Parklife 2009 goes off

Saturday’s Parklife Festival at Birrarung Marr showcased once again an eclectic line up of local and international acts. The huge day of music offered a mix of musical styles as diverse as pop, dance, hip hop, electro, and indie music across four stages; with a panoply of genre-spanning acts ensuring there was something for every attendee to enjoy at the opening of Melbourne’s summer festival season.

Early acts to impress included eternally energised Sydney trio Art vs. Science, with a morning onslaught of indie dance music. Bertie Blackman played a techno “Sneaker Set” of her own songs, but threw in some well-known samples as crowd-pleasing fodder. Her enthusiasm and assurance were infectious.

Lady Sovereign

Diminutive English grime rapper Lady Sovereign (“officially the biggest midget in the game”) satistified the largely female crowd at her set, offering plenty of her unabashedly loudmouthed banter between songs. The highlights of her at times uneven set were Love Me Or Hate Me and newest single So Human.

As the sun set, hot British act La Roux drew one of the biggest crowds of the day to see them play on the largest stage. Front woman Elly Jackson strutted and swaggered around the stage throughout an impressively sustained extended set; while the biggest cheers were reserved for infectious hit single In For The Kill, and Bulletproof led inevitably to a mass singalong.

La Roux's Elly Jackson

Canadian band Metric showed their novel mesh of new wave and indie to great effect. The crowd was jumping in unison throughout the set and Help, I’m Alive was euphoric. Charismatic lead singer Emily Haines was impressive and sustained her strong stage presence.

Despite over the top costumes and an intense light show, crowds emigrated mid-set from an unimpressive show by over-hyped Australian super-duo Empire of the Sun, Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) being unable to sustain a full set without his other half Nick Littlemore (Pnau).

At the end of the day, The Rapture broke out their giant-sized vocals and powerful guitar chords to end the day underneath an impressive fireworks display. Festival goers packed out the hill behind the stranding crowd, as the festival ended on a high note. Meanwhile, over on the electro-tinged Air Stage, electroclash DJ Tiga offered a highly danceable set right to the close of the festival, for those still with energy to burn after a massive day.

Despite the enormity of the sold-out crowd’s size (around 20 000 tickets were sold, and several hundred successfully jumped the fences at various points throughout the day), the four elemental stages were well spread and mobility was excellent. The mix of city backdrop and Birrarung Marr’s greenery was beautiful. Despite early rain and a cold wind off the Yarra, the sunshine came out all afternoon and the weather was better than expected. However, a dickhead quotient seems to have become the norm at festivals, particularly where there is a lot of electro (and consequently drug) music. There is no problem with people enjoying themselves in whatever way they see fit, however starting people in the mosh, throwing full cans of drink at girls sitting on shoulders, and other generally rude behaviour should have no place at festivals, where everyone is there to have a good time and enjoy the music.

Parklife Festival Offical Website