By Samantha Murrell
As the lights dim, a small, unassuming figure emerges from the shadows. He undergoes a violent transformation in front of your eyes, going from human to stage persona. He feeds off your eyes.
Black hair hangs in his face as he pounds the music from the soul of his beat-up fretless Fender. He creeps across the stage in his vinyl pants and snakeskin print shirt, drawing you in with every move.
To his right stands an imposing figure in a Calvin Klein suit, offset by a gold shirt. He nurses the music from his red Chet Atkins Gretsch as he rocks back and forth.
In the background sits a tall, lanky figure in a torn red quilted jacket. He keeps the music going with steady rhythms and beats.
Together these three figures make up bloom, one of the most successful bands on the Gainesville scene.
In the two short years that they've been playing their Pixies-inspired rock, bloom has come a long way. Much like every other unknown band, they have played their fair share of shows to empty halls, but as they tour Florida, they expose more and more people to their sound and have found their popularity rising.
In March they played Livestock VI, one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the southeast. Huge music festivals are known for launching relatively unknown bands into the spotlight. Bands such as Live, Sponge, and The Toadies all played Livestock before becoming nationally known.
When asked if they thought Livestock could be their big break, lead singer Devin Moore replied that he didn't want to place that much weight on one show.
"It was just fun to play on a huge stage to several thousand crazy Tampa metal heads. They were a laugh," Moore said.
While bloom has since been approached by representatives for a few unnamed labels, none of them feel that a signing is eminent.
"There's a lot of talk in the music industry. The labels don't jump into things," Moore said. "They want to be sure of what they're getting into ... and so do we."
For now they are very content being right where they are.
Where they are is spread out across Florida. Moore and the mysterious drummer Rex Vegas are living here in Gainesville, but Devin's brother and bloom's guitarist, Brenden, is now living in Venice, Florida.
"It's difficult being so far apart," Devin said, "but we're all dedicated to the band, so we're making it work."
Their second CD has a tentative release date in late July.
Until then you can catch them at The Covered Dish Friday night.