With the Easter break and May bank holiday weekend now a sad, fading memory, it’s time to optimistically look forward to our British summertime, with longer, lighter nights, BBQs, beer gardens and, of course, music festivals all on the agenda. The Parklife Weekender, now in its fourth year, once again lands in Manchester’s Heaton Park on the 7th and 8th of June. And it’s shaping up to be a monster – not just for house and techno heads but for electronic music fans of all persuasions, indie rockers and even hip hop junkies.
Presented by The Warehouse Project team, who have been responsible for some of the most impressive line-ups and events ever put together on UK shores, Parklife organisers are once again pulling out the big guns with a stellar lineup of bill-topping, heavyweight DJs. Among those confirmed to play are Carl Cox, Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Hot Since 82, Green Velvet, Eats Everything – the list goes on and on – not to mention some prestigious live acts including none other than the Doggfather himself, Snoop Dogg. Fellow hip-hop veterans Public Enemy will also be in attendance, while the chilled out sounds of newcomers London Grammar and Disclosure vocalist Sam Smith will be on hand when a short intermission is required between “Fighting the Power” and raving your socks off.
Alongside The Warehouse Project, a number of other familiar organisations such as Kaluki, Bugged Out, Drop the Mustard and Crosstown Rebels have all had a hand in curating the festival. Most house & techno fans will undoubtedly be delighted to know there’s not an EDM act in sight, but it would be interesting to know if there was much, if any, disappointment among ticket-holders in general that there weren’t a few more DJ Mag Top 100 figures on the line-up (Carl Cox is the only one we’ve spotted so far – probably for the best).
Fundamentally, it seems they’ve managed to procure a brilliantly eclectic balance of electronic acts before spreading them rather evenly and fairly across the two days. From the sultry, deep house sounds of the hugely (and very recently successful) number one acts Route 94 and Duke Dumont, to the sometimes minimal, sometimes pumping house & techno beats of Maya Jane Coles and The Martinez Bros, Parklife 2014’s motley crew of spinners will cater to dance music fans of all kinds.
Yet more huge line-ups with a fresh wave of headline acts have also been announced for the whopping 33 official Afterlife afterparties that are due to take place over the course of the weekend, during the twilight hours after the main festivities have come to a close. Scattered across Manchester and hosted in some of the cities top venues such as Sankeys, Albert Hall, Antwerp Mansion and Gorilla to name but a few, they present some really difficult choices for those that want to carry on when the sun goes down (i.e. everyone). Spoilt for choice is an understatement – more accurate is to say they face a near impossible task in deciding which ones to attend.
The British summer weather may be unpredictable at best, but one thing is for certain – on the 7th and 8th of June this year, come rain or shine, Heaton Park and the city of Manchester will explode into life. Until then, get a load of Benoit and Sergio’s official warm-up mix
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Tracklist:
Wire – Heartbeat
Soulphiction – Prison Song feat. Marcin Oz
Kindness – Swinging Party
Hot Chip – No Fit State (Audion Remix)
Brian Eno – No One Receiving
Theo Parrish – Sweet Sticky
James Brown – Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
Matthew Dear – Fighting Is Futile (Benoit & Sergio Remix)
Pantytec – Moriomelo
Jungle – Lucky I Got What I Got
James Blake – Retrograde
Flying Turns – Crash Course In Science
Bryan Ferry – Which Way To Turn
Matt Tolfrey – Not So Little feat. Kevin Knapp
Green Velvet – Technology Out Of Control
Lee Curtiss – Nook
Audion – Noiser
Junior Boys – Like A Child (Carl Craig Remix)
Omar S – The Shit Baby (Played by D. Taylor)
Ryan Crosson and Cesar Merveille – The Day You Left
High Water – Railroad Song
