Ahh, Groovin’ The Moo – The veritable hotpot of a stellar music line-up, curious people-watching, and even more curious fashion fads, with a welcome change of dry ground for good measure.
This reviewer threw on her boots, aimed her compass West, and set off to Maitland for another year of Moo mayhem…
Opening scene. Hamilton Train Station. Midday. The herds of scantily clad souped-up youth in their finest festival attire (Tassels! Tassels everywhere!) assembled in anticipation of the big day ahead.
Feeling like the most tame and in-control people within eyeshot, we tentatively climbed aboard one of the shuttle buses filled with hooting and hollering festival folk. Beginning the day with what I believe psychologists refer to as “immersion therapy”.
Now, I won’t bore you with the details of one excitable festival-goer’s loss of bladder control in the bus aisle (I wish I were kidding), but I will say the journey was an eye-opener. An “experience”, if you will. A bit of light entertainment en route, I guess?
We arrived at Maitland Showground with the sun smiling down upon the masses, warming the spirits and creating a general feel-good glow. Being blessed with a gloriously clear day is a rare occurrence for GTM in Maitland, and it seems some punters got a little confused by the sun’s presence…
Thinking Summer had returned, many ‘Moo-ers’ frivolously donned bra-tops, bikinis and the deepest of v-neck singlets, without a jacket in tow or a thought to the icy chill waiting in the wings, left hand raised, ready to bitch-slap them into frosty hell after sundown. No doubt GTM hoodie sales at the merch stand came to an all-time high by 8pm.
The GTM organisers seem to have a real savoir-faire when it comes to concocting a line-up of varied and on-point drawcards. 2015’s offering was no exception, with some of the best fresh locals, a sprinkling of internationals, and rounded out with a couple of festival bill veterans.
We tore ourselves away from a kicking start to Meg Mac’s set, on a mad dash to the Moulin Rouge tent for DMA’s, who had pulled a great turnout. As expected, the lads took to the stage with their no-nonsense attitude and straight-up delivered.
A heart-warming full-tent sing-along broke out during Delete, but it was soon followed by a disappointing mass exodus of two-thirds of the crowd. Those who bailed early missed out on what is, in my opinion, DMA’s best song, Play It Out. This is a song that was made for the encore, a killer finale.
Sticky Fingers hit the Channel V stage with gusto and really put on a show. They played up to the massive crowd, who just lapped it up and went nuts in return. Their fun reggae-inspired indie-rock set was full of energy and swagger, almost every song a hit. I especially love a band who don’t take themselves too seriously, and by the look of front-man Dylan Frost’s red zip-up tracksuit set and 70’s porno-mo, serious is not a word you’ll find in the Sticky Fingers vocabulary.
In a feat of timetabling genius, The Preatures followed Sticky Fingers on The Triple J stage next door, and rocked an incredibly solid set. Constant touring has crowned these guys with indisputable rock-n-roll chops. Front-woman Isabella Manfredi has an insane voice; she’s sweet and melodic one minute, then lets out a raspy, grungy Karen-O-esque howl the next. Their rollicking cover of The Angels’ “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?” was a surprising one, but the crowd revelled in the opportunity to yell out the unofficial “No way! Get F**ked! F**k off!” callback.
Another keen contender in the unexpected covers stakes were Ball Park Music with their rendition of the Friends theme song. The opening riff was met with a roar and the hordes of BPM fans leapt about wildly, a sea communal hugs and flailing limbs. An impressive reaction seeing as the majority of the crowd were probably still in nappies when this TV show was at its peak.
As the last dusky rays of the afternoon fell and temperature dropped about 15 degrees, Hermitude and Charli XCX yanked the masses into jump-around-and-dance-mode. Whether this was a strategic effort to keep warm and ward off hypothermia, or the genuine kick off of a party vibe, one may never know.
The atmosphere got more than a little dreamy when Broods hit the stage over in the Mooulin Rouge tent. A big but chilled-out crowd settled in to enjoy Broods’ airy electronic style, with their big beat hits like Mother and Father, Bridges and L.A.F. demanding full attention. In the dark of night, this enchanting set felt like a perfect fit and was my top pick of the day.
Wolfmother weren’t at the top of my ‘To See” list. To be honest, I felt like their big-haired day in the sun had come to an end a few years ago. But then all of a sudden, I heard the electrifying riff to Joker and The Thief and was reminded why they were once considered one of the most seminal Australian rock bands of the 2000’s. A fun set for reminiscence’s sake.
Though Hilltop Hoods have held the position as a festival favourite for many years now, most GTM punters flocked to catch Flight Facilities close out the night in the Mooulin Rouge tent. A collective swoon was felt throughout the crowd when the lights went down for their heart-melting hazy disco-ballad, Clair de Lune.
As always, the organisation of the entire festival was on the mark. Though the weeks in the lead up came with threats of flooding and a sullied soddened ground, all went ahead relatively dry and without the slightest hitch.
And so ends another great Groovin’ The Moo. We came, we saw (perhaps, a little too much), and we were, once again, thoroughly conquered by a solid day of stage-to-stage must-see music, laidback vibes, some weird and wonderful punters, and plenty of questions about the next generations’ fashion sense that we may never truly find the answers to…
Check out some more shots from Maitland’s GTM in our gallery below:
Photos By: Craig Wilson, Swamp House Photography.
