A Day At The Park @ Rymill Park, Adelaide (05/10/08)
WOW! What a shock-fest A Day at the Park turned out to be. After attending Parklife interstate last week and witnessing some amazing international talent, and after being shown some of the best Classic Anthems the week before that, I didn’t have any big expectations of this event. I was just out for, a day at the park basically. Hands down, this is one of the best events I’ve been to in a very long time. Musically, what a treat! Weather, absolutely stunning, and the crowd and vibe was freaking pumping! And lots of other surprises to make it a fantastic day.
I arrived to Rymill Park to see Goodwill cranking the electro, nothing too much of a surprise but the people there were certainly moving. Then out comes Kid Kenobi I think he may need to change his name to ‘angsty teenage Kenobi.’ He looks very different with facial hair; what happened to our gorgeous pin-up boy? While he may be looking a bit different, his mixing skills is where it counts and I think he’s continuing to evolve in this respect. Every time I’ve seen him I’ve fallen in love with his music even more, and how skilled he is at delivering what people want to hear. It was mashed up beautifully too, with a tasty mix of electro breaks and upfront remixes of other classic dance tracks. There was no loser in this scenario, Adelaide won big time! Coming out with a Timberland remix, that brought the crowd to the stage, not to mention Meet Her at the Love Parade, breaks style… Bliss!
Kid Kenobi was far more mainstream when he played at HQ recently, so it was good to see a return to his former breaks glory. And MC Shureshock might have also been a little tame last time I saw him (and maybe even a little ‘lame’ too), today I was forced to retract my words… What an amazing job dude! He had the crowd singing along, he was throwing in alternate verses from other tracks into the breakdowns in the tracks and he even adopted the role of a loved-up raver when Kid Kenobi introduced a remix of La La Land. Not to mention, the 20 odd girls from the crowd who lined up across the stage alongside him while eh danced away! Now this is a man who knows how to inspire a crowd.
From there I wandered over to the VIP area to see the last half hour of DJ Brendon’s set. He had that room pumping! Then Aston Shuffle were playing some remixes of classic old school anthems and house tracks. Some of the younger crowd didn’t recognise them, but the true music appreciators were there to lap it up!
At this point, I do believe the crowd themselves deserve a mention, as they renewed my faith in the people of Adelaide. They know how to party and spread the loving vibe. Being thrown around the crowd were a few green plastic inflatable tubes called ‘the rings of love’ which people would jump into and cuddle and hug, then throw back into the air to keep the love moving. Now that’s something I haven’t seen at a party before! A friend of mine was wearing a ‘hugs not drugs’ t-shirt, and I think I saw at least 15 random people cuddle him like a bear! After attending Parklife in Melbourne, I have to say that their vibe isn’t even comparable. It’s not a case of me being an over-proud South Aussie, we just seriously know how to kick off the shoes and have a good time!
The lucky VIPs got to experience Tydi twice, ‘cause he played for them for an hour before he hit the main stage. What a legend! I now know why he’s been taken the crown as Australia’s #1 DJ. Not only does he drop killer tracks like Road To Nowhere and extended remixes of Touch Me by Rui Da Silva, he really interacts with the crowd. He’d be dancing with the crowd, letting people know when some huge tune was about to be dropped, and jumping up onto the desk hailing the crowd, like the god of music he is. When he played again in the main area… Wow! I don’t think I’ve danced so hard in years. Then the lights went down, and the music turned off… the crowd was shouting ‘One more! One more!’ I’ve never seen a crowd so eager to stay. I don’t think I’ve stayed at an event to the end since Future Music Festival when Chemical Brothers were the closing act.
So with little expectations, I was honestly blown away by A Day At The Park. Bug kudos goes out to Dale at Eclipse, cause this is truly what a party should be like, and you gave that to us. I’ve always been a Kid Kenobi stalker, but I think I’ll be doing the same for Tydi now too! For my closing comments, I’ll throw it over to Melbourne’s Andy Murphy who summed it all up at the afterparty. “Seriously guys, I love playing in Adelaide. You guys have the best parties in Australia! And I’m not just saying that like Justin Timberlake would at a concert, you guys seriously rule!”
Needles says...
Great review, couldn't have said it better myself. Kid Kenobi's set was amazing. Great crowd vide. Perfect weather. Looking forward to the next one!
Ben Royal says...
Good review - the photos from this event look great. did the stafford brothers play? weren't they the headliners?
the elektro kitten says...
yes they did play - but to be honnest i saw 10mins and found them ... average compared to what was on elsewhere and previous that day
Needles says...
BTW - La la land remix was a mashup with Justice - Waters of Nazareth
The Kirby says...
The stafford brothers played, but before they came on, someone stole their cd's so they used all borrowed cd's and vinyl. :| it's even better when they pretty much got off the plane to play in adelaide after playing at Brisbane Parklife...
the elektro kitten says...
oh that explains a lot - and why orignal times were changed... Poor guys.. they did a good job considering!