and send you home lighter than you arrived.
Bad luck never stood a chance.
GALLERY
