Parklife 2012 In Review

The sun came out in Manchester for the second fun-filled day at inner-city festival Parklife. Holding host to 35,000 revelers and over 60 acts, Last.fm were on hand to host the Small Talk stage where Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb were headlining. We couldn’t wait to get stuck into the action… and the mud.

We headed straight for the mainstage where Manchester’s home-grown rap collective Murkage were kicking off the day. Often noted for their political lyrics, the crew gave a special discourteous shout to David Cameron and got the early attendees involved in some full-on sunshine skanking.

Heading over to the Reebook Classics stage, where Goldierocks was presenting a special pop up radio show for the afternoon, we snuck backstage to chat to guests Murkage after they finished their set. We also grabbed five minutes with the brilliant New York punk rockers The Rapture who were playing later in the day – check back later in the week for the full interviews.

Next up we caught new pop princess Delilah. Having guested on the Chase & Status single “Time”, she’s has been busy establishing herself as a solo artist over the last year. Her Amy Winehouse-influenced vocals were a hit with the crowd with single “Go” being a stellar highlight.

Radio 1′s Annie Mac had the festival in full force by the afternoon, with her signatory mash-up style playing stadium dance to a very busy mainstage crowd. Next up it was time for legendary hip-hop trio De La Soul to take to the stage with hits such as “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” soundtracking the arena as the sun came down. The evening got better and better as it was Hackney-bred Labrinth‘s turn to step up to the mainstage with his version of “Express Yourself”. Labrinth takes on other people’s songs like no other, mixing it up with his own number 1 smashes – a combo that didn’t fail the crowd in any shape or form.

We headed backstage to grab 5 mins with DJ Fresh and MC Messy before they proceeded to close the show on the Ape Carnival stage. For his full live show, high-energy bass was the tall order with MC Messy and vocalist Ce’Cile getting the crowd pumped. Show opener “Gold Dust” received a raucous reception however a short powercut followed, leaving MC Messy to keep everyone going until the sound kicked back in. Predictably - the room bounced back with aplomb.

We finished the day back at the Last.fm/Small Talk stage where the tent was spilling out for Boston-based headliners Soul Clap. A fitting ending to a superb day was topped off with Prince‘s “I Want to Be Your Lover”.

Soul Clap appearing at: