In an era where festivals seem to be in decline after the heady days of a decade ago it’s good to know that a gathering of like-minded souls can still produce some magic, that magic being the Groovin the Moo festival.
A mixed bag of showers and sunny breaks ensued on the drive up from Sydney to the Maitland leg in the Aussie Music Weekly fun bus, and despite it being the 13th instalment the only real bad luck was limited to the odd passing shower before the skies cleared as proceedings got underway.
The Byron Bay surf and garage rockers Skegss stood and delivered a solid set of tracks to a full house front of stage who did the shuffle over from the left to the right of the main Triple J/Cattleyard stage when Melbourne singer-songwriter Alex Lahey followed soon after, another classy set from this performer worthy of a wider audience.
Dean Lewis shifted some solid units with this single Waves in 2017 and filled his set with a mix of old and new indie styled tunes with his debut album in the frame to drop sometime this year, the crowd still there front of stage and enjoying what was offered up.
The first international act of the day on the bill for us was the Alaskan alternatives Portugal The Man. With no less than Beavis and Butthead (remember them folks) providing the words of wisdom as they walked on stage the Wasilla alt rockers gave a decent nod to their 2017 album Woodstock in their set but also dipped into their decade plus back catalogue as well for good measure, the bar continuing to be raised as the day rolled on artist wise.
Adelaide rapper Tkay Mdaiza rocked a funky pink tracksuit to go with a high energy set where the audience appreciation and participation when called upon was also up to the task and much obliged by Tkay as well.
Manly indie combo Winston Surfshirt arrived at the just the right time as the sun started to calling it a day, the mix of good grooves, good horns and it seems good beverage action thanks to the onstage barman made for an interesting 35 minutes on stage.
Grinspoon then stepped up and delivered a greatest hits set, overcoming some initial sound problems to get the crowd going as they dished out the tracks many punters there may well have first heard via their folk’s record collections. Good to see them back where they belong if it’s only fleeting nowadays.
Over at the Moulin Rouge tent Melbourne electro dance combo Confidence Man were all about confidence. Their album is called Confident Music for Confident People and in Janet Planet and Sugar Bones were some confident artists leading the way on all things confidence when it comes to getting it done on the live stage. Have I mentioned the word confidence enough here?
The great Paul Kelly then wandered on the Triple J stage to a solid but appreciative audience. Opening the set solo with From Little Things Big Things Grow in time the rest of the his great band joined him one by one and ran through a great set with a decent nod to his 2017 ARIA chart topper Life Is Fine plus a few classics from his solid kitbag of tunes.
Royal Blood were back here after their visit for Splendour In The Grass last year with plenty of life still in their 2nd album How Did We Get So Dark? which was just released last time round. And it showed as Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher cranked it up nicely with a solid set and great sound from something so simple as a bass and drums (well there is those cool effects Kerr uses to get that bass noise to another level).
The regional venues and maintaining a good mix line up wise was again embraced by the local community and welcome to outsiders making the journey there as well. Long may the Moo continue to offer up a smorgasbord of sound for our ears to savour.
(Rufus thanks Janelle Morse from Morse Code PR and the organisers for their hospitality at the festival, much obliged as always)
A mixed bag of showers and sunny breaks ensued on the drive up from Sydney to the Maitland leg in the Aussie Music Weekly fun bus, and despite it being the 13th instalment the only real bad luck was limited to the odd passing shower before the skies cleared as proceedings got underway.
The Byron Bay surf and garage rockers Skegss stood and delivered a solid set of tracks to a full house front of stage who did the shuffle over from the left to the right of the main Triple J/Cattleyard stage when Melbourne singer-songwriter Alex Lahey followed soon after, another classy set from this performer worthy of a wider audience.
Dean Lewis shifted some solid units with this single Waves in 2017 and filled his set with a mix of old and new indie styled tunes with his debut album in the frame to drop sometime this year, the crowd still there front of stage and enjoying what was offered up.
The first international act of the day on the bill for us was the Alaskan alternatives Portugal The Man. With no less than Beavis and Butthead (remember them folks) providing the words of wisdom as they walked on stage the Wasilla alt rockers gave a decent nod to their 2017 album Woodstock in their set but also dipped into their decade plus back catalogue as well for good measure, the bar continuing to be raised as the day rolled on artist wise.
Adelaide rapper Tkay Mdaiza rocked a funky pink tracksuit to go with a high energy set where the audience appreciation and participation when called upon was also up to the task and much obliged by Tkay as well.
Manly indie combo Winston Surfshirt arrived at the just the right time as the sun started to calling it a day, the mix of good grooves, good horns and it seems good beverage action thanks to the onstage barman made for an interesting 35 minutes on stage.
Grinspoon then stepped up and delivered a greatest hits set, overcoming some initial sound problems to get the crowd going as they dished out the tracks many punters there may well have first heard via their folk’s record collections. Good to see them back where they belong if it’s only fleeting nowadays.
Over at the Moulin Rouge tent Melbourne electro dance combo Confidence Man were all about confidence. Their album is called Confident Music for Confident People and in Janet Planet and Sugar Bones were some confident artists leading the way on all things confidence when it comes to getting it done on the live stage. Have I mentioned the word confidence enough here?
The great Paul Kelly then wandered on the Triple J stage to a solid but appreciative audience. Opening the set solo with From Little Things Big Things Grow in time the rest of the his great band joined him one by one and ran through a great set with a decent nod to his 2017 ARIA chart topper Life Is Fine plus a few classics from his solid kitbag of tunes.
Royal Blood were back here after their visit for Splendour In The Grass last year with plenty of life still in their 2nd album How Did We Get So Dark? which was just released last time round. And it showed as Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher cranked it up nicely with a solid set and great sound from something so simple as a bass and drums (well there is those cool effects Kerr uses to get that bass noise to another level).
The regional venues and maintaining a good mix line up wise was again embraced by the local community and welcome to outsiders making the journey there as well. Long may the Moo continue to offer up a smorgasbord of sound for our ears to savour.
(Rufus thanks Janelle Morse from Morse Code PR and the organisers for their hospitality at the festival, much obliged as always)
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