Parklife returned and warmed us up for the rest of the summer festival fun. And that’s what I consider Parklife as – a warm up, with festivals like BBQ Breaks, Big Day Out and Summerfieldayz, the main workout. Not to detract from Parklife as a festival much like a workout the warm up is just as important as the main event. And there is by no means any shortage of talent Mixmaster Mike even explained to me in our interview (found on this heralded website) that he seeks out the Parklife festival.

Like many people I meandered between stages, given that there were many conflicts on who I’d like to see. So my review of the artists is in no particular order. Fuzzy must be commended for an awesome setup the stages had enough room between them to keep the crowds within their respective bounds of that stage. But they weren’t placed 100 of meters apart given the feeling you run a marathon by the time the day is out. No Fuzzy realized people wanted to dance first and walk second. Excellent layout to go with the awesome sound and lighting setups for an outdoors arena.

Festivals bring out the inner most festive person from within to the surface, along with the creative fancy dresses. I saw your normal run of the mill police, nurses, cowboys, punk outfits, along with some ‘rude’ accessorizing. The one outfit that stood out to me was by a bloke who was clearly too drunk asking people to write random stuff over his body. On top of that guys and girls were out in all their summer gear so it was a decent perve respectively.

On to our artists catching My Ninja Lover again this time in festival environment, I found them slightly more animated and entertaining when they have room to move. Running off hits from their latest EP, their catalogues isn’t huge but what they lack in material they make up for in showmanship.

Vinyl Slingers were a must see for me, missing their many appearances at other festivals and gigs before I had to see these guys after many recommendations. They too do not disappoint, not knowing their material I still found these guys thoroughly entertaining Indian feathers and all.

Cut Chemist also a must see for me, I’ve seen him many times before with Jurassic 5, but by himself he could let go for a full hour. Showing off his turntable wizardry to some unknown tracks I suspect could be on his upcoming release, one of DJ Shadow’s new tracks and Blackalicous’s Alphabet Aerobics, as well as various Rock riffs. His hypeman did help just to add that extra dimension and bringing his MC skills mid set help break up the scratchathon. Cut Chemist showed the crowd what we could do with technology, by recording a few random crowd comments and scratching to them.

Next I had to see PTY LTD again these guys came recommended. Walking toward the Earth stage I was almost stopped dead in my tracks to Kid Kenobi and MC Shureshock. Damn just the beats bellowing from the speakers and those sharp bass kicks in true Kid Kenobi style had me hooked. So I danced and slowly on my way to Earth stage. Unfortunately by the time I made it PTY LTD was on their second last song, still from what I heard they seemed like a quality act. I Mosied back to Kid Kenobi set and got my dose of breaks.

By this time I took some time to have sit down, get some dinner and few drinks and wander around a few of the stalls. Most of the stalls just seemed like stuff you can get at the valley markets and Saturday morning only overpriced, for the event.

Not really hanging to see anyone else until Mixmaster Mike, I caught a bit of everyone. Brisbane’s own Butterfingers never disappoint with comedial hip hop stylings. Salmonella Dub, showed off their dub/breaks party skills and definitely had the crowd moving. Dirty South were someone I hadn’t heard much about before so I checked them out, I’d say the set was solid but by this time it was hard to top Kid Kenobi.

Finally arriving at the main event Mix Master Mike, said he’d come out to Australia and Unleash and that he did. From the moment he hit the decks he let loose with his arsenal of turntable tricks. Unlike Cut Chemist who DJ skills are more cerebral, Mix Master Mike is a monster. At once stage dropping, System Of a Down, Rage Against The Machine and Nirvana. That got the crowd hyped and there wasn’t a still body at the water stage.

By that time I was danced out a full day of breaks/hip hop/dub I concluded my night wandering between Krafty Kuts and Coldcut. Krafty Kuts were doing everything in Krafty Kuts style. These guys are true showmen, and with a decent catalogue now they combined for an excellent conclusion to Parklife. Coldcut in much the same vein closed out the night I noticed their set even seemed a little less full on, giving the crowd a chance to wind down.

After relaxing to Coldcut’s set and exiting venue, my feet and legs were sore a little tired, tipsy but thoroughly fulfilled.