It was a privilege to be invited to The Parklife weekend in Manchester’s Heaton Park. The sun was blazing down on 150,000 music lovers who dipped in and out of music tents/open air stages across 600 acres of land. Our most memorable listens from The Saturday were from the following:
The Sounds Of The Future Tent saw new electronic pop from emerging artists. This was the tent that welcomed youthful crowds who make these artists famous through viral online sharing.
Disclosure – This was the pre chart announcement night where Lawrence brothers waited anxiously to see if they could hit number one with their debut album ‘Settle.’ The boys took to the stage, kicking the dance scene off into oblivion. Crowds roared as Sam Smith’s ‘Latch’ boomed through the tent. The fan base reassured Disclosure that they would hit the number one spot on Sunday..and they weren’t lying !
Four Tet – Post rock electro musician produces music which originally eschewed the traditional pop song format in favour of a more abstract approach. Some might say he started off the new electro pop trend. Kieran (Four Tet is his stage name) has more music knowledge than the younger performers. Hearing ‘Nova’ struck a chord in our hearts.
AlunaGeorge – We absolutely love this duo after interviewing them last month. The bedroom recording success story proved themselves once again. They gave the crowd an identical set to Liverpool’s Sound City. Their Montell Jordan cover ‘This is how we do it’ got the 90’s garage vibe buzzing. This tent was home to Disclosure who also collaborated with AlunaGeorge. A match made in heaven.
Baauer – Who didn’t want to do the Harlem Shake at Parklife ?!
Cyril Hahn – A current remix god who shot to fame after his deep vocal remix of Destinys Child’s ‘Say My Name’ gave the crowd more of his sexy music. The crowd got their grind on for his contagious ethereal beats.
The Main Stage Saturday
Plan B, The Maccabees, Rudimental, Jessie Ware and The Temper Trap took to the main stage on Saturday. Rudimental brought Ella Ayre to sing tracks off their new album sung by other famous female vocalists such as Emeli Sande. Her powerful voice shook the ground when she sang her number one hit ‘Waiting All Night.’ Jessie Ware followed their set and expressed her love for Manchester. She even went as far as dedicating a track to Alex Ferguson which obviously divided the local city/united fans. All of Jessie’s performance was identical to her recorded album ‘Devotion.’ Plan B psyched up the crowd and extracted the remaining energy out of fans who were now tired after a day of drinking in the sun.
Sunday was a different feeling all together. The crowd were more chilled and friendly creating a carnival like atmosphere. The Red Bull DJ set attracted ravers to the hill before the main stage. It was here that sets from the likes of Daniel Avery and Pedestrian echoed amongst a small crowd of festival goers who kicked around sand in a coachella fashion.
The Big Top tent heard Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs who feature a lot on Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw’s radio shows. Their remixes are insane and hearing their new track ‘Warm Water’ featuring L.A artist Banks was a dream. Julio Bashmore attracted a large group of fans who went crazy when ‘Au Seve ‘came on. Shy FX, Mark Ronson, Bondax and Zebra Katz were well worth our trekking mission across the park !
The Main Stage Sunday
Sunday was Diva Day on the main stage after pop/Rnb artists Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora gave the crowd a fashion and music show that didn’t disappoint. In a nearby tent rocker Jonny Marr proved himself as a solo artist, it was a delight to see him perform in his hometown. Example closed the weekend with an incredible bang there was a sad tone from the crowd who didn’t want the weekend to end. However it was just the start, Example confirmed that festival season had begun. We were lucky to see all of the artists at the season opening, full of energy and good banter.
Enjoy our gallery of performances …………………………….
