Hilltop Hoods are veterans to the Groovin the Moo circuit but the trio still loves returning to the tour for regional shows.
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This year is the fourth time Hilltop Hoods have been included on the line-up.
“(GTM) is one of the great festivals that aren’t based in capital cities. It’s great to see the regional areas where people are more hungry (for live shows),” Debris (aka Barry Francis) said.
“It’s also good to see a bit of the countryside on the way to towns and venues rather than airports, hotels and concrete in between everything.
“All the GTM venues are in such beautiful places.”
GTM will be the last set of Australian shows before Hilltop Hoods head to Europe and the UK for the international festival circuit.
Debris said despite the group having been playing for more than 10 years, festivals were still a great place for people to be exposed to new music.
“One of the advantages of playing festivals is you get people who are necessarily exposed to your music,” he said.
“Someone might drag their friends over to us or there might be noting else on so they check us out. And because of that we might get a fan for life.
“We have had people say ‘I was never into you but I saw you live at a festival and was converted’. That’s a great way to get extra ears on the music. It’s a snowball effect how that works.”
Crowds at GTM are sure to get a taste of Hilltop Hoods’ latest album, Walking Under Stars, as well as hearing some of the group’s most famous tracks.
“The great thing is with the more album you produce, the better your palate is to choose from,” Debris said.
“We always do the old classics but it’s good being able to choose from some of the new stuff and get a balance out of it.”
The group is touring with a three-piece horn section as well as a drummer. It is sure to make their set as entertaining as ever.
“It should be a pumping show. Even with the older tracks, we still love doing them and the more we perform them the more they evolve over time.
“The way we perform Nosebleed Section is different to how we would have done it 10 years ago.”
Walking Under Stars, which is Hilltop’s fourth number one album, is also a book end to Drinking From the Sun.
“(Number one) is always beyond our expectations but how it resonates with people is important,” Debris said.
“There’s be great traction from this record and we are always very humbled and appreciative of it.”
