Groovin' The Moo @ MaitlandShowground, Maitland(07/05/2011)

Tue 10th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The weather gods played nice for Maitland’s turn at Groovin’ The Moo. The all ages festival drew many first time festival revelers, along with a good portion of matured attendees, and a strangely noticeable collection of Sailor Moon costumed girls (did I not get the memo?) to what turned out to be a beautiful day complete with some groovin’ acts.

Sydney based band, The Holidays, were the first stop for the day, playing a short and sweet set of their delightfully upbeat tunes. Although playing to a slightly conservative sized, early bird crowd, The Holidays served up a perfect entrée for the delicious musical feast that was yet to come.

The Jezabels delivered in their usual outstanding fashion. Hayley Mary exercised her vocal range with a cool air of ease and nonchalance, going into overdrive for a ridiculously high pitched Hurt Me to the amusement and clear enjoyment of the crowd.

Darwin Deez didn’t disappoint either. Both diehard fans and curious passers by were in for some light hearted fun as the New York boys threw some choreographed dance routines, including the hilarious whipping of the hair… back and forth, into the set. Kudos for the synchronization.

House of Pain reeled in even the younger crowds, whose heads popped up with sudden familiarity as they pulled out their 1992 smash hit, Jump Around. Washington, Datarock (and their red matching jumpsuits), The Go! Team, Architecture in Helsinki, and Gyroscope all showed their A- game, making the decision to run from tent to stage to catch a peak of a coinciding act a difficult one for fear of missing out on something great. Stopping off for a food and drink pit stop was almost unbearable, and likely left many die hard revelers hungry and parched by day’s end.

Even though the sun’s disappearance brought on an icy winter chill (those denim cutoffs no longer seemed like a good idea did they, girls?) the later acts were sure to keep the unwavering crowd alive and warm.

Gotye is a force to be reckoned with. The talented all- rounder, Wally de Backer, injected a different kind of sound into the day’s festivities. His smooth, chilled out creations- a mix of voice and instrument in synthetic splendour were beautiful. Sure, it can be difficult to rock out to his stuff- and by some measure maybe that makes it inappropriate for a festival setting, but that’s not what he’s going for. It was the perfect opportunity to chill, to listen, and to just enjoy.

The relaxation was short lived as the crowd built with clear anticipation for Birds of Tokyo. Their entrance sparked the loudest roar yet, and didn’t waver for the duration of the act. Mixing crowd favourites with lesser known, but still enjoyable beats, these Perth boys sure know how to control a crowd with true rock star status.

Followed immediately by Liverpudlian boys, The Wombats, the sprawling crowd from Birds shifted only a couple of steps over for the three piece band to take the stage. Following on from the success of their 2007 debut album, their recent release, The Wombats Proudly Present… This Modern Glitch, has secured their place in the Australian music scene. Playing favourites including Let’s Dance to Joy Division, Tokyo, and Moving to New York, old hits were mixed with new loves for an all around enjoyable time. Hands in the air, fists pumping, and girls crawling up their boyfriends back to gain a better view of the dapper threesome decided the successful fate of this purely awesome, well delivered set. Those swoon worthy accents didn’t go astray either.

Although greeted with some unsure speculation from the younger crowd (I had one bright eyed boy ask me, “isn’t that a 90’s band?”) UNKLE drew a sizeable crowd for their hypnotic set. It was disappointing to see Gavin Clark’s premature exit, leaving the rest of the band to play on awkwardly while every so often sneaking a sly look backstage. UNKLE does borrow the vocals of a variety of talent, so perhaps he was unneeded for some of the selections. Even so, Clark seemed to be dying out even mid- song. Each to their own though, and the crowd was certainly not phased and only grew as the set went on. Perhaps it was just us diehards that were put out by the mishap.

Bliss N Eso, Cut Copy, and Drapht rounded out the day delivering sets that matched the unrelenting energy of their buzzing crowds.

Festivals like these are bittersweet events, where the lineup has no option but to include timetable clashes as each act is just as drool worthy as the last. In any case, the enjoyment is not lost as missing one band only leads to a rockin’ out experience at another. Though I may have been shivering in my boots as the crisp Maitland weather reared it’s ugly face in the darkness of the night, I was ready to groove on well past the final acts.