inthemix | Event Coverage | Parklife @ Wellington Square, Perth (29/09/08)

Parklife can only mean one thing. Well, maybe two things – it’s almost the start of summer, and it’s most definitely the start of festival season. Many happy attendees of last year’s event proclaimed it was one of the best run and best artist-equipped festivals they had ever been to, and they weren’t far off the mark. Juicy juicy green grass at Wellington Square, no hassles getting drinks or food, no mountainous treks to reach other stages and an incredibly solid set of headliners including Justice, Digitalism and M.I.A. Two years earlier Perth had its first Parklife in amongst the Deen and the Shed in the streets of Northbridge, which was a novelty setup that hadn’t really been tried before. The results were mixed with the day being held as a success by many punters, but others were left out in the cold when venues reached capacity and were prevented from seeing their favourite acts.

The Queens Birthday long weekend again played host to the first festival of the season and the traditional Monday public holiday enabled many nine-to-fivers to get a sneaky Monday out in the sun. With quality acts on early, decisions were made and the masses descended on East Perth to hear the speaker stacks warming up. One of the first acts on the Air Stage were Aussie dynamos Bag Raiders. Having tore us a all a new you-know-what with La Musique a year or two ago, the duo had been a little bit quiet while they have been working on a new EP to be dropped at the end of the month. Walking into the blazing keytar riffs of Fun Punch, the crowd was moving and not afraid to get things started early. Playing a nice blend of melodic electro which included a nice remix of Cut Copy’s Out There on the Ice and a second spinning of Fun Punch (it could have been their own Bag Raiders remix), the Raiders were a perfect way to start the day.

After a quick bit of grub it was over to the Water Stage for one of the more cultured inclusions in the lineup, the duo of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani as Metro Area. Their seminal 2002 self titled album was pretty much the first step in the now in vogue disco revival movement. Their brand of ice-cold minimal disco still sounds fresh and it was perhaps a little unfortunate they hadn’t been booked to play a live set instead of a DJ set. Kicking into some minimal funky house, the boys delved into their undoubtedly expansive vinyl collection to bring out gem after gem and I’d doubt if anyone except them had a clue what they were. It wasn’t a big factor, and even though the stage didn’t have the crowds it would be drawing later in the evening, there were a few punters up and about, having a jolly ol’ time in the sun to some fantastic summertime jams.

Without the need to move stages for Soulwax, prime positions were staked as the crowd quickly packed in for the legends from Belgium. Soulwax have an almost unique reputation as a live electronic band that really blows people away and this reputation had spread by the size of the crowd rapidly filling out the stage area. Starting with a couple of original numbers, the four-piece, led by Stephen and David Dewaele, have been a staple of the electro-rock scene since their 1996 debut. The crowd really got moving with their extended remix of Justice’s Phantom Pt. II which takes the three minute original into a seven and a half minute opus and would have to have been one of the tracks of the day.

After Soulwax cleared away their vintage synthesizers, the decks were brought out for the one and only Diplo. The man is like a musical prophet, going to places no one has thought of before and bringing the talent he finds to the arms of his adoring legions of fans. He is also one of the most party starting DJs you are ever likely to witness. Going from baile funk to Nirvana to Prodigy and everything else in between, the man was a wizard behind the decks, effortlessly switching between styles and genres to have the masses pining for more. His talent lays in the fact that you never know what he is going to play next and where, if other less talented DJs dropped the same tracks, they might booed off stage. His flow and mixing skill weaves in and out, never missing a beat, yet managing to mash tracks together you would have never thought possible. Shame there was no Perth sideshow.

Moving quickly over to the Earth Tent to get some beats broken, Plump DJs were gearing up and ready to let loose. The Plumps have always been honorary Perthonalities with their almost annual homage always attracting big crowds wherever they play. System Addict was one of the biggest tracks of last year and countless fans were swooning with the chance to hear it live. But unfortunately the Plumps never really got out of first gear for the first half of their set playing a fairly low tempo and ultimately a little uninspiring selection of tunes. Fans up the front were still getting busy but it seemed as though people were expecting a little more from the star London duo. Things started to pick up a little but by that stage the Dewaele brothers and yours truly were returning to the Air Stage for 2ManyDJs.

It must be really sweet, not only being in a world famous electro band, but also being some of the most in demand DJs going around. It must be tough being a Dewaele. DJ duos seemed to be the theme of my the day with Bag Raiders, Van She Tech, Metro Area, Plumps and 2ManyDJs all opting for a second pair of hands behind the decks. Without wasting any time, the boys got stuck in with their own remixes of The Gossip and recent rework of the Chemical Bros, which predictably sent the crowd nuts – ‘Hey boy, hey girl, 2manydjs, here we go’! Playing some upbeat electro and some more techy house like fellow performer Fake Blood and his stormer Mars, the boys from Ghent had the stage rocking with chunky basslines and pumping beats that you couldn’t help but dance to.

After what seemed like a minute but was actually an hour, it was time to head to the Fire stage to close out the night to be offended, yeah? The men with the silliest name in electro had their star shoot to fame last year with their singles Weird Science and Let’s Make Out and had many critics and fans disagreeing with their mish-mash style on debut album You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into. From the balls out electro of We Are Rockstars to the pop rock of Dawn of the Dead, the general consensus was the album was a success (well in my record club anyway). Their first visit to Australia was preceded by a reputation for a raucous live show and a party atmosphere of a rock band, with the danceable tunes to go with. Kicking it going with Let’s Make Out and some of the more electro numbers, the boys, especially co-frontman Morgan seemed to be having a great time until some clowns started to throw cans and vocalist/bassist James Rushent piped up and threatened to take the chuckers out the back and definitely offend them. A few stage divers later and Does It Offend You Yeah? were finished after half an hour. What a disappointment, they sounded great and the crowd was enjoying every minute, it wasn’t clear what lead to the walk off but if it was for a few cans, and a band with a rowdy live reputation, that would have been extremely shit.

Despite some rather large waits for punters to get in, Parklife Perth 2008 was another resounding success with large crowd numbers, perfect weather and another solid lineup. Whether they will ever be able to replicate the monstrous lineup of last year is doubtful due to the now abundant festival calendar that is about to roar to life over the coming months. Get your beroccas and credit cards ready kiddies, summers here and it won’t be leaving for a fair while.