A beautiful sunny Sunday lit up the banks of the Yarra River at Birrarung Marr for the Melbourne leg of Parklife 2008 hosted by Fuzzy Entertainment. The gates opened at lunchtime and for the early birds in the crowd they got to soak up some of the local talent with the likes of the eclectic CC Martini, Boogs and Nick Thayer playing amongst four of the elemental themed stages. Triple J Unearthed winners Polo Club warmed up the Fire stage and the constant sun proved to be a smash hit for those wanting to recover on the river banks or catch a ride on the Ferris Wheel to get a birds of view. Credit must be given to the promoters for the more spacious layout due to controlled tickets sales this year which made finding your friends easier however the problematic toilet queue is yet to be solved and the special festival release mixer drinks were a good call but dampened the buzz for a select few.
The two main circus tents, Air and Water proved to be most popular and come mid-afternoon Grafton Primary and Van She Tech were going head to head with most punters still getting into the spirit of things. Late afternoon was approaching and the punters were gearing up for the overseas acts. Ajax was pumping as per usual at the Air stage and the crowds were divided between Ajax, Slyde and Goldfrapp. With her soothing and melodic indie beats Miss Goldfrapp brought in the late afternoon crowd into the Air tent and performed her hits while swaying to the beat of her close knit band in some very detailed costume. After some quiet Sunday reflection the mood was begging to be picked up and for the evening ahead there were the effervescent festival favourites from Soulwaxx with some big mixed up beats at the Air stage then Blackalicious at the open air Earth stage.
With the sun going down punters were very thankful for the colour coding as the stampede to the main acts became more difficult and coordinating friends started to get messier in the hours of early evening from the sheer amount of energy used for dancing. Sitting just near the Air stage, Van She featured in top form on the Fire stage with their electro rock hits. For a different vibe Plump DJs and the ever so raw Peaches were continuing the party on the other stages while Jesse Rose from the UK kept the party alive with UK underground mixes in the Air stage accompanied by a very rave tinted light show. There were some serious break beat dance off’s in the corners of the tent and it was even more fun and games when Martin Solveig brought the beats to the crowd. Dizzee Rascal, the much hyped UK B-Boy last here for the Big Day Out, had everyone jumping and flexing their hip hop moves when he was assisted by Flex but that was his only highlight for his set and the crowd too wasted to dance just hung out on the grassy banks underneath the bridge soaking up the lights of the Ferris Wheel and adjoining stages. The question to be asked at this time was, – œ*Does it Offend You, Yeah?*’ The boys finished up the Fire stage with a bang and some awesome lighting techniques.
Melbourne’s reputation for four seasons in one day was held off until the very end when the looming clouds hit the punters with showers and everyone retreated ironically to the Water stage to see the last leg of 2ManyDJs. The first major Summer festival tour to hit Melbourne was a great way to kick off the season. Kudos goes to Fuzzy Entertainment for giving the punters more room to move but it would have been better if it was on a Saturday because not all of Melbourne could get the day off and kick on to the after parties.
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