If you want tough, I'll give you tough

Parklife, Manchester Platt Fields, 12/06/10

Hello! Long time no write. A shame really cos I’ve been to some cracking gigs over the past few months. I almost wrote about LCD Soundsystem’s phenomenal show at the Academy, but struggled past “Perfection”. This Is Happening will probably be my album of the year, and that gig will take some topping. Foals came a couple days later, and probably would have been enjoyed more if I still wasn’t in a daze from LCD. Still, a fine performance that was the right combination of old and new.

But now Festival Season is here! And that means t-shirt sunburn, overpriced cider and some rambling reviews from your humble scribe.

The omens were good. Any day that starts by drinking cider at 11am that you found left behind on the train is going to be an amazing day.

Parklife is a newcomer to the festival scene. Every summer there seems to be articles questioning “are there too many festivals?” As this question is asked every year, the answer is probably "no". And if they’re as well managed as Parklife, then we could stand to gain a few more.

Set a few miles down Oxford Road (translation: swimming with students), Parklife took place in the vaguely picturesque Platt Fields, big enough to lose people but not too small to feel claustrophobic. Despite the preceding week’s stormy weather, the ground was pretty firm under foot. In fact, all props to the weather, we were served a fucking blinder.

There were around half a dozen stages offering acts that leant more to electro and DnB with a splash of dubstep and other dance genres. Saying that, there was a particularly high Lads’n’Wags presence, but that would have been down to a certain football match being shown in a corner of the field. Didn’t see any of the game myself, I was in too good a mood to want to be let down by a typically average display from Our Boys. Soz England.

Metropolis have always put on amazing nights in Leeds, and it was in their tent that we spent most of the day, starting with the masked antics of SBTRKT. N-Type was bringing the dub over in the neighbouring Ape tent, but it was a bit early in the day for dubstep. Actually, call me out of touch with The Sound Of Now (or 2009 or whatever) but I’m never in the mood for dubstep.

After a frolic in the Silent Disco (literally amazing) it was back to Metropolis for Danny Byrd who was playing 30 seconds of every tune under the sun. A good warm up, but left us wanting something a bit more prolonged. Over to the Big Top for Simian Mobile Disco, and what I thought was a live show turned out to be a DJ set, and a bit of a monotonous one at that. Now I love a bit of SMD, and perhaps it picked up after we bailed, but after 20 minutes of what felt like the same song, it wasn’t exactly uplifting. Too prolonged. Be careful what you wish for.

So it was over to the Main Stage for Calvin Harris and a DJ set that was beyond uplifting. Now he seems to get a lot of bad press, but personally I think he knows a good tune and he certainly played a lot of them. It also helped that the sun was blazing and I was starting feel the effects of a day on the booze and very little else. Highlight: One More Time. Always goes down well. And I’m Not Alone will always remind me of that day now.

Then came confusion. We sacked off the football to go see High Contrast, but it turned out to be Roni Size. No complaints, it was a fine set. High Contrast was finally on later, and delivered the goods as always, dropping some fierce mixes that heated the tent up in every way possible. It had to be said there was a distinct lack of twats around, an achievement given the result of the match.

Then came what was always going to be my highlight. After years at the front of one of the most important and interesting acts in the country, and pretty much at the top of the I Would list, Kele Okereke is out on his own, and at Parklife he headlined the Now Wave tent with his new live band.

A solo album out any day now and the biggest smile on his face, it was refreshing to see him so relaxed and triumphant. But sad at the same time, as Bloc Party mean so much to me that it’s almost upsetting to hear that he probably was never this happy in that band.

There was a quote from his recent Attitude interview that has stuck in my head. When asked if it was ever discussed how to talk about his sexuality when the band first started out, he replied “the only conversation I can recall, and I remember it well, was...one of the band members told me that he didn’t think I should talk about it right now. Which I found surprising. I never really forgave him for it, to be honest.”

Not helped by his onstage comments about “this band I used to be in”, it’s never nice for the kids when the parents file for divorce, but when Dad’s rocking a new electro sound, we can have a little dance for now. The first few tracks were all from The Boxer, and were minimal and hard. The backing trio alternated between keyboards, electric drums and other devices. Kele was jubilant, his hips moving like never before, gyrating round the mic stand like a massive flirt.

Then we all had a bit of a moment. Blue Light arrived in a greatly altered form, based around a light keyboard refrain, yet still sounding so beautiful. “If that’s the way it is, then that that’s the way it is” will always get to me. But there was little time for sentiment as it morphed into a fuzzy version of The Prayer, which took no time in crashing into One More Chance.

This trilogy of delights dealt with, new single Tenderoni properly took off. “You’ll know it by the end of the summer” he confidently claimed. A cross between Wiley’s Wearing My Rolex and Jack Beat’s Get Down, it’s a bloody tune, and such a statement of intent for a solo career. Lyically similar to Bloc Party, but exploring sound that is now his own.

We got an insight into his way of recording as he built up other songs through looped guitar lines until they built into a heaving sonic mass. One highlight contained the repeated line “I know that you’re stronger than this”, which was either reassurance to a friend or a reminder to himself.

Then came Flux. At last. After being robbed of it at the Engine Shed last year, there it was in all its glory. The last disco at the end of time. I realised just how much I stank. Didn’t care. “We need to talk”. We certainly danced.

There was something very sweet about how the four of them took a bow at the end, arm in arm. Bloc Party may very well be over, and that would be a shame beyond shames. But Kele has arrived. And it really feels like he’s going to get his own way from now on.

So, a perfect set. But could it get any better? How about emerging from the tent to hear the unmistakable sound of Friendly Fires finishing their set with Paris? Talk about perfect timing. We legged it across the field and had one last boogie. Well, the rest of the gang then braved the final moments of the Metropolis tent, which was now pouring out tonnes heat, sweat and smoke, but I was spent.

We were now faced with the journey back, which initially seemed impossible, but after a short walk further up the road and an uncomfortable bus journey full of sweaty young people, we made it back to Piccadilly. Even got a seat on the rammed last train. Fell into bed at 3am. A broken man, but an utterly content one too.

So, Parklife was a perfect start to Festival Season. Next up: Glastonbury.