It’s one of the hottest festivals in Jozi and if you weren’t at Parklife, you missed out. The gourmet food and music festival held its fifth event at Mark’s Park in Emmerentia on the 16th of April and for the first time ever, the festival was sold out! Headliners Jasmine Thompson, James Hersey and FlicFlac joined local acts such as Jeremy Loops, Tresor, Monark, Mi Casa, Goodluck and many more. Here are my thoughts on this year’s festival:
The Venue
Parklife have definitely gotten into the swing of things. The venue was set out quite nicely with two main stages which alternated between live music acts and an electronic stage that gave house heads exactly what they wanted. The flow between the two main stages was great and gave the artists time to set up while the audience was entertained. The only thing I would work on for next year is the lack of shade. The only really shady area was up by the electronic tent or at the bar.
The Food
The food area was also set out really nicely. There was a wide variety of vendors who offered food from pizza, burgers, Chinese, vetkoek, Indian, fried chicken, waffles, cupcakes, coffee, smoothies and a whole lot more. The food area was packed by 1pm and some vendors had incredibly long lines. I did pay R35 for a cupcake that looked amazing but tasted sooo average. It hurt my soul.
The Sound
This was really horrible. I’m not quite sure what went on but this was the worst part of the entire event. The sound from the electronic stage was clapping back from all the buildings around it and the sound from the stage on the left made it really difficult to hear what the acts were saying. A good music festival needs good sound and, unfortunately, Parklife failed miserably here.
The Performances
I love festivals like these because they always remind us what incredible talent we have in the country. The act that blew me away the most was GOODLUCK. Their live set is fantastic. They bring such an amazing energy every time they perform and each member adds an important element to their show. Oh, and their new neon lights are cool. Jeremy Loops also wowed me. He is a lot more comfortable on a stage than when he first started out and it really shows. Naturally, Mi Casa, Al Bairre and Just Jinjer put on a great show as well. Monark blew me away previously but this year, the vocals were way off and I’m not sure if that’s because the band had a bad day or if the sound hampered their performance. Kyle Duetsch and Shekhinah were problematic for me as well. While they slayed the performances of their solo singles, overall I was left confused. Are they selling themselves as a duo? Why was Kyle censoring himself while Shekhinah was dropping ‘F-bombs’ during their cover of Nicki Minaj’s ‘Moment For Life’? Where was the syngergy? Most importantly, why did they perform ‘Back To The Beach’ THREE times?
International Headliners
I was so impressed with Jasmine Thompson. For someone who is only 15, her voice has such maturity in it and she really blew me away, vocally. Her set was quite short and although I loved it, she was a weird choice as a headliner. That being said, the crowd loved her and I overheard many people freak out when they realized that she is the voice behind songs such as ‘Sun Goes Down’ and the popular cover of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ that is all over radio at the moment. With regards to the other international acts. I missed them. Oops. Local is lekker!
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Hello There!
Great to read your article and to find you via twitter! I have just come off the Splashyfen music festival myself and happened to watch Goodluck perform! What an amazing band, I hope you’ll give my article a read too, I think you may enjoy it!
I love some of the things you have mentioned in your article about the actual venue and setup. I was always front row or in the media pit at Splashy and one thing I noticed that harmed both the fans, the bands and the artists was the lightning on stage. It was way to low and affected the viewing quality.
Other than that what an event, I am keen to check out Parklife after reading your event and agree 100% cheers to local music and bands! I am so excited to see more and more support being held out for these guys! They work their butts off and they really really are talented, some more than any International Acts I have heard.
I would also like to know why Back to the Beach was sung three times? That sounds odd and like a bit of overkill? I also agree that no one seems to actually know what the relationship between the two artists is? Would be great to have some clarity on this!
Your cupcake story reminds me of my Chicken Chow Mein obsession, there was so much variety to choose from at Splashyfen but somehow I got lost in the Chicken Chow Mein stage! They were just so good! My soul was very much comforted 🙂 *Giggle*
Great article, cant wait to read more from you and possibly work with you in the future! Have a lovey day!
Cee