Groovin' the Moo - Bendigo, 3rd May 2014
Words: Courtney Jones and Cass Fuller
There is one thing, without fail, that can turn a decent festival lineup with oodles of potential into the definition of suckage. The crowd... You can have shitty weather, sound issues and a dodgy venue but if the crowd is on it, it’s on! You often get swept up in a tide of excitement, anticipation and joy. But any band can put on a fantastic set, play harder and better than ever before but if the crowd’s not on it, it’s a bust.
Groovin’ The Moo, Bendigo Edition - it has a crowd that is the characterisation of “I’m here to be seen”; obnoxious and annoying. It’s a social event more about getting fucked up than it is about the music. There’s a litany of people that have taken fashion cues from Coachella (the ultimate “I’m here to be seen” music festival) held in the California desert during summer. It’s hard to imagine crop tops and lace maxi skirts would be intelligent clothing choices on a chilly autumn day in Bendigo with a predicted maximum of fifteen degrees and the likelihood of rain. There’s also a chance that these people don’t realise that the internet offers a plethora of blogs dedicated to mocking Coachella fashion, bejewelled faces and why wearing an Indian Headdress makes you look like an ignorant moron, more than a carefree boho babe.
The Prince of Wales showgrounds was a mud bath. Gumboots were the order of the day but Melbourne act Kingswood, promoted to the main stage after a stint in the Moolin Rogue tent last year, ripped it up. From initiating a full-scale make-out session amongst the crowd to educating them on how to use condoms, it was hard to tell how the rest of the festival would progress.
Illy at least got some sort of crowd participation with Youngbloods and Heard It All, then over at the Moolin Rogue tent Parkway Drive pulled a throng of head banging, hardcore dancing crazies together. They were definitely the most hardcore of all the bands in this year’s lineup. There were a few flailing limbs that were probably considered hazardous, but at least in good faith.
A tour of the gastronomical options saw a pronounced lack of festival favourite - the Korean Twist Chip. Come on guys, how could you not! And speaking of not, apparently there was a lack of people who took notice of Groovin The Moo’s FAQs about the ATM availability. The line was never less than twenty deep the entire event. Considering at last year’s GTM Bendigo the whole system failed, even in the merchandise tent, you would think people may have cottoned on to the thought of simply bringing cash with them. Alas, one does not simply think about the ‘dollas’ like they do their outfits. Because everyone knows that if you travel north of Melbourne, its bound to be warmer. Right? So, so wrong!
Groovin’ The Moo, Bendigo Edition - it has a crowd that is the characterisation of “I’m here to be seen”; obnoxious and annoying. It’s a social event more about getting fucked up than it is about the music. There’s a litany of people that have taken fashion cues from Coachella (the ultimate “I’m here to be seen” music festival) held in the California desert during summer. It’s hard to imagine crop tops and lace maxi skirts would be intelligent clothing choices on a chilly autumn day in Bendigo with a predicted maximum of fifteen degrees and the likelihood of rain. There’s also a chance that these people don’t realise that the internet offers a plethora of blogs dedicated to mocking Coachella fashion, bejewelled faces and why wearing an Indian Headdress makes you look like an ignorant moron, more than a carefree boho babe.
The Prince of Wales showgrounds was a mud bath. Gumboots were the order of the day but Melbourne act Kingswood, promoted to the main stage after a stint in the Moolin Rogue tent last year, ripped it up. From initiating a full-scale make-out session amongst the crowd to educating them on how to use condoms, it was hard to tell how the rest of the festival would progress.
Illy at least got some sort of crowd participation with Youngbloods and Heard It All, then over at the Moolin Rogue tent Parkway Drive pulled a throng of head banging, hardcore dancing crazies together. They were definitely the most hardcore of all the bands in this year’s lineup. There were a few flailing limbs that were probably considered hazardous, but at least in good faith.
A tour of the gastronomical options saw a pronounced lack of festival favourite - the Korean Twist Chip. Come on guys, how could you not! And speaking of not, apparently there was a lack of people who took notice of Groovin The Moo’s FAQs about the ATM availability. The line was never less than twenty deep the entire event. Considering at last year’s GTM Bendigo the whole system failed, even in the merchandise tent, you would think people may have cottoned on to the thought of simply bringing cash with them. Alas, one does not simply think about the ‘dollas’ like they do their outfits. Because everyone knows that if you travel north of Melbourne, its bound to be warmer. Right? So, so wrong!
Vance Joy was together and chilled out. Obviously having the biggest response from overplayed but never unenjoyable Riptide and then with an awesome cover of Masters Apprentices Australian classic It’s Because I Love You, that everyone sang along to unconsciously. Except the guy who had three pieces of pizza and was enjoying them immensely, complete with blissed out eye rolling. Obviously orgasmic.
Architecture In Helsinki bought neon and white outfits, synchronized dancing and an energy that was boundless. Each and every song was a bop along effort, even as the sky darkened and a cloudy gloom set in.
It was Karnivool that brought the rain three songs into their set and in turn, a collection of brightly coloured plastic ponchos. Probably the second best set for the whole event, they performed a variety of songs across their three studio albums. The best of their set were their final two - Themata and New Day - which the crowd happily sang along to.
Over in the Moolin Rogue tent Peking Duk opened their set with a rendition of seminal classic for the kids who grew up on Playschool On The Ning Nang Nong. Surely it will be stuck in everybody’s head for days now.
By the time New Zealand act The Naked and Famous hit the stage, the rain had let up, though not the brisk chill. There was a thrum of excitement for Punching In A Dream and Young Blood, both favourites from their first album (Young Blood in particular was where the most crowd participation had been seen so far). There seemed to be little enthusiasm from the crowd for songs from their sophomore album, despite the fantastic A Stillness. Up next were The Jezabels, who never fail to disappoint. Singer Hayley Mary surprising those less familiar with the band at the strength of her vocals.
The time had come. It was headliner time with a three pronged assault that included Aussie DJs The Presets, UK imports Dizzee Rascal and Disclosure. There was a moment of confusion as to why The Presets have the lead slot on the main stage when Dizzee Rascal was the clear headliner here. With his mesmerising accent and pronunciation of words, Dizzee Rascal brought with him
Architecture In Helsinki bought neon and white outfits, synchronized dancing and an energy that was boundless. Each and every song was a bop along effort, even as the sky darkened and a cloudy gloom set in.
It was Karnivool that brought the rain three songs into their set and in turn, a collection of brightly coloured plastic ponchos. Probably the second best set for the whole event, they performed a variety of songs across their three studio albums. The best of their set were their final two - Themata and New Day - which the crowd happily sang along to.
Over in the Moolin Rogue tent Peking Duk opened their set with a rendition of seminal classic for the kids who grew up on Playschool On The Ning Nang Nong. Surely it will be stuck in everybody’s head for days now.
By the time New Zealand act The Naked and Famous hit the stage, the rain had let up, though not the brisk chill. There was a thrum of excitement for Punching In A Dream and Young Blood, both favourites from their first album (Young Blood in particular was where the most crowd participation had been seen so far). There seemed to be little enthusiasm from the crowd for songs from their sophomore album, despite the fantastic A Stillness. Up next were The Jezabels, who never fail to disappoint. Singer Hayley Mary surprising those less familiar with the band at the strength of her vocals.
The time had come. It was headliner time with a three pronged assault that included Aussie DJs The Presets, UK imports Dizzee Rascal and Disclosure. There was a moment of confusion as to why The Presets have the lead slot on the main stage when Dizzee Rascal was the clear headliner here. With his mesmerising accent and pronunciation of words, Dizzee Rascal brought with him
the festival storm. Performing hits such as Holiday, Dance Wiv Me and Bassline Junkie, the crowd had the beach balls flying everywhere. After leaving the stage, without playing popular hit Bonkers, the crowd was screaming. They felt violated. Used. Of course you know what happened next. It was magical. Never in a million years would you ever think that you would see Dizzee Rascal perform Bonkers in Bendigo. Kudos GTM - the crowd actually went, well, bonkers!
The performance of Dizzee Rascal left excitement in the mouths of the crowd, eager to see what The Presets and Disclosure could follow up with. Performing a set isn’t just about the music. It’s about the stage presence too. Combine that with the crowd you have in front of you and its pretty fair to say that your act, whether good or bad (some have crazy antics), would still be memorable. But if you spend your whole set hiding behind your DJ booth with minimal action and audience interaction, you’re going to leave the ever-so-sour taste of disappointment, with everyone that’s watching you. Both acts were nothing but a disappointment.
There’s a fair amount of appreciation for what the organisers of GTM achieve, sourcing decent acts to come and rock out in regional areas, providing accessibility for those who can’t make it to the city for the bigger festivals. But it seems that there’s an increasing number of people who use GTM as an extension of the club scene - an occasion to be seen, take multiple selfies and be as insufferable as possible. With every festival you expect there to be a certain number of people who are drunk, pinging or stoned (what is a concert without the acrid smell of pot?), a certain number of people who dress up either in costume (or something vaguely considered borderline in that area), and even a certain number of people to act inconsiderately. This year’s crowd seemed so different to last year’s. Though, while in other festivals, the golden rule of “if someone falls over in the mosh, you pick them back up” never feels threatened, there’s an aura with GTM’s crowd that if you fell over, they’d actually leave you there.
The performance of Dizzee Rascal left excitement in the mouths of the crowd, eager to see what The Presets and Disclosure could follow up with. Performing a set isn’t just about the music. It’s about the stage presence too. Combine that with the crowd you have in front of you and its pretty fair to say that your act, whether good or bad (some have crazy antics), would still be memorable. But if you spend your whole set hiding behind your DJ booth with minimal action and audience interaction, you’re going to leave the ever-so-sour taste of disappointment, with everyone that’s watching you. Both acts were nothing but a disappointment.
There’s a fair amount of appreciation for what the organisers of GTM achieve, sourcing decent acts to come and rock out in regional areas, providing accessibility for those who can’t make it to the city for the bigger festivals. But it seems that there’s an increasing number of people who use GTM as an extension of the club scene - an occasion to be seen, take multiple selfies and be as insufferable as possible. With every festival you expect there to be a certain number of people who are drunk, pinging or stoned (what is a concert without the acrid smell of pot?), a certain number of people who dress up either in costume (or something vaguely considered borderline in that area), and even a certain number of people to act inconsiderately. This year’s crowd seemed so different to last year’s. Though, while in other festivals, the golden rule of “if someone falls over in the mosh, you pick them back up” never feels threatened, there’s an aura with GTM’s crowd that if you fell over, they’d actually leave you there.