inthemix | Event Coverage | Parklife @ Botanic Park, Adelaide (27/09/08)

Parklife. The very mention of the name warms you up. After slugging through the cold winter months, the announcement of the Parklife lineup heralds the coming of another hot, sweaty summer. And wasn’t this years line up a beauty? Parklife can always be relied on to deliver an eclectic and exciting line up, offering quality and diversity over the latest chart toppers. Festival favourites Peaches, Dizzee Rascal* and Soulwax were sitting pretty at the top of the bill, along with interesting up and comers like Boy 8-Bit and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.

Walking into the festival early in the afternoon, it looked like I was one of the last to arrive. The place was nearly full of excited punters already making the most of the beautiful day. Casting a quick eye over the fashions on display, I’m most pleased to report that the fluoro count was way down this year, although dodgy fake tan remains an issue. Had I tried to book a spray tan in the week preceding the event, I don’t think I would have found a salon in the city with an opening – and it appeared quite a few people had that very problem and had resorted to rolling around in cheap orange paint! Lobster bashings aside, the atmosphere was rocking as people settled in for a long-awaited day of partying.

First act I saw was Sydney’s Bag Raiders, whose brand of upbeat electro house was exactly what the afternoon called for. The sizeable crowd bounced from beginning to end, with their huge hit Fun Punch getting the biggest reaction of the set. Next up was Swedish sensation Familjen, who pranced around the stage like a pop star who’d just wandered straight out of the 80s. Opening with Forsta Sista, the younger crowd lapped up his Scandinavian electro pop (even though they couldn’t sing along). Triple J favourite and set closer Det Snurrar I Min Skalle (AKA It’s Spinning in My Head) sent the crowd into a frenzy.

British DJ/producer Boy 8-Bit followed, opening with his stormer The Suspense Is Killing Me. Despite it being an excellent set, it was perhaps a little early in the day for his tougher sounds, and the crowd didn’t seem to get it. If he had been on after dark I think he would have killed it. Next we headed over to the Water Stage to check out Ladytron, who were rocking quite a different vibe, enchanting the crowd with their distinctive brand of breathy synth-pop. The crowd swayed along to the entire set, singing along to hits like Ghosts and the 2002 smash Seventeen.

We hung around for Diplo’s set, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. His ADD-style set captured the mood of the day perfectly – not using any tracks for longer than about 60 seconds, he had a tough, funky, hugely danceable set that covered M.I.A., Daft Punk and some nice techy stuff towards the end. As it always happens at a festival, the vibe kicked up a gear around sunset. Helped no end by Diplo’s excellent set, the crowd was screaming Peaches’ name long before the outspoken rock star appeared onstage in one of the most spectacular costumes we’re likely to see this festival season. Although there was a real change in mood and style from Diplo to Peaches, it worked perfectly. She covered many of her big hits in typical Peaches style, holding the huge crowd in the palm of her hand. Boys Wanna Be Her and Sweet Machine got an already excited crowd even more hyped up.

Next it was over to Plump DJs, who turned out to be another highlight. While breaks is usually one of those genres that people either love or hate, the Plumps had the entire crowd jumping up and down and bouncing to a set that was tough, driving and fun. The Chemical Brothers’ Hey Boy, Hey Girl got a predictably huge reaction, and Joost Vermeulen’s wicked This is Cocaine Speaking drew cheers all round.

But the crowd was cheering for Dizzee Rascal long before he was due onstage, which I thought was a bit rude given the brilliant performance from the Plump DJs. When he did finally appear, you wouldn’t have been blamed for thinking it was the second coming. The crowd screamed the house down for tracks like Sirens and Fix Up, Look Sharp. Dizzee bounced around the stage like a man possessed, revving the crowd up even further (like they needed it).

Awesome as he was, the call of 2ManyDJs was too strong to resist. There was a smaller crowd at the Water Stage than when we had left, but there were still plenty of people getting into the tough sounds on offer. It was a brilliant, eclectic set, featuring sounds as diverse as Patrice Baumel’s Roar and Hot Chip’s Ready for the Floor.

Finishing on a hell of a high, we decided to call it a day – and an awesome day at that. The only downside to a day like Parklife is that you’re never going to get to see everyone you want to. I heard excellent reports about Soulwax, Martin Solveig and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, but unfortunately we missed out. Otherwise, a beautiful day with great tunes in an amazing setting, and the perfect way to kick off another festival season. Brace your ear drums, your wallets, your livers: summer is coming.