Sunday saves Parklife from being a disappointing weekend
Parklife Festival 2011 review
Monday 20th June 2011
Riot Jazz have been playing around Manchester for a very long time now, and I must have seen them a dozen times. But even still, their brass orchestrated dance music can't fail to bring a smile to my face. And with MC Chunky's boundless enthusiasm to help, they had the entire 'Juicy' tent dancing, despite their heavy rain sodden clothes. Their recent cover of London Elektricity's 'Just One Second' was a heartfelt celebration of the present, which was exactly what everyone needed; knowing as they did that to get to their next destination they would have to face all the grey and slimy elements a rainy Platt Fields Park in Manchester threatens. This was an uplifting start to my second day at Parklife Festival.
Over the last two years SBTRKT has been making waves as a jack of all trades within the UK electronic scene. His music wanders freely between dubstep, 2-step and funky, uniting them all with his distinctively clean production style and driving rhythms. It was his name, then, that drew me to the Thrasher tent, but it was his spectacular interplay with singer and electronic artist Sampha that had me leaving it enriched.
Sampha's voice is perfect for SBTRKT, mirroring the delicate approach production. The tent swelled with effervescent clicks, chimes and drones while the vocals soared to emotive crescendos, sometimes washed out with reverb and distortion, while at other others intimately clean. The music had a nostalgic feel to it that will only grow stronger as I listen back to it.
With DJ Shadow set to headline the John Peel stage at Glastonbury, and with over twenty years of experience behind him, the expectation was high in the Thrasher tent on the Sunday night of Parklife Festival. The student crowd prepared to see what would be for many of them the last, and most anticipated act of the weekend. No amount of hype and expectation, however, could have allowed for disappointment. The show was unforgettable.
As the speakers began to chime the now iconic piano theme of 'Building Steam with a Grain of Salt', the potent joy of the familiar had the crowd whooping clapping instantly. But this comfortable enjoyment was soon replaced by the ever more potent excitement of the unfamiliar; as the melody stuttered and settled into a faster and more demanding drum 'n' bass rhythm, a fresh new take on the classic took form.
This taking of old, familiar samples and arranging them in a new and interesting way was not just a one off for the opening tune. Old favourites kept cropping up but they were all rearranged to fit in with the overarching drum and bass theme. The mix of the otherwise solemn and meditative Stem/Long Stem was a particular treat. It is the kind of song you never expect to hear in a live set, and Shadow not only played it, but played it in such a way that you could dance to it. The music was incredible, but that was only half the show.
Centre stage was dominated by a giant white sphere which, along with the backdrop behind it, wore projections of head spinning, Terry Gilliam-esque animations that nicely reflected the cut and paste style of the music. But amidst all the abstract images (the most memorable of which were the giant exploding heads of Justin Bieber and Simon Cowell) the DJ himself was nowhere to be seen. Until, that is, after the first few tracks, when he thrust his hand through the top of the sphere. He had been inside all along, and there he stayed until the very end, only occasionally revealing himself by swinging the sphere round to expose the entrance, or by having a live feed of himself projected on to the sphere. The effect of all this was mesmerising.
DJ Shadow provided everything you could want from a festival headliner. There were some of the most innovative and captivating visuals I have ever seen, and the music spanned his whole career while uniting it into a single consistent mix.
Overall the Sunday saved what would have otherwise been a disappointing weekend. The sound was still too quiet, and the need to move Parklife to another, less residential site was laughably clear when in mid afternoon the music had to be turned off for an hour while the nearby church held its service. But the live brass of riot jazz, the intimacy of SBTRKT & Sampha, and the focus on the visual element of DJ Shadow's set helped to distract from the problem. Brilliant acts, but I think I would prefer to see them at an indoor venue, or at a more remote festival site.
eFestivals t-shirts, vests, hoodies, fleeces, mugs, tickets
As well as being the UK's most popular festivals website, eFestivals sells its own range of clothing and other goodies. There's a range of t-shirts and vest-tops, and hoodies and fleeces, all featuring the eFestivals 'dancing man'.
eFestivals is 
