Groovin The RevMooiew - 26/4/14 - Maitland Showground
- genevavalek
- Apr 29, 2014
- 5 min read
"Maitland," remarked Sam Nolan, lead singer of Loon Lake. He took another swig of his beer and looked out over the crowd, "that has to be the most Australian place in the country, right? Mate land. Matey mate mate. How's it going Mate Land?"
Okay, that may have been the alcohol talking a little bit, but he's right. And, what better place to have an awesome Aussie music festival than the most Aussie place in the country? Right?!
That's what the organisers of Groovin The Moo must have been thinking, because on the 26th of April 2014, Australia's largest rural touring festival hit the muddy paddocks of North Newcastle for the 9th time. As always, it was a day to remember: mud, beers, mates, dancing and, of course, a whole load of great live music.
A trip to your local GTM guarantees an awesome showcase of local talent mixed in with international giants, and this year it was Newcastle's own Gang of Youths who took the (mud) cake for homegrown talent. Lead by the moving passion of lead singer Dave Le’aupepe, the quintet forged a surprisingly impressive atmosphere through their booming power laced with intricate melodies, showing off the best of homegrown alternative rock. Gang of Youths won't be young forever, so check them out here.
Across the muddy fields, the gorgeous Andy Bull played beautifully but lacked the conviction to entertain the morning crowd; especially in the case of 'Dog' and 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' which reached too far into his back catalogue to gain any real appreciation. He saved his current hits until last: the jumpy 'Baby I Am Nobody Now' and 'Keep On Running' upped the ante but were not enough to drown out the chants of the growing crowd of bucket hats: ALLDAY! ALLDAY! ALLDAY!
The ironically-titled 'chubby boy' has seen a rapid change in the past few years: a disappointing departure from his beautifully-crafted debut mixtapes and EPs leading the way to an catastrophic run of disappointing releases. This, however, has done nothing to damage his mainstream success, with hundreds of passionate teens jumping on the Alldeezy bandwagon every week, leading to a high-octane performance filled with his newer hits. Riding the wave of insane love emitted from the crowd, he shuffled through a confidently-paced set highlighted by Skateboard Soirée masterpiece 'So Good' and low lighted by his newest single, an uncomfortable three minute slur about 'crazy ass bitches' or something. You can make your mind up about Allday, but it will be up to him to decide if he will be the next Hilltop Hoods or just another shitty 360 ripoff.
The transition between artist was notably impressive: obviously the two-stage cohesion between the Channel V and the triple j stage ensured a seamless transition while, inside the confines of the Moolin Rouge (or should we call it 'The Tent of Mud and Sweat) , crowd-pleasing DJ sets from first triple j's The Doctor and then Bluejuice's Jake Stone ensured the 20 minutes between acts was not a waste of bodily fluids.
And so, the day rolled on: Kingswood and The Jungle Giants were at their characteristically energetic best, while Loon Lake used the four-guitar combination to their advantage; although their pre-album singles are still vastly superior to their LP, they've sharpened up their live set notably to make those vocals much more bearable. Everyone's favourite good guy rappers Thundamentals bounced onto the stage filled to the brim with quirky rhymes. While not expressing the trademark grandeur of many other Aussie hip hop groups, the ThundaCats bring competitive intellectual skill to the table – more than enough to get any lively crowd bouncing.
The lone metal act Parkway Drive stormed the stage with unrivalled ferocity and exploded the festival into a cataclysmic sonic bomb. Lead singer Winston McCall screamed his heart out until there was nothing left to hear and by the time 'Carissa' faded out, the crowd was a hot and thirsty mess. This mess was left to Brisbane's Violent Soho to mop up, and clean up they did: riding the critical acclaim of their fantastic third album 'Hungry Ghost', the foursome took advantage of their 4:20 time slot to deliver some kick-ass grunge rock. While they're not complaining about Jesus stealing their girlfriend or shouting 'Hell Fuck Yeah!' really loud, they're also great dudes: check out our interview with them here.
With every unforgettably fantastic moment you experience at festivals, there will inevitably be some forgettable underwhelming bits. Thankfully, there were very few; while The Jezabels drone on and on in their monotonous unexciting gloom (sorry dudes, but your 'Endless Summer' is more than over), promising young gun Wave Racer was busy making a mess of his distinguishably upbeat complextro music with a confused set. If you're like me and you'd prefer to go and bury your face in the foot-deep muck than listen to the ridiculously overplayed 'High' by Peking Duk one more time, you'd be ecstatic to uncover some new acts, such as the relatively unheard-of Canadian act Holy Fuck. As exciting as the band sounds, they were almost comparable to sticking a bass guitar in a massive blender and clicking FULL BLAST. Their set left the Moolin Rouge half empty and many people thinking 'Holy Fuck, why are those guys even playing?'.
But, the disappointments were all but forgotten as the sun set, as the outdoor stages received a hammering of huge acts: it was a pop double whammy on the Channel V stage with colourful Aussies Architecture in Helsinki, followed up by our second favourite popstars from across the Tasman (the crown goes to Lorde, obviously), The Naked and Famous. Dizzee Rascal defended his crown as the UK’s most celebrated MC, going absolutely B-B-B-B-B-B-Bonkers before The Presets lifted the non-existent roof off the outdoor stages.
In the tent, after an ecstatic set by What So Not (featuring an unbelievable surprise appearance by every teenage girl’s crush, Harley Streten aka Flume), the lights dimmed down and a distinguishable caricatured faced started appearing on the surfaces. The smoke machines started and Jake Stone’s goofy voice announced the words on everybody’s lips: ‘WHO’S READY FOR DISCLOSURE!’
It’s hard to believe that the revival of a whole genre was carried out by two 20-year old brothers from Surrey. Even that in itself is a contentious claim; this House meets Pop clash has been labeled as the rebirth of Deep House, and Guy and Howard Lawrence are the new ‘Leonardo Da Vinci’s. Their debut album, Settle, was released last year with 8 charting singles and a Grammy Nomination. As the smoke cleared and the duo took their places amongst a jungle of musical equipment, it was easy to see why: Disclosure aren’t your average ‘pre-make a set on your Macbook, press play and dance around on stage’ band: these are seriously talented dudes, with seriously awesome songs. From the catchiness of singles such as ‘F For You’ to the hip-hop sampling ‘Grab Her’, Settle is one of the most determined debut albums in recent history, and it translates perfectly into their live show. The visuals synchronize perfectly with every bump and jar of the music, and by the time the London Grammar-featuring track ‘Help Me Lose My Mind’ filled the tent, over ten thousand star struck eyes gazed at the stage in a haze of bliss.
The festival faded out with the track that sent Disclosure rocketing into the stratosphere, ‘Latch’. The high-pitched, feminine vocal samples set the crowd alight one last time, and it was still echoing in my ears as my feet squelched through the mud through the exit. From across the field, I heard a drunken rendition of Soho’s ‘Covered In Chrome’, and from another, someone was screaming out the melody to ‘High’ by Peking Duk (sigh). From this moment, I could tell what it was that kept people coming back to Groovin: mud, beers, mates, dancing and, of course, a whole load of great live music.
Review by Ruben Seaton
Photo by Geneva Valek view more here
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