GROOVIN THE MOO
I have worked out the best thing about writing reviews is it does not require any physical activity, so I’m quite happy laying here in my Tweety Bird pyjamas writing about one of the best days of my life.. which let’s face it, I say that after every concert. However, I’m being quite serious. I spent Friday the 28th of April at Wayville along with 17 000 other beautiful festival goers. This was my first Groovin The Moo, but dressed fashionably in Doc Martens and a snow jacket, I was ready to go. The vegetarian food was really yummy, but I was there for the music and a 12-hour boogie. So, here’s all you need to know about my personal highlight acts: Against Me, Tash Sultana and Violent Soho… Did I mention it was the best day of my life?!
AGAINST ME
Against Me were the first set I saw and I almost wish they were on later, purely so I wasn’t sore and muddy for the rest of the day. Although the crowd was not as big for these guys, Against Me had the most dedicated and passionate fans who were screaming every single word back at them. The connection that this band had with their audience was special- they were so focused on making sure everyone was having a good time and getting lost in the music.
The Florida punk band sung songs off their 2016 album, Shape Shift With Me, which was written from a transgender point of view. Lead singer, Laura Jane Grace, delivered every song with excellence and passion. Both the live performance and vocals left me impressed, but the song that has stuck with me the most is 333. Once you get past the catchy beat and killer drums (they’re even better live), there’s a plea for love and acceptance, no denying it is relatable for everyone.
I am 100% certain after seeing Against Me, I have uncovered a new favourite band. Only problem is that the time they were on stage is still a bit blurry for me. I got head butted which took me out for a bit and I was loving the mosh. However, the silver lining is that I’m listening to their music now and it’s like I’m rediscovering them all over again.
TASH SULTANA
‘Look at her guitar, no look at her face, no look at her guitar, oh look she’s beat boxing and playing some pipe thing.’
Tough call, but Tash Sultana was my favourite act of the day. The entire set consisted of her radiating extreme vibes and leaving the audience flabbergasted with her insane music skills and rhythm. Quite literally a one-woman band, Tash looped and created sounds that a world class four piece would struggle to achieve. The only fault being that the mic occasionally dropped out, and that wasn’t even her fault, so technically still a flawless performance! And don’t get me started on that angelic voice of hers; as if her playing ability wasn’t enough, Tash’s singing adds at totally unique and different element to her sound. Seductive and smooth, yet also raspy and fierce, she had the audience captivated with every song. As I am writing this (the next day) I read that Sultana has cancelled her GTM Maitland set due to laryngitis and a risk to permanent vocal damage. I’m just taking a moment to appreciate how blessed Adelaide was to experience her magic. Although Tash made mention a few times that ‘it has been a shitty past couple weeks’, one would have thought that her pet gold fish had died because there was not even slight evidence of sickness.
Tash played Notion which she revealed was ‘the most important song she has ever written’ and finished her set with the crowd favourite Jungle. Tash Sultana is so far from main stream music yet resides exactly on how powerful and healing music is- both for herself and her fans.
VIOLENT SOHO
What is one band that can top off all the previous acts and leave a crowd buzzing for hours? Violent Soho of course. I like to think that I stand strong at 170cm and can hold my own, but the push of the people had me questioning this (slightly). As soon as Soho came out onto the stage, people went absolutely bonkers and I knew straight up it was going to be good.
The Queensland band came running on throwing out toilet paper rolls before going into their first song, Viceroy. The tunes that followed did not let down the hyped crowd as they thrashed out all their hits and dedicated a couple songs to the fans that knew of them before Hungry Ghost. The energy was ecstatic the entire time but everyone was hanging out for Covered In Chrome. Let me tell you that jumping around with a couple thousand other people screaming ‘HELL FUCK YEAH’ with all your heart is the most incredible feeling.
Now time to get ready for some home pride- lead singer, Luke Boerdam, said Adelaide has the best music scene (and marijuana) in Australia. Just when I thought my night was not going to get any better, Soho gave a shout out to my favourite local thrash band STORK- Fucking congrats guys!!!
You can get away with being an alt rock band whilst not being very musically talented, however that is not the case with Violent Soho. Their riffs and licks are so full that there is no questioning the fact they know exactly what they are doing and aren’t just some throw away band.
It was loud, it was sweaty and I wasn’t sure which limbs were my own, but the guys absolutely smashed it and closed a night that everyone will be talking about.
