The Parklife Weekender is a two-day festival in the heart of Manchester organised by The Warehouse Project which has grown in size and popularity over recent years.
Moving from its original location of Platt Fields to the larger site of Heaton Park is never an easy task and does come with its complications.
The festival got off to a bad start due to a delay in opening times as organisers set to drain the field of the majority of water from the recent downpour.
After the chaos of getting into the park it was already time for George Ezra to take to the main-stage, quite an impressive feat for the young English singer-songwriter who is yet to release his first full studio album (‘Wanted On Voyage’ out 30th June). It’s never an easy task keeping fans to stay and watch you in the dreadful weather conditions and the number of other acts on inside tents but he managed to entertain quite a large crowd for the circumstances.
Taking in the other features that we’re on display in the park, the log flume seemed a little optimistic, but it shows how far the festival has come since it was first established in 2010.
Katy B brought in a much larger crowd than had been at the main-stage earlier, and also the sunshine along with her. Her addictive dance songs made the thousands who turned up to watch her moving alone in time and shook the park. She played a set of the most popular and up-tempo songs to keep the energy high for the following acts.
Annie Mac capitalised on the increasing weather and the crowd piling in to see the remaining main-stage acts. She played some of the nations favourite songs and never let the energy levels in the crowd drop as they baked in the sunshine to glorious tunes coming from the stage. Rudimental followed on the high standards set prior to their entrance and had enough fast paced songs to entertain the crowd; even the fans who had just turned up early for Snoop Dogg.
A quick run down the hill underneath the ginger “Parklife” during the interval to see what Duke Dumont had to offer was quite a disappointment. He did not live up to the hype created around him and seemed almost as if he was the intermittent DJ betweens the acts.
Wading back through the enormous crowd that had gathered for the most talked about act of the weekend, Snoop Dogg, proved the rumours about people only getting a ticket just to see him. Fortunately he did live up to the expectations, in both musically prowess and his notorious style. He commanded the stage with his own personalised microphone and a very patriotic stars and stripes jumper. As expected he performed the crowd favourite but also a variety of very unexpected cover version, including a rendition of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You‘.
Moving onto the second day…
Clean Bandit were on the main stage early on and rather impressively drew a very large crowd which rocked from start finish, especially during their rendition of Robin S’ ‘Show Me Love‘ leading into the chart hit ‘Rather Be‘.
Warpaint followed on and sounded very good, but didn’t have a very big crowd. Due to quite a slow-tempo throughout their set, they didn’t have the attraction that the other acts on the line up managed.
Heading to one of the large tents for a highly recommended act, Jamie xx (The XX), proved to be a good tip as he filled the tent despite clashing with London Grammer on the main stage. The entire crowd swayed and danced underneath the flashing strobe lights and roof of the tent along to his entire DJ set. He paved the way for one of my favourite acts of the weekend, SBTRKT.
SBTRKT entered the stage alongside a giant inflatable and wearing tribal masks. They are gaining more and more attention and they definitely justified it at Parklife. The laser displays main the tent feel even more intimate and enclosed and the outstanding electronic beats drew everybody into a trance. SBTRKT are definitely an act to keep an eye out for in the future.
The festival was drawn to a close by Foals and Disclosure competing for the crowds from different stages. Foals took the number one spot for me and blew the audience away. Yannis Philippakis lead their attack and threw in an occasional crowd surf. They proved why they are one of the best bands at the moment and really justified the growth of Parklife as a festival – a transition for any festival to boast.