Bring On The Moo!
“Groovin The Moo” was the buzzing topic of last week as 15,000 lucky ticket holders, filled with anticipation and excitement, impatiently wished their lives away for the dawning of April 30th. Saturday morning witnessed ‘The Moo Movement’ as thousands of young people ascended on the City of Greater Bendigo. Eager early birds lined up at 9:00am for a 10:30am gate opening. Thankfully queuing problems experienced in previous years had been resolved and the patrons moved efficiently onto the Prince of Wales Showgrounds in time to see the first bands kick off.
Local bands, ‘Oh Pacific’ & ‘The Goldfields’ were first to hit the stage. ‘Oh Pacific’ rocked the audience with their pop rock, & enthusiastic dancing. Melbourne band ‘Red Coats’ brought home Bendigo guitarist Neil Wilkinson. Their performance was intense with hypnotic songs like ‘Dream Shaker’ putting the crowd under a trance; the lead singer did appear to get a little too engrossed in his music at times as he lost the location of the microphone head and thus some of his lyrics could not be heard. Last local band, ‘The Bride Stripped Back’ held the proud title of the Bendigo region Triple J Unearthed winner. The powerful voice of the lead vocalist accompanied brilliantly by her band members proved themselves worthy of the success. All the local bands did not disappoint.
By noon, the fresh morning had transformed into a warm autumn day creating the perfect ambience for Sydney band, ‘The Jezabels’ to rock the stage. The four piece band connected instantly with their huge audience who sang and bopped along with their favourite tunes. Many fans would have been looking for the ‘Jezabels’ big hits, ‘Disco Biscuit Love,’ ‘She’s So Hard’ and ‘Be a Star’ which disappointingly were not included in their set list. Extraordinary lead Singer, Haley left her mark at Groovin the Moo not just with the adoring audience but with her luminous red lipstick smeared over the microphone.
Hippy rocker, ‘Darwin Deez’ set the mass alight with his funky tunes, hilarious but awesome dance routines and his mash up of ‘Miike Snow’s’ song, ‘Animal.’ Their self-penned indie song, ‘Radar Detector’ was smashing. ‘Datarock’ set the scene by throwing inflated red beach balls into the crowd before hitting the stage in red tracksuits (stoically, when the day was at its hottest). Their humour struck a chord with the revellers as their riotous songs such ‘Computer Camp Love,’ ‘Fa-Fa-Fa’ and ‘I Used to Dance with My Daddy’ got the crowd pumping!
Fast rising star, ‘Megan Washington’ saw the Triple J Stage packed to capacity. Her fans were desperate to get a glimpse of the amazing Megan who has gained super star status after dominating airplay on both Triple J and finding a mainstream radio audience with her stunning repertoire of captivating songs.
In the sweaty and crowded Moulin Rouge Tent, ‘Architecture In Helsinki’ raised the roof for all those lucky to have seen them. The electro pop beats got the multitude dancing and screaming out the words to their favourite songs, ‘Heart It races,’ ‘Do the Whirlwind,’ ‘That Beep’ and ‘Contact High.’ For entertainment value, this was my pick of the day – totally engrossing, vibrant and atmospheric! Keeping the dance mood going, ‘The Aston Shuffle’ performed remixes of ‘Angus and Julia Stone’s’ infamous ‘Big Jet Plane’ along with ‘Scream and Example’s’ latest hit, ‘Shot yourself in the Foot Again.’ They were entertaining; however a lot of the remixes began to sound too much like each other. In their defence, their super dance anthems ‘Your Love’ and ‘Start Again’ were huge crowd pleasers.
There was a huge movement toward the over cramped Moulin Rouge Tent once again as the remarkable electro rock band ‘Art vs. Science’ kicked into gear. The revellers were euphoric as Art vs. Science played their hit songs like ‘Magic Fountain’ (this intro was breathtaking), ‘Finally See Our Way,’ ‘A.I.M Fire’ and finishing with ‘Parlez Vous Francais.’ To add to the experience, the stage was illuminated by an incredible light show, mesmerizing the engaged crowd.
Late afternoon, the sun slipped away and the cool air swept across the showgrounds which was quite a reprieve from the heat of the day. It was time for ‘Birds of Tokyo’ to strut their stuff; they were another huge drawcard to the ‘Moo’ line up. They started off with an amazing vibe but left fans feeling a little robbed by the selection of their last song as it was unfamiliar. Liverpool band ‘The Wombats’ would possibly have been the most popular band of the night. ‘A/C Slater’ who played at the same time, (only they were in the Moulin Rouge Tent) would have been robbed their audience as ‘The Wombats’ seem to have a huge following. With ‘The Wombats’ playing their awesome pop/rock mantra the crowd responded in a screaming frenzy. Following their performance the revellers thinned out. ‘Bliss N Eso’ still gave an awesome performance however they made the mistake of letting their DJ play for about 10 minutes. ‘Cut Copy’ finished the night with a bang and wowed the audience with their renowned electronic beats.
‘Groovin’ the Moo’ proved to be everything it promised plus more. I spoke to a few of the revellers who were totally thrilled with their day out. Mary, 20 years old said, ‘The improvement of the set up of this year’s GTM festival was noticeable as soon we approached the gate, walking straight into the festival without having to queue up for 2 hours as we did last year. I think the line up this year was fantastic, with a great variety of bands to suit all tastes of music. The festival was more interactive this year with a ‘band signing’ tent and bands members from ‘The Jezabels,’ ‘Washington’ and ‘Darwin Deez’ walking around the festival happily taking pictures and chatting with festival goers. My favourite set by far was ‘The Jezebels;’ the amount of energy they brought to their performance mesmerised the crowd!’
Jane, 19 years old said ‘Groovin’ was awesome! ‘Jezebels’ were brilliant as usual! ‘Wombats also went off!’ Sophie, 19 years noted, ‘There was such a great energy; we got to see heaps of bands and the weather was perfect! It's awesome to see such a big line-up in a regional area!’ By the elated appearance of the crowd, the ‘Moo’ was a huge success!
