Many young (and not so young) Adelaidians attended the music festival Groove on New Years Day at Rymill Park to Welcome 2009! In previous years, people would either be recovering at home thinking ‘why did have those 7 extra vodkas!?’ or, continuing to hurt themselves at the pub before the resolutions of that year (that last maybe a month) kick in on the 2nd of January. Or perhaps they were one of the few thousand more at the Shores complex listening to fine tunes. All of which happened this year also, but lucky for us we had a new way to keep the party going!

I myself arrived around 3:30, but before gaining entry to the event, I saw many families spending time with their children outside in the park, as the sounds of Terrafirma carried through the air. If I was a parent, I would be worried about my child learning a new vocabulary of ‘f*ck, sh*t and b*tch…’ I hope they knew how to rhyme as well as these boys to cover up the expletives! There were already many there drinking and dancing, recovering under a shady tree whilst soaking up their beats They were also not so kindly sticking it to the Funkoars who were playing after them; not sure if that’s necessarily healthy but it got the crowd chanting back!

Over at the smaller playtime stage, Paul Zala was playing the latest and funkiest dance floor tracks such as remixes of Baby by PNAU. However that chilled vibe only enticed me for so long before I moved to the HQ main stage. Adelaide’s own Brendan as always was cranking out the tech-iest toughest tracks, but not one to stick to the contemporary typically commercial hits, he also busted out some New Order and other classics to keep us guessing – what a tease!

Following Brendan was Adelaide grown (but no longer owned) Mobin Master. A man of many talents, he was up on stage mixing with his Mac and decks, jamming it out on the keytar, playing only original mixes of hits and new releases. Hits include a modern mash-up of Roxanne, and 90s classic Rhythm is a Dancer. But being one to support the locals, he also showcased his mix of I Found You from vocalist and writer Lauren Neko, who is also from Adelaide. It seems there must be some talented vocalists in this lil’ ole town, as the soon to be departed Karina Chavez, the voice of Mobin’s remake of Show me Love, was up on the stage showing Adelaide just how great we are!

Following Mobin and the beach ball dilemma – that ball just couldn’t stay over the barrier! – Aston Shuffle were playing some amazing sounds! Remixing tracks such as Talk Like That by The Presets, the beats were primarily electro and techy, with many high frequency filters and synths carried over the crowd as the sun went down.

Back at the playtime stage, MPK showed us that he has a somewhat closed mind when it comes to DnB these days. With the wide variety of DnB styles, including and not limited to Ragga, Techstep, Jungle, garage, vocalized and all the rest he pumped out one main variety – Pendulum. Not once, not twice, but four tracks. For an established genre with devout listeners, why resort to only showing what the common Nova 9.19 listener would know? This is why MPK might never venture far from Adelaide, unlike the drum n’ bass God Andy C.

Andy pulled the largest crowd than any other act that day. Playing a wide variety of highly energized tracks he was accompanied by the breathtaking MC Shureshock. Having seen MC Shureshock at Summer Break and at A Day at the Park, everytime he has blown me away more and more. He’s very versatile and not limited to genre like many other MCs. He’s charged and motivating, and with a body like an AFL player, he’s a visual and audible pleasure! As the perfect complement to Andy C, the crowd was pumped up hearing vibrating double-bass riffs, soothing vocal lines and hard hitting beats. Although many claim that DnB has lost its edge in recent years, it is clear that many do know and love their DnB, and are not so quick to be caught up with the instant allure of electro house movement. Only criticism is that the decks were way too far back on the stage. With the amount of party-goers trying to get good view, unless you were in front of the stage you would have missed him, as he was invisible from the sides!

Moving on from the floods and coloured lights back over the the HQ stage which was littered with plasma screens and fluorescent tubes, the Potbelleez had drawn a smaller, and much younger crowd. Having been shown their tracks repetitively on Fresh FM, I was surprised to hear how amazing their lead vocalists’ voice was live. Not to mention how their accompanying lady was such a go-get-em tough chick!

Although many a litre of Smirnoff, sunscreen, water, and fake tan spray were needed to have such an event, it was great to see so many out of recovery to enjoy such a wonderful musical event. Enjoy the photos, and let’s keep the parties in Adelaide during 2009 just as charged! Happy New Year!