Parklife Festival 2017 Review
I was particularly excited to attend Parklife in Manchester this year, the line-up looked incredible and considering the recent trauma in Manchester, it's great to see the city is strong, resolute and still a leading authority musically in the UK. Manchester has been through a lot in the last 20 years. It's always had a profound musical background, with the likes of New Order, the Hacienda and Oasis all proud to call it their home city. What many people forget is the influence of break dance culture in the city; the likes of Greg Wilson fused dynamic urban culture with music and kept hip hop alive and well in the North. This passion morphed into great record shops, labels and events - notably The Warehouse Project who are a significant part of the team at Parklife.
I was stunned to see Frank Ocean headlining Sunday night on the main Parklife Stage, his performance oozed class, projecting visual sophistication and maintaining a pitch perfect vocal display throughout his set. Ocean, being one of the biggest stars on the planet, performed to a packed crowd who were capable of singing along to every word; that really says something about Parklife 2017! The crowd watching headliner Stormzy was revealing to me, the level of loyalty to grime was notable. Thousands were there to witness his powerful performance, capturing a new form of punk and keeping the underground alive and well.
Other great artists headlining Sunday were Carl Cox playing at the Warehouse Project stage, Eric Prydz at the Hangar, Dixon at the Palm House, Joseph Capriati at the Elrow Presents Far West, Joe Goddard at the Powered By Utility Studio and very fortunately Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley at the Temple stage, where it was probably the best place to be on Sunday. Marley's performance was on another level of sophistication - a blow away performance that should've been witnessed by all.
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