Review and photos by Krista Melsom – Kristabella Photography
You’d be forgiven for forgetting it was a Sunday night—and one of Canberra’s first real tastes of winter, despite still being autumn. The chill in the air didn’t stop punters from arriving shortly after doors, rugged up and ready to throw down. It didn’t take long for UC Hub to fill out as fans streamed in early, a clear sign that this four-band bill had drawn serious interest. With two heavy-hitting co-headliners in Currents and Chelsea Grin, and local favourites Bloom and Heavensgate rounding out the support, the night promised mayhem—and it absolutely delivered.
Heavensgate kicked off the evening with a set that could be described in a single word: chaotic. The Melbourne hardcore crew wasted no time whipping the crowd into shape, flinging themselves across the stage in perfect sync with their jagged riffs. Shooting them was a mission—trying to snag a clean shot in the middle of that whirlwind of limbs and energy was HARD. As their set neared its end, they called for a wall of death that sucked in the stragglers from outside and gave everyone a taste of the carnage to come. An opening set done right—raw, fast, and brutal.
Things escalated further with Bloom, the Sydney outfit taking things up a notch in both sound and spectacle. The crowd surged with such intensity that at one point I found myself crawling around the pit looking for a rogue lens filter and someone’s flung pair of glasses—both, thankfully, survived the chaos. While every member of Bloom brought something special to the stage, a special shoutout goes to drummer, Jack Van Vliet, whose charisma and relentless energy were impossible to ignore. Maybe it’s the fact I have a six-year-old learning drums at home, but this guy had that X-factor—the kind of player who lifts a band’s entire presence to a new level. Bloom brought passion, polish, and power in equal measure.
Then came Currents, the first of the co-headliners—and a surprise personal revelation. I’ll admit it: I originally applied to shoot this gig under the impression I was going to see Caskets, the British post-hardcore band. Turns out, Currents are a very different beast entirely—American metalcore with a far heavier bite. But what a happy accident it turned out to be. From the moment they hit the stage, I was hooked. In fact, I straight up forgot to take photos. Their set was completely hypnotic—tight, emotive, and honestly, just bloody fun. There was something about the way they gave everything to their performance that made them impossible to look away from. I literally added them to my Spotify the second they walked off stage. Keen as hell to see them again soon.
Closing out the night was Chelsea Grin, the deathcore heavyweights from Salt Lake City. If Currents pulled you into a trance, Chelsea Grin slapped you out of it with a barrage of blinding strobes and gut-rattling breakdowns. In short: strobe lights, ear bleeds, and blegh. And I’m not kidding about the ear bleeds—despite solid ear protection, my ears were still ringing into the next day. They may have cranked something a little too far, but judging by the number of punters headbanging furiously until the final note, it didn’t matter. While their sensory overload tipped me into overstimulated territory, there’s no denying they delivered a performance as punishing as it was visually overwhelming.
All in all, Sunday nights don’t usually go this hard—but this one did. Four bands, a packed room, and a whole lot of chaos. And as I wrap this up at some ungodly hour, I’m going to forget tomorrow is a weekday, because I don’t want to lose my hype.