Last Saturday morning, we woke up nice and early for a lengthy drive up to Maitland for Groovin The Moo. We got our road trip playlists blaring and stomached a solid breakfast for all the slow-burning energy we needed for Australia’s biggest regional turn-up.

Cool story about Maitland: William Arnott – the fuckin’ hero who started Arnott’s biscuits – lived in this town when he emigrated to Australia from Scotland. Therefore, we have to partly thank Maitland for Tim Tams, Iced Vovos, Tiny Teddies and about a million other delicious snacks that have defined our lives since birth. Maitland also lies in close proximity to Newcastle, the birthplace of God himself aka Andrew ‘Joey’ Johns – which meant that there was an indescribable sense of magic floating in the air when we approached the area.

Maitland punters arrived in droves to the showgrounds, and spirits were high for Groovin The Moo’s opening date. Triple J legionnaire’s caps and ‘Tune’ rags were omnipresent, littering the crowd with dashes of bright red as the afternoon kicked into overdrive. The Moulin Rouge tent was our stage of choice: Odesza got it done convincingly after three sold out shows in Sydney, while Golden Features got the rave vibes flowing after he took a cheeky nap behind the decks while being wheeled onstage.

Having seen her the night before at Red Bull’s incredible house party, LWA fave Alison Wonderland showed her growth as a performer with electric cello, live vocals and drums in addition to the decks, while confetti flowed freely for a celebratory atmosphere. What So Not also delivered the heaters with some vocal assistance from George Maple, while he also dropped a tribute to the late purple icon Prince.

Oh yeah, someone also crowd surfed naked during SAFIA. Huge move. See all the pictures from Groovin The Moo above, and make sure you head along to one of their remaining dates:

Event – Groovin The Moo
Location – Maitland Showgrounds, NSW
Artists – Alison Wonderland, Safia, Odesza, Client Liason, The Rubens, Danny Brown, What So Not, DZ Deathrays, MS MR
Date – 23/04/2016
Photographer – Brayden Smith