Bloom, Avoid, Saving Face @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 21/2/2026
Siren Song finishes with Jono Hawkey stating ‘alright, everyone go home now!’ Bloom have just done the rarest of achievements. Not a single, but a double encore to finish their tour for the album The Light We Chase. It’s been that kind of night.
Signals, I unfortunately missed however I was there in time to see Melbourne’s highly rated Saving Face who appear in Adelaide for the first time in two years. Tracks like Perspective explode with energy and dynamism as time changes into more ethereal parts similar to Counterparts. As a warmup they are going smoothly, each song bringing more and more punters into the pit and when their drops land, people literally lose their feet. Exceptionally good work.
Arriving from North America, we have Avoid, and boy do they have fun. They command the stage and the pit, with a combination of hardcore, metalcore and a smudge of pop punk just to season the heavy.
Bringing the nights first crowd surfers, the pit opens and they can certainly whip up a storm, even with a song called Cowabunga. I hope we see them again soon.
However, it is a full circle moment for Bloom. Last year in September on the eve of the release of the album, The Light We Chase, the band played down the road at The Ed Castle, tonight it’s at LAF, and a successful end to this cycle.
Opening with Out Of Reach and Forget Me Not, an already sweaty pit enjoy the band going heavy this early. Playing every song off the new album, they sound huge, wall to wall sound engagement and quite a few sing song moments.
Jono Hawkey is an erudite and warm frontman, able to bring sparks and be gentle such as Belrose and Glen Street. Yet this is a crowd that wants to get involved and the band deliver.
In Another Life has a huge pit, Tongue Tied the volume goes through the roof when the crowd sing it and the surfers are flowing overboard on Act 2.
Meanwhile, there’s a dude getting a tattoo on stage, yes a tattoo, while the band play, as they finish with the brilliant Withered. Except they didn’t finish.
Coming out to a rare, not on the setlist so you had to be here moment, encore they land The Service and then, yes, a second encore with Siren Song. The place becomes pandemonium. Absolute scenes as everyone is aware of the beauty and uniqueness of what is happening.
The Light We Chase is a great album from a great band who have just finished a great tour. They may be taking a break however on tonight’s evidence, hopefully it won’t be long before they are back.
Live Review By Iain McCallum