In the gates and bam…a mechanical bull…. My mind immediately flashed back to my research of the meaning “Groovin the Moo”.  Dictionary.Com states:  Groove – n. A very pleasurable experience. And  Moo n. To emit the deep, bellowing sound made by a cow.   I began wondering what type of festival Groovin’ the Moo going to be…

To my relief there were no cows bellowing on this fine autumn day, and contrary to what dictionary.com might suggest, it soon became apparent that  “Groovin the Moo” is a metaphor for “chilling out in pretty countryside while listening to some damn fine artists”.

With the sun high in the sky and festival-goers in great spirits I decided to familiarise myself with my surroundings; it’s always good to discover little treasures at a festival, particularly well-hidden, clean toilets!... well I didn’t find those toilets I was hoping for, and i soon realised that Groovin’ the Moo was distinctively different to what has become the standard festival. Heaven forbid a desire for a traditional Eastern European meal…No Mongolian, Vietnamese or Slovenian food stands here either. It’s Chicko Rolls, chips & hot dogs all the way…

Surroundings now familiar, it’s band time! Settled in on a sunny patch of grass high above the crowd with bird’s eye view of both the crowd and the stages, I was feeling pretty good about things.

Richie and the Creeps started preceedings; a Wollongong band consisting of two ex-Tumbleweed band members who were well received by the festivals’ fairly sparse, early arrivals.  With talent like this on display, its often a shame festival goers notoriously arrive late.  It was disheartening to see such a band perform to an almost non-existent crowd. That aside, those who were lucky enough to catch them were very impressed!

True Live gave a great performance, never have I heard a violin and a cello sound so youthfully sexy. True Live are a unique ensemble that crosses boundaries of genre and style. They are a mash up of classical, jazz & Hip Hop. Frontman Ryan-John is every bit the performer and showman. Bouncing around to Bounce. It wasn’t clear whether his energy was a result of too much red cordial or the fact that it was his birthday. So excited was he to continue performing that he requested on three occassions permission to do just one more song, on three occasions permission was granted!

Local Knowledge then hit the stage. With hip hop the flavour of the month, it was good to see another group mixing things up. These guys did away with the usual freestyle battles, theirs was a battle between the didgeridoo and DJ JT on the ones and twos.

From my pedestal I watched the crowd shuffle between stages in order to catch Clare Bowditch; they didn’t realise how good it was on my sunny patch of grass….no need to shuffle, no need to bustle, just sit back and enjoy!  As she sang ‘Monday Comes’, with her rich, gutsy voice it was clear that Clare Bowditch’s name will be appearing on the bill for plenty more festivals this year.

Then, that little treasure I was hoping to find earlier in the day was miraculously found, however I didn’t need to move a muscle to find it. Actually, I lie, I had to move my hand from my ice cold gin & tonic in order to remove my sunglasses as the treasure came in – watching the sun set beyond the stage where DJ Kato had the entire crowd bouncing around to tracks from the Presets and Hill Top Hoods. With his set, the festival lifted a gear.

Faker’s set was characteristically solid. ‘Quarter To Three’ and ‘Hurricane’ being crowd favourites. And, again characteristically, Faker frontman Nathan Hudson climbed the speaker stack either in an attempt to burn off an overdose of adrenalin or he just likes to be a little higher than the rest!

Day quickly became night and The Herd put on a high-energy performance; despite feedback problems – nothing held them back from packing a punch with their show.

A quick dash to the loo, bar (both queues reasonable) and back to my grassy oasis just in time for the infectious, timeless, rockers End of Fashion. A long way from home but looking very relaxed, my description of them as infectious rang true as by the end of their set the entire crowd was chanting along, song after song!

Then perfect got, well, umm…more perfect? As Suffa, Pessure and Debris stepped on staged. “Feel the Vibe” they rhymed, and “YES WE DO” we should of rhymed back…the vibe was electric! The boys from Adelaide Hills played like headliners ought to!

Whether the promoters consciously kept the festival raw, with the soul focus being the artists and not the Henna tattoo stands is unknown.  Whatever the case I thought it refreshing to be at a festival that was about the musicians and the product of their talent and hard work, pure and simple!...Oh, and I was pretty happy I didn’t have to deal with my conscience every time I ordered food!