Checking the weather all week, I cant say I was surprised to wake up to pouring rain, but I certainly wasn't happy about it! Poncho, umbrella, beanie, scarf and gloves packed and 6 warm layers of clothing later I was ready. I'm not sure why I was outraged to see that so many people forgot to get dressed, but come on people, it was 12 degrees, raining with 50km/hour winds, well that's what the forecast said and it was spot on! The sinking feeling got worse as we pulled up outside Moore Park and had to watch some dude throwing up beside the road on his way in to the festival, not a good start.
Anyway enough about the weather.
After passing through the gates and taking in the beautiful festival grounds of Moore Park we headed over to the stage we could hear Kimbra playing. We caught a few of her tracks including her latest catchy single Good Intent. She didn't really grab me but I thought she was pretty good, I was still taking it all in at this stage of the day.
Sebastian was up next, never really heard much of his stuff before and I found him a little douchey constantly wanting praise from the crowd and never cracking a smile but everyone seemed to like him. I've never seen someone chain smoke like that before, he lit each new cigarette with the end of the last one and continued that way for his entire set. His projector show was very trippy with what looked like a rubber face version of him speaking every now and then. I found his music really easy to dance to and it was a good start to the day. However this was also the set I stumbled upon a girl who was basically wearing skin tight denim underwear, I guess she would have called "shorts" and anyone who is a facebook friend of mine got to experience that along side me on the day. I believe I posted it with the caption "I just threw up in my mouth a little bit!"
I was really looking forward to Death From Above 1979 but I had no idea of what to expect live from this 2 piece who reformed this year (who knows for how long though). I love it when a bands drummer is also the main singer, seems to me like that would take a huge amount of coordination. Grainger on drums was a little distracting with his blond undercut, it was very Aaron Carter, but apart from the random hair I was really impressed with his musicality and skills. Unfortunately it started raining during this set and out came the ponchos. With the wind blowing, the crowd appeared to be a billowing, brightly colored, loudly rustling, plastic bag. Black History Month is definitely my favourite track by these guys and they played it so well, I was stoked it was on there set list.
Example was ok, he played all his popular tracks off the current album including Changed The Way You Kiss Me. We managed to pick a really terrible spot for Example and we moved a few times to find a better one, by the time we did, the set was almost over. It felt like there was a few people doing the same as us because everyone seemed so distracted, however I got the distinct feeling like everyone's drugs kicked in at the same time and people started running around and bumping into each other like lemmings on smack.
Santigold brought the sun out with her. I really enjoyed Santigolds show, she had an amazing LED screen show going on behind her which I thought was so much fun to watch and really added to the theatrical spectacular that was her show. Highlight of her set for me was her song Hold The Line which she originally recorded with Major Lazer. She was really dynamic to watch with her massive glasses and loads of energy, I really didn't expect much, maybe that's why I was so impressed. I actually think she was the highlight of the day for me.
By this stage of the day it became painfully evident that I was one of VERY few people not off my face on drugs or completely boozed out. Its not that I felt old, I was mainly just irritated by freaks losing their Forshiz left right and center and struggling to remain vertical. At one point a group of drunk bitches stumbled over and one said to the other "I dont think I should drink anymore, I'm really drunk!". We laughed and one of them staggered over got in my brothers face and said "Are you judging us?" and whilst I felt like saying, "yes we are you drunk whore, now get out of our faces!" my brother more diplomatically said something along the lines of "take a step back, then run along" by this stage she turned around, realised her friends had wanderd off, stood there awkwardly for a second then stormed off...moron. As for the music, we were currently watching Digitalism, they were fantastic, really energetic. Everyone was definietely enjoying the music and my favourite was easily their current single Circles. I was a little irritated by the guy in front of me who kept freaking out, pulling his hair out and making the shape of a heart in his hands above his head, mimicking the heart shapes being displayed on Digitalism's screen behind the band. But he wasn't as bad as the girl who appeared next to a mate in the drinks line and told him that she could feel every hair on her head. When he inquired as to whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, she replied "Oh my god, it feels amazing!!!!"... Yep, you enjoy those dying brain cells!
Unfortunately Nero was my biggest dissapointment for the day. I know Dubstep isnt always the easiest style to listen to but I really do like most of the tracks on their latest album Welcome Reality. I also knew that half the band (Joe) was back in London putting the finishing touches on their live stage show that they will be touring with in the next few months so I expected a DJ set. What I didnt expect was for organisers to put Nero on the smallest stage there which had the grounds sloping down away from the stage. It was way to packed and the sound was really bad. Of the half a donzen songs I stayed for only 1 or 2 were from their latest album. Knowing Gossip were just down the field most likely putting on a great show was too much for me to handle and I made the best decision of the day (other than my decision to wear warm clothes) and headed over to see the last 4 songs of Gossip.
Let me do you all a favour: Do not google image search "Gossip Beth Ditto" if you have a weak stomach, she's rather vuglger and rarely fully dressed it seems. As it is, she did burp into the mic during her show at Parklife but this is apparently very tame compared to what she usually gets up to. I'm really glad I did head over mid Nero set, I really enjoyed them. For a big girl she certainly has no issue getting herself around a stage, she was so energetic and her voice is as big live as it is on her records.
20 mins late Lykke Li emerged... with no pants, it seems she got the 'no pants memo' I apparently missed. With too much smoke from the smoke machine, I spent most of set assuming where she was. She had a fantastic light show going on which was great to watch. But with Duck Sauce cranking on the stage next door, I had the urge to dance and Lykke Li was making me feel the fatigue of a huge day out, she was just a little too slow and chilled out for the closing time slot she had. I danced to Duck Sauce in the quiet breaks between Li's songs. I feel like the only reason I didn't enjoy seeing her more was because how tired I was and how chilled out her set was.
This blog post was a struggle to complete, it felt more like homework and I don't really care that the writing in it is pretty average. I guess that's because I'm not a big fan of writing about music I'm not really into, it's a waste of time I think. And the fact that I didn't really enjoy this years Parklife overly, meant it was hard to get motivated to write this. I really did try to enjoy myself, but I struggled to do so more often than not over the day.
I'm just not sure when Music festivals stopped being about music and became more about how messed up you could get and how little clothing you could possibly wear. And when did we start paying $6 for a bottle of water and $11 for a tiny cup of mid strength of vodka and lemonade? No wonder everyone was on drugs, no one could afford to drink! Maybe that makes me sound old and boring but I don't give a rats.
Overall the festival was really well put together, but the patrons ruined it and the shitty weather topped it off! Don't think I'll bother next year, not my type of crowd. Grumble grumble blah whatever....
So I think I'll take a break from Festivals for the summer and get myself ready for the big dog next year, Southern California's Coachella Festival. With a bit of luck, the weather will be better, the line up will be more to my taste, and the crowd will be a little better equipped to remain vertical for the better part of the entire day.
