The Groove Garden Cafe

The Groove Garden Cafe

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Posted 2014-06-21 by Haydn Radfordfollow





Last Sunday, after some fantastic lively performances from Forte and the Puritans, Symone, Gayle, Jane, Raji, Tim, Scott, John, Benno, Tony and Paul all doing their thing, and with Mark looking after sound and making it all happen, this coming Sunday (29 June) promises to be a great wind-up session before the Groove Garden takes a short winter break and closes over July.

Watch this space for updates of what's happening when it all starts again on 3 August, 2014.











The Fleurieu is well established as a lively place to enjoy the various festivals and events it has to offer, whether it be the Langhorne Creek Writers Festival, Fleurieu Art Prize Festival, Leafy Sea Dragon Festival, or the McLaren Vale Sea & Vines Festival. The many festivals and events will often combine an assortment of art, crafts, literary events and musical programs with the unique gourmet foods and fine wines of this region in its own relaxed country style.



While any day's a good day to visit McLaren Vale with its pleasant rural surroundings and friendly hospitality, on a Sunday afternoon at the The Groove Garden you can also enjoy listening to local musicians playing blues, rock, country, reggae & folk music in the alfresco garden adjacent to the heritage listed Singing Gallery, located in the old Congregational Church.

Proprietor, Samra Teague offers light meals that are tasty and good value at reasonable prices, with licensed service as well as cool drinks and coffee with a variety of cakes.


This extremely popular music venue began providing entertainment about 12 months ago when local singer/musician Kylie Kain began singing just for the fun of it to entertain visitors. Soon other local singers and musicians, Reno Krause and John Mathwyn also joined Kylie and they played spontaneously together, while sometimes they performed solo creating a wonderful musical scene.





The word spread around Adelaide and other singers and musicians joined them. The list of musicians has grown to include Jay Hoad, Chris Finnen, Stringybark McDowell, Bojo, Michael Winter, Sherilee Williams, Linda Rankin, Gallie, Leigh Marshall, Jack Hunter, Raji and James, George, Forte, Jane, Symone, John, Benno,Tony and Pete, The Yellow Blue Bus Boys, Spiral Dance, 3 Humped Camels, 50 in the City and Terry and the Tounge 'n' Groove Boys. Amazing; all amazing talent.





What I found unique and a pleasant surprise is how The Groove Garden attracts people of a wide range of ages from young couples in their 20's to senior hippies and 'folkies' in their 60's. They congregate together to create a cheerful atmosphere where you are made feel welcome to join them and listen or get up and dance. Children can be seen watching or joining in the fun when invited to sing-along or participate in the entertainment.



On the Sunday I attended, due to the popularity of a special event, the Jay Hoad and Chris Finnen ReUnion, all the tables and seats were occupied, leaving many people standing. But this was obviously not an issue as people were happy to mingle and mix and enjoy the afternoon. Being a larger than normal audience there were moments some patrons had to queue for their drinks and the popular vegetarian food. Once again, this didn't faze anyone, as the atmosphere is strictly laid-back, and the crowd display patience and have a good time and enjoy themselves.



The main attractions, Jay Hoad and Chris Finnen performed solo at times, and then jammed with local percussionists Reno Krause and John Mathwyn and guitarist/singer, Forte Bagshaw and created some lively renditions of early blues and 60's songs along with some of their own compositions.



Jay and Chris announced that they are recording a CD together, which has created a lot of interest from their audiences. Watch this space for release details.



To keep up with the latest at The Groove Garden check HERE.

**The Groove Garden opens on Sundays from 9.00 am until 7.00pm. Entertainment begins at 2.00 pm.
The liquor licence closes at 6.00pm.**

#cafes
#child_friendly
#family_attractions
#fleurieu_peninsula
#food_wine
#fun_things_to_do
#mclaren_vale
#music_venues
#near_adelaide
#performing_arts
#south_australia
#vegetarian_restaurants
#june
%wnadelaide
138498 - 2023-06-13 14:42:07

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