Posted by Danni Le Toullec on October 5, 2010
When Mother Nature heard that Parklife was being promoted as the ‘sound of next Summer’, I think she had some other things in mind for the Sydney crowd on Sunday 3rd October. Gumboots, frayed cut offs, butt cheeks, rain ponchos and mud. Oh, and some pretty sweet music. For once, Melbourne got the sunshine on Saturday, whilst Brisbane spent their afternoon on the 25th September getting sporadically splashed with rain.
Anyway, enough about the weather, here is the rundown of the Sydney show.
Gypsy & the Cat played one of the earlier sets of the day at the Sahara stage. Drawing a pretty substantial crowd, it’s clear that this band is developing quite the following. As predicted, ‘Time to Wander’ was a huge hit with the crowd, who couldn’t help but sing along to the lofty lyrics.
Yolanda be Cool vs. Dcup teased their crowd with snippets of ‘We No Speak Americano’ throughout their entire set. When they finally played it for their finale, each and every person was so happy to put an end to the suspense that not one set of hands or feet were still.
Despite some volume issues at the Kakadu stage, Darwin Deez kept the whole crowd entertained with their dance antics and ADD style guitar skills. Although we'd already chatted about his onstage moves, their set was still a pleasant surprise. In his tan trenchcoat and trademark headband strapping in his ringlets, Darwin and his four bandmates paused between songs to perform various dance sequence, one involved some push ups before they launched into ‘Constellations’.
The DJ duo, Classixx worked ‘The Cave’ tent with their varied mix that included something for everyone; there were the chart tracks and the dancey house beats.
Kele had apparently battled some sickness over the course of the Parklife circuit, but his set showed no signs of cold or flu-like symptoms. He even got naked. Well…almost. Layer by layer, he stripped off his knit sweater to reveal a Nirvana t-shirt and despite the rain, ended up shirtless. With a “Fuck you, Rain Gods”, Kele handed the stage over to Mix Master Mike. Putting his Beastie Boy days to good use, he did an amazing job of building up the pack of soggy festivalites.
For his first time in Australia, Chiddy Bang drew big numbers. His song ‘Opposite of Adults’, which samples MGMT’s ‘Kids’ had people ripping off their plastic ponchos and swinging them in the air.
Jesse Rose pumped out a tribalistic beat in ‘The Cave’, aptly named for the jungle bass and animal-like nature of the ravers. Just heads, arms, legs pulsing to the beat. Chiddy Bang dropped in to check out the set, lending his vocals to a couple of songs.
Busy P kept everyone happy with his ‘Busy Pictionary’ shenanigans and synthy bass. Lots and lots of sweet bass.
Missy Elliot on the other hand, definitely divided the crowd. With seven studio albums under her belt, she was one of the biggest drawcards of this years’ Parklife. Surprisingly not in a headliner spot, she came on at 7pm with all the goods to put on an amazing show. Dancers were on point, Missy was resplendent in a blinged out, diamante encrusted black jacket and (what looked like) leather pants but unfortunately it turned out to be a very disappointing performance. She performed a medley of some of her hit songs without playing any of them for more than 20-30 seconds. One of the longest songs she played wasn’t even hers, it was Black Eyed Peas ‘I gotta feeling’. As it cranked through the speakers, most people were left looking at each other in confusion. The rest most likely did not know what they were listening to. At one point, an entirely different performer came out and introduced herself as Cherie… Now Cherie put on a great show in a lime green bodysuit with a dancer accompanying her, but no one came to see Cherie. After a few minutes of this, Missy came back out to do the remaining minutes of her set. If only the performance was as golden as her diamond encrusted microphone.
Groove Armada was thankfully in the headliner position and delivered a much more pleasing set. Performing a good mix of their new tracks and old favourites, their female vocalist SaintSaviour, donned a shoulder piece that looked like cascading red and black hair (very Peaches).
As the Kate Moss (circa 2005 Glastonbury) wannabees and Lady Gaga clones trickled out of Moore Park alongside the shirtless, tattooed, buff bronzed guys, a trail of once loved ponchos clung to the muddied grass and one girl left with a small tree… yes, a tree.
Til next year Parklife! Happy 10th Birthday.
Were you there? What did you think of the Parklife circuit? Don't let us do all the talking, tell us your thoughts via a comment or two.
parklife, missy elliott, kele, the wombats, gypsy and the cat, bag raiders, darwin deez, groove armada, Yolanda be Cool vs. Dcup, jesse rose, washington