Groovin’ The Moo @ MatilandShowground, Maitland(8/05/2010)

Mon 10th May, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Our brothers from regional NSW don’t know how good they’ve got it. Groovin’ the Moo was easily the best festival in terms of efficiency, sound, line-up and atmosphere that I’ve ever attended. With acts running ahead of the clock rather than twenty minutes behind it, mixing and levels so crisp that you could hear Luke Steele perfectly from the gozleme line and absolutely no waiting time between bands, many of Sydney’s larger event organisers should be taking notes from the people who put this on. Despite grumbles about long queue wait times, most punters were through the gates within ten minutes.

Groovin’ The Moo is kind of like a mini Big Day Out. There’s an embarrassing wealth of first-class acts all crammed into the same ten hours, all who receive exactly the same treatment as each other and whose set times hardly varied at all. Moreover, the crowd, many of whom are bypassed on national tours, lapped up the music with a zeal not seen in the too-cool-for-school-cities.

Jonathan Boulet’s avant-pop set, which opened the afternoon went down surprisingly well. Heavy on the instrumental flourishes and time changes, Boulet can be a challenging listen for a bunch of rowdy kids, but with the support of his three-pronged drum attack and infectious energy, he emerged a buzz-worthy champion.

Kisschasy has spent the better half of a decade bringing their infectious brand of rhythm-heavy rock to audiences across the coast and had it much easier. The band is now such a fixture on the circuit that everyone knows their tunes off by heart. To their credit, they still went balls-to-the wall despite having probably done it 100 times in the past year.

The future success story of Australian music hit the stage at just past four o’clock. Having fitted himself our with a band heavy on the theatrics and even heavier on the talent, Miami Horror’s Benjamin Platt is poised to steal the dance-rock chalice from Midnight Juggernauts and Cut Copy without even giving them a chance to realise what happened. Miami pulled one of the biggest audiences of the event, and kept them bouncing for their entire slot. Frontman and Kiwi expat Josh Hepinstall whipped out all the theatrics you don’t usually see in disco crossovers; climbing lighting rigs, shredding like Slash and completely giving his all to the crowd. When their debut album hits, these boys are going to obliterate the charts.

Holding it down for the internationals, Spoon played a fantastic greatest hits-esque set for a largely older and more dedicated audience. With the tightness of a funk band and Britt Daniel’s effervescent personality, Texas’ finest were all about understated brilliance. As They Way We Get By, I Turn My Camera On and Got Yr Cherry Bomb melded together into a wonderful collection, it’s clear just how talented and road-tested Spoon is. You could listen to them all day. And if Tegan and Sara hadn’t promptly started on the adjacent stage, we probably would have. The Canadian twins proved their mettle with spot-on dual harmonies and some seriously rocking tracks of their last two records.

At some point in the near future, Grinspoon will probably hang up their guitars for good. What is sad is that the Lismore four-piece, with rock careers are as old as many of the audience members, are a band that many festival-regulars take for granted. It’s unlikely that the next generation of acts will have as much fire or skills to pull off face-melters like Champion, More Than You Are and Hard Act To Follow with such aplomb. Someone should knight these guys. They seriously deserve it.

Completely opposite is Emperor Luke Steele, as Empire Of The Sun’s commander, has clearly already knighted himself. With a similar spectacle as last year’s Parklife, all costumes and videos and choreography, Steele’s songs haven’t gotten any better. If he wants to be the Lady GaGa of Australia, so be it, but even her songs are more bearable than some of the dross he tried to sell.

Vampire Weekend – what a lovely close to the evening. In a world where every outfit is trying to out-do each other in terms of aggressiveness, coolness and indie-props, these college boys are content to just play their tunes. Half the Ivy League references fly over Maitland locals’ heads, but with their soaring Afro-pop which translates far better live than on record and a genuine feel-good approach, Vampire Weekend have what many other groups lack; rapport.

Credit to the organisers, this was a brilliantly executed day and a great chance for non-city kids to hear some of their favourite artists. They’ve got my vote for this year’s Festival Awards.