Once again, Groovin The Moo had hit the west coast by storm. A day filled with friends, film cameras and a fantastic line-up—expectations were bound to be exceeded.
Being an annual attendee of Groovin the Moo, I knew to expect the very best from this larger-than-life regional festival. While usually taking the weekend off work, driving down to Bunbury and staying down South for the weekend, this year involved six hours of transit and a heavy-eyed Sunday. With that being said, I had every expectation that the acts I had travelled for would make up for the trek and half I had been dreading.
The weekend was a little cooler than I had originally anticipated, and the day started off with a quick trip to the local Kmart in search of the cheapest jumper I could find. Once assuring that I wouldn’t totally freeze in the hours ahead, we were off to line up at the gates—but not without stopping for one of the free Monster energy drinks being handed out.
Upon entering the grounds we were met with the vibrant sounds of G Flip. Enjoying the background music, we were off to find the delicious looking curly fries we’d spotted a group of girls with, ravished with hunger after our three-hour journey. While not being overly familiar with G Flip, I was pleased to hear her hits Drink Too Much and About You, as well as having the realisation that I actually knew more of her songs than I’d originally thought.
With a small break between the acts we’d made a plan to see, we decided to take in the festival grounds and conduct some people watching—judging and commenting on the outfits of other festival goers. While doing this we were more than pleased to have friendly strangers come up to myself and a friend and compare our outfits to characters from Sex and the City. The small victory of having your festival outfit appreciated is always warmly welcomed.
Next up on our list was the wonderful Thelma Plum. Festival-goers were gleefully singing along to tracks Not Angry Anymore and How Much Does Your Love Cost, anticipating what else was in store from the talented singer. She played a soon to be released track, Homecoming Queen and the audience got a taste of the album to come. Clumsy Love was no doubt the crowd favourite, with arms in the air and phones out to capture the moment. With the final track being her latest release Better in Blak, it was a performance to remember.
As usual, Holy Holy came to impress. Kicking off their set with impressive tracks That Message and Elevator, the band had the crowd hooked. After playing their new track, Teach Me About Dying, the band announced that their next album has been completed and will be coming out soon. Ending their set with a crowd favourite, True Lovers, Holy Holy left festival-goers anticipating the upcoming album release.
Up next was Jack River, and with the weather beginning to cool down, I was glad to have made my pre-festival jumper purchase. Playing epic tracks such as Palo Alto, Limo Song, and not to mention a cover of She’s So High (which had festival-goers flocking to the stage), River’s tunes caused the cooler temperature to be quickly forgotten. Her latest release Adolescent, self-described as ‘anti fuck boy, anti fuck girl’, was happily greeted by the crowd. The singer finished off her set urging festival-goers to vote in the upcoming election, followed by the anticipated performance of Fool’s Gold.
DMA’s took the stage, exciting the crowd with enthusiasm, starting off their set with Dawning. Being a long-time favourite band of mine, DMA’s live performance is always something to be cherished. Their melancholic performances of In The Air, Delete and Time and Money were all too familiar, but have yet to lose their charm. Closing off their set with Lay Down, DMA’s left me sad to see them go so soon, in hopes that I would one day get to witness their Triple J’s Like a Version of Believe live.
Crooked Colours emanated energy throughout their set. Playing tracks Come Back to You and Do It Like You, the group obviously came to impress. Unsurprisingly, Flow was a huge crowd pleaser, with the packed-out tent enthusiastically grooving along to the beat and punters eager to get to the front of the stage.
By this point in the day, the weather was no longer on our side. Having the ingenious idea to grab coffees and doughnuts, we were fuelled and ready to continue with the night.
Nick Murphy, aka Chet Faker, was a sight to behold. Despite the cool temperatures, this wasn’t an act we, or anyone else, would risk missing. Kicking off with Gold and 1998, Murphy did not leave listeners disappointed. With an energetic performance, captivating graphics and an overflowing crowd, this performance was a clear highlight of the day. Not to mention, there wasn’t a person in sight not singing along to an awaited track, Talk is Cheap.
Up next was Billie Eilish, the final name on our list of acts not to be missed. While I thought the crowd was large for Nick Murphy, it had somehow quickly grown for her performance on the neighbouring stage. Greeting the audience with horror-themed graphics (very on brand), Billie kicked off the set with a new track, bad guy. By this point, the crowd was shoving to the point where dancing was no longer possible, and every other person had a phone in hand, no doubt to share the force that is Billie Eilish. Following with my strange addiction and you should see me in a crown, the singer oozed the type of confidence that she has so rightly earnt.
During the hauntingly beautiful performance of when the party’s over, low and behold, the sound cut out. Despite this, the crowd continued singing the song to Billie, which was a moment to cherish. Then as quickly as she had appeared, she was waving goodbye and heading off stage, leaving fans speculating what was next. After the inevitable chants of “encore”, not to mention the equally inevitable chants of Hey Baby, she was back. She apologised for the power outage and performed her final song bury a friend.
This was certainly a festival to remember, and while the three-hour drive back home was lengthy, it gave plenty of time to reminisce and revel in the music, the outfits and the excitement of the day. Till next year, Groovin the Moo.