Live Review: Groovin The Moo

Groovin The Moo had a bit of everything this year and, once again, got it right. The relocation of the festival to the showgrounds of Exhibition Park was a talking point. The immediate feeling was that the new layout certainly had more open space, but did lack the convenient hill and natural amphitheatre that the University of Canberra site held.

Glitoris. Photo by Ben Nicol.

With the doors opening at 11am and the sun shining, Glitoris started on the Moolin Rouge stage. Ripping tracks from their album of last year, including Slut Power and Spit Hood, it was a shame there weren’t more people on hand to experience the awesome punk power of this local band on the rise. On the same stage, Erthlings delivered sensitive and airy indie-pop. The young school friends attracted a decent crowd and finished with Bridges.

Erthlings. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Two local rappers warmed up to the day with solid sets at the side-by-side triple j and Cattleyard main stages. KG impressed with his flow and smooth raps before Kirklandd hyped the crowd with a more energetic stage show, the triple j Unearthed winner making the most of his spot.

The opening guitar riffs of Missing Me turned heads as the unique and powerful voice of Angie McMahon acted like gravitational pull for the early arrivals. With songs that are not only thoughtfully written, but sung with feeling and warmth, McMahon had the crowd swaying and enthralled. Her song about “eating too much gluten”, Pasta, closed the too-short set.

Angie McMahon. Photo by Ben Nicol.

The roar of the crowd to the appearance of Carmouflage Rose over at the Moolin Rouge tent was heard, even while McMahon was still playing. A few minutes’ walk gave us a chance to experience the vibe, which was ultra-smooth. The young Queenslander seems to be attracting fans wherever he goes and played up to them well.

Carmouflage Rose. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Georgia Flipo (aka G Flip) has constant energy. Switching from drums to vocals to percussion to bass to keyboard, the artist never stopped and fed on the reaction of the audience. With all of the activity, her use of a headset mic - which she declared was “going pretty damn well” - was a good idea. Drink Too Much concluded the holy trio of festival sets for the artist, who also played Splendour and Laneway in the last 12 months.

G Flip. Photo by Ben Nicol.

There’s a need to immerse yourself in the pit for a group like Haiku Hands. The fever, the energy and the raw power of the group are infectious and spread throughout the Moolin Rouge tent, which filled fast. Songs like unreleased track 'Man Bitch', Squat and the ultra-aerobic Dare You Not To Dance are enough to encourage everyone to move. The party in the tent was complete with a raft of streamers and a sea of smiling faces.

Haiku Hands. Photo by Ben Nicol.

At the Cattleyard stage, A$AP Twelvyy brought the hip hoppers out into the sun. The Bronx-native’s set seemed to garner the attention he hoped for - but was a strange lead-in to Thelma Plum, who, with her poppy solo numbers, attracted a very different crowd. Her set was a joy to witness though and she prefaced Not Angry Anymore with reinforcement: “I’m really not!” Her recent tracks seem to have earnt her deserved new fans and build the anticipation for new music.

A$AP Twelvyy. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Transitioning into rock, the fest brought Trophy Eyes out, who seemed to relish the chance to play in front of a main stage crowd. “You look fucking beautiful right now!” declared frontman John Floreani as the crowd waved in unison. Their set - taken mostly from last year's The American Dream LP - was full of singalong moments, a heap of “Ohhh” and “Ahhh” screams and plenty of chances for the crowd to cut loose. There was a sense of The Killers in their schtick and it worked, especially in a festival atmosphere.

Trophy Eyes. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Dancing of a different kind was happening over in the Moolin Rouge tent as WAFIA served up her electro-pop delicacies. Big tracks Bodies and I’m Good were crowd favourites and she celebrated the Gold status of her collaborative track with Louis The Child, Better Not. She also announced that a new track will be out this week, which was met with a huge cheer as she performed it.

The Plot stage was again a welcome addition to the festival, giving up-and-coming hip hop and dance acts a chance to perform to a more intimate audience. The stage was also curated, at different times, by local MCs KG and Citizen Kay. Both arranged an on-point selection of local artists to watch out for - including rapid-fire rapper Jedbrii and trio Weirdo Gvng - that got the crowd hyped.

Jedbrii. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Back at the triple j stage, Holy Holy were playing an expectedly solid set. With brand new music just days old, it was a chance for their fans to experience Teach Me About Dying in a live setting. Straight after them was Jack River, whose set inspired someone nearby to immediately jump on to iTunes to purchase her excellent album of last year, Sugar Mountain. Holly Rankin’s band, all in white, supported her well and the crowd seemed to know the words to new track Adolescent already, but really belted it out for set-closer Fool's Gold.

DMA'S. Photo by Ben Nicol.

The quality of live acts in this country was again exemplified when DMA’S took over on the other main stage. Festival favourites for their infectious singalong tracks and easy-going demeanour, the crowd lapped it up, but we headed to the Moolin Rouge tent for a taste of Norwegian singer Aurora instead. What we encountered was a highlight of the day. The artist danced fluidly around the stage as her music swirled among us. Warrior was well received along with Runaway from her same 2016 album, but newer tracks Queendom and The Seed were fantastic. The tent’s inhabitants were all in the moment and witnessed a magical set.

Aurora. Photo by Ben Nicol.

With the headliners in sight, people were starting to jostle for positions at the main stages, with a huge crowd for legends Regurgitator. Even the teenagers would have recognised I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am and Polyester Girl, but newer tracks from last year’s Headroxx like Light Me On Fire and Party Looks had the crowd bopping along. ! (The Song Formerly Known As) ended the set as expected and, as one of the greatest Australian songs of all time, it was received with the bouncing it deserved.

Regurgitator. Photo by Ben Nicol.

A quick return to The Plot stage was well-timed as Nicole Millar performed her final two tracks including the huge hit, High. Even without the local Peking Duk boys on hand, the reception in the tent was huge.

Nicole Millar. Photo by Ben Nicol.

A late change of schedule meant that Coolio took to the main stage, but not before Spinderella, from Salt-N-Pepa, warmed up the crowd with classic ‘90s burners like Fatman Scoop's Be Faithful, House Of Pain's Jump Around and, of course, her own Whatta Man. 

Spinderella. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Then it was Coolio’s chance to perform. It was a quick set, with the performance of C U When U Get There, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 (Sumpin' New) seemingly shortened for an overly-long rendition of Hotel C. To be honest, people weren't there to hear his voice - Gangsta’s Paradise was sung by the crowd at the top of their lungs and it sounded great.

Coolio. Photo by Ben Nicol.

With the sun down and the air getting decidedly chilly, sustenance was required and the new site offered up a big range of options, including the best-named food truck ever, Ryan Gozleme. Over dinner, we were treated to Hilltop Hoods, but it didn’t take long for them to be forced to stop. A medical emergency in set-opener Chase That Feeling saw emergency services called to the front of the crowd along with calls from the stage to step back. This halted things for a good few minutes as people were rescued, but the South Australian hip hop group didn’t let it kill the vibe, getting straight back in with Leave Me Lonely and The Nosebleed Section, one of the most popular Australian hip hop songs in history.

Hilltop Hoods. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Fellow Adelaidean Nyassa provided excellent vocals for 1955 and I Love It, while Ecca Vandal’s appearance for new album track Exit Sign was received with roars of appreciation. “You guys took so much time falling over, we ran out of songs,” smirked Suffa before closing out with Cosby Sweater. The group have been around the festival circuit many times and they still nail it consistently.

 MØ. Photo by Ben Nicol.

In the final visit to the Moolin Rouge tent, Denmark’s MØ dropped DJ Snake/Major Lazer collab track Lean On very early in the set, followed by Nights With You. Her eclectic dancing inspired the loose crowd to do the same, but our feet were hurting, so a return to the main stage and an extremely chill Nick Murphy was a good time to rejuvenate. Murphy’s set was good and there’s a noticeable difference between the tracks taken from his different monikers. Either way, it was a good way to prepare for the juggernaut to come.

Nick Murphy. Photo by Ben Nicol.

Booking one of the biggest stars in the world just before they blew up was a stroke of genius from the GTM team. Going from Coachella just one week prior to the regional stages of Australia, Billie Eilish was a massive get, and judging by the swollen crowd on-hand - braving the cold and huddled up close - everyone wanted to experience it.

Starting with what's surely an early favourite for the Hottest 100, Bad Guy set the scene as everyone scrambled to get a view of the 17-year-old from LA. Bouncing and spinning around the stage, Eilish seemed to be in a good mood and played up to the audience in My Strange Addiction. There was a distinct change of gear between older tracks Idontwannabeyouanymore and Copycat and newer - spookier -  tracks IIomilo and All The Good Girls Go To Hell, with no lack of singing along from the crowd for either.

Eilish gives her singing voice a chance to blossom in When The Party’s Over and it's that damn good we don’t mind the effects phasing over the top in some songs. 

A glorious performance from one of the world’s biggest artists right now, despite some sound issue, Eilish met all expectations.

Fisher. Photo by Ben Nicol.

The change of set-times meant Fisher clashed with Eilish - and a bunch of people were seen sprinting to the Moolin Rouge tent to catch Losing It. Was that really worth it when; a) you’ve heard it a billion times already, and, b) you were missing out on a good position for Hermitude?

Hermitude. Photo by Ben Nicol.

The Blue Mountains duo smashed out a perfectly flowing set of old and new tracks to close the festival - even dropping a teaser of a brand-new track from a forthcoming album. They proved that they can compete with the best acts in the world and come out on top.

So to sum it all up: the good? The video backdrops for all acts on the day were impressive, something that really added to the performance, especially for people further back. The venue was great and as always, the logistics were top-notch.

The bad? The sound further back was terrible. It’s hard to pinpoint why this was, but it fluctuated in and out all day. The container-return scheme (for $1 each) doesn’t seem to work any more and drinks are crazy expensive ($10 for a cider or rose. More for spirits. A buck less for beer).