Live Review: Groovin The Moo

Keeping in mind that making the trip down south has become something of a pilgrimage, it's no surprise that the long road to Bunbury was bumper-to-bumper all of Friday arvo and Saturday morning. Makes sense, though, as this year's GTM was almost perfect.

Both Coin Banks and Mathas repped the local hip hop game early on in the day. It's a shame that the two dudes' forward-thinking rhymes and catchy-as-hell beats weren't heard by more, but they made at least something of an impression on the very young crowd. Australia's Got Talent finalist Tommy Franklin dominated an early set following the hip hop one-two punch. Not your typical GTM fare, but it's near impossible not to get caught up in his whirlwind energy and killer dance moves.

The Jezabels. Pic by Ashley Westwood.

Andy Bull performed with a full band, making for an arguably better live set than the albums. Bull nailed Lisa Mitchell's vocals in Dog and was flawless for Keep On Running.

Crooked Colours and The Jungle Giants angled in the indie dance and rock respectively on the main stage while Allday received an impressive early reception, with an awesome medley of Ms. Jackson and Ride Wit Me getting everyone on their feet. Loon Lake followed, with the band using the full stage to rock out,  a cover in I Believe In A Thing Called Love going down well, surprise guitar solo from The Doctor notwhistanding.

Kingswood led the crowd in chanting Dizzee Rascal's “I'm a bassline junkie”, pulled Tommy Franklin on stage for a dance lesson and went out on a high with the spectacular Like A Version cover of First Aid Kit's Wolf. Robert Delong and his masses of fans were painted up as always as the multi-instrumentalist jumped from drums to synths to samplers, making for a high-energy, eclectic performance. The happy feel-good hip hop beats of Illy were perfectly timed for his sunny time-slot as he performed his huge triple j Like A Version mashup and finished up with his latest single Tightrope, featuring Scarlett from San Cisco.

The Naked & Famous. Pic by Ashley Westwood.

A stampede of teens, some sprinting, some stumbling, marked the beginning of Parkway Drive's set, the circle pit almost immediate (thanks partly to Winston McCall's usual goading). The band went down predictably well with the crowd. Violent Soho fittingly started at 4.20, with synchronised puffs of smoke kicking off one of the better sets of the day. A mix of older tracks and the killers from Hungry Ghost ensured everyone had a great time, including the dude in a wheelchair and pig mask crowdsurfing.

Architecture In Helsinki announced their arrival in a neon rainbow of colours, opening with That Beep and closing with latest crowd favourite Contact High. The swirling synths and ambient vocals of The Kite String Tangle made for a smooth, dreamy set as songs flowed into one another and the crowd seemed to wait in anticipation for Given The Chance.

Dizzee Rascal tends to chant his own name a lot, which may be a little narcissistic, but it's effective. From the stage to the back fence, everywhere was packed as people tried to create a dance space for Bonkers and Holiday. A hot sweaty mess amassed for Peking Duk under the big tent with condensation dripping from the roof during their massive hit High, while The Presets had one of the most impressive sets of the day, consisting of geometric shapes and an elaborate light show. Unfortunately much of the crowd seemed to have flocked to Disclosure, missing out on some of their biggest hits including Talk Like That and Are You The One? The Lawrence brothers were unfortunately slightly anticlimactic, mostly because they're live show is now getting slightly stale after hundreds of performances, but it still all went down well with the big singles from Settle wrapping up the night.

Thundamentals. Pic by Ashley Westwood.

A distinct lack of douchebags and a heavy lean towards covers – '90s R&B and dance in particular – on top of the eclectic line-up meant that GTM 2014 was spot-on. More of this next year, please.