CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM GROOVIN’ THE MOO HERE.

For those not rural enough to be in the know, Groovin’ The Moo is a music festival that takes place in Maitland (with spin off versions in Townsville and Bendigo). Rubbish name aside, this festival has a reputation for being well organised, well attended and possessing a line-up to rival if not the major players, then certainly a few of the mid-level festivals.

Licensing conditions meant that only mid-strength alcohol was available, which inevitably lead to an army of flasks and suspiciously muddy-looking water bottles entering the showground. Despite the over zealously patrolled 18+ section, controlling the stream of alcohol was always going to prove a hard task, and to the organiser’s credit, nothing more could have been done.

The simple – œone stage on, one stage off’ set-up meant that audiences at either the Triple J or MySpace stages could watch all the bands comfortably without the usual running of the bulls-style crowd migration.

Despite an early start time of midday, a small but curious crowd huddled in front of Newcastle band Like Alaska, who quickly proved that they should have been deeper in the bill. Conversely, locals Here Come The Birds seemed lost on the big stage, showing that perhaps they need to hone their live performance skills before continuing along the festival circuit.

Tame Impala were brilliant, although their extended prog-space jams were all but lost on the local audience, who seemed restless when the pace meandered for more than a few minutes. The Drones were another highlight, visceral and wonderful as usual, although 15 minutes into the set the audience had waned to critical levels.

What this festival needed was something more concentrated, and Mammal certainly delivered. If you ask the lead singer of Mammal, this band was in the midst of a musical revolution. He preached press-sized bites between songs, reminding the audience that they don’t have a label, don’t have a manager, and most of all, a Mammal gig is a shared experience. It’s all about the fans maaan! It was tiresome and tedious, but worked a treat, stirring thousands of people into a drunken metal frenzy. Mammal sound like every second band at every second pub, which seems to be valuable currency.

Texan-based Okkervil River tried to win back the seething masses with some country tinged folk music, and despite their best efforts, enough people just weren’t interested. A shame, because they were one of the highlights of the bill, sounding like Conor Oberst in his more contemplative moments. A band best suited to intimate venues, they were wasted in this setting.

De La Soul were better received, with their lazy hip-hop grooves providing an interesting accompaniment to the sunset. It was interesting, and the group no doubt knows how to put on a show, but I couldn’t kick the feeling that this was just a warm-up gig for them.

Little Birdy were a different story, with Katy Steele owning the stage, and seeming delighted to be playing to an adoring audience. A mix of new album tunes and selections from their back catalogue kept the audience on high the entire time. It led beautifully into Architecture in Helsinki, who were at their joyous, bubbly best, despite vocalist Kellie Sutherland being hampered by some form of leg injury. Cameron Bird seems like he’s vying for The Presets’ glittery crown, with the set dominated by beats, which surprisingly melded seamlessly with earlier songs such as Wishbone and Do The Whirlwind.

The Grates are made for the festival crowd, with Patience bouncing and dancing around for most of the set. She sung breathlessly, working the crowd into a frenzy as the band ploughed through all of their fan favourites. Trampoline was sexy, 19 20 20 was fun and Rock Boys proved that there is way more substance to this band than their naff artwork and colourful photo shoots would indicate.

Hilltop Hoods were always going to be the highlight for the majority of the audience here at Groovin’ The Moo. The group’s music seems to attract a certain festival element, and this was evident in spades. They entertained the crowd, but I don’t profess to understand it. If you like Hilltop Hoods, you would have liked this.

Bringing the night to a close were The Living End. They are seen as one of our finest live acts, and rightly so. From the opener Raise The Alarm they had the crowd in the palm of their hands, and when they kicked into Prisoner of Society for their second song, it was a done deal. The audience loved every moment, sang every song, and despite a few lapses in hysteria (“this is a song from our new album”) totally owned the day.

Scott Owen stood on his double bass while Chris Cheney played slide guitar with a overflowing beer bottle. As a finale, Cheney stood on Owen’s bass while both were playing their respective instruments. It was The Living End by numbers – but when the numbers are as large and undeniable as theirs, even an instrumental blues boogie can’t break their stride.