Electro is Dead but Gumboots are Back... PARKLIFE '09

I'm not going to lie. I jumped on the electro bandwagon in about 2007. I rode that fluoro wave with pride, because I am a sheep and I follow the crowd. The last Parklife I went to was two years ago and looking back at the photos I almost have to wear sunnies because it is just a fluoro overload. So this year when the murky grey sky decided to try and steal Parklife’s thunder there was a definite shift in festival gear. Gone were the typical Supre singlets, hello ponchos, tights and gumboots. The ultimate fashion crime of the day (apart from the overload of Southern Cross tattoos and shirtless flabby bodies even though it was 16 degrees) were the heinous heeled gumboots we spotted on the dance floor. So shocked we were that it almost triggered a simultaneous group heart attack of disgust.

As all festival goers know the only way to start the day is with a hot breakfast washed down with a coffee and champagne. Or if you’re Daniel Brazel, a beer. The traditional pre drinks were held at my place and the running theme seemed to be making friends with the statues Maggie the magpie and the sexy nude lady at my front door. After we had guzzled our morning bevvies we hopped on the train and battled our way there on the free bus from Central station.

We got the whole getting-each-other-lost thing out of the way early on. It seemed the second we walked in we had managed to split in half and phone reception was already so shocking that our reunion wasn’t for another fifteen minutes. But it was all for a good reason. Ingrid and penny had bumped into some Parklife VIP’s and had to have a photo shoot with Demelza and Jordon from Australia’s Next Top Model, fair enough.

Who says an overcast day can’t be fun? I almost cried with happiness during the Yacht Club DJs set. Pretty sure I had my hand on my heart the whole time because I was so in love with their amazing music. They are absolute geniuses. They mix songs you wouldn’t match together in a hundred years yet somehow make it sound phenomenal. So many daggy classics are remixed and have the whole crowd in heaven. I wish I had their set on CD, I would bust out to it every night. We had many “this is the highlight of the day” moments during their performance, but the ultimate highlight of the day was One More Time, Daft Punk, vs. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Diana Ross. We then proceeded to dance ourselves silly to Kaskade, Empire of the Sun and La Roux.

I got home at an ungodly hour Monday morning after an impressive kick on but it was an outstanding day and well worth the muddy trench foot.

- BELLA