From the moment the gates opened on Saturday morning, it was abundantly clear Manchester was ready to party. With pandemic restrictions now firmly in the rear view mirror, this year's Parklife proceedings - dare we say it - felt very 'normal'... you know, the kind of normal we all craved while cooped up indoors for the best part of two years.
Parklife 2022 was always going to be special, and even with the weather throwing a few curveballs, spirits remained sky high throughout the day. As more than 80,000 gates poured through the gates, donning their most colourful attire - think bucket hats, man bags, and barely-there two-pieces - crowds were warmed up by the likes of Rich Reason and DJ Amelie Lens as the brief spell of rain gave way to glorious sunshine.
The massive line-up over the weekend covers dance, hip-hop, house, drum and bass and pop music, spread across 10 stages. While many people - including four festival-goers who had travelled all the way from Scotland to watch 50 Cent - the afternoon certainly built up some momentum.
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Yung Filly - social media star, rapper, singer, comedian (you name it) - bagged himself a first on the Parklife stage. Mid-afternoon, sun shining, the crowd warmed up with some Oasis (Wonderwall, played in by his DJ), he brought out contest winner Milo, who’d won the chance to follow Filly around for the day, and his girlfriend Indy.
Well, she didn’t remain his girlfriend for long. Now she’s his fiancée. Milo got down on one knee and proposed, and - thank heavens - she said yes. In a less romantic move, he also bought on Liverpool MC Hazey, who performed Packs and Potions behind his trademark mask. He knows there’s no more Covid restrictions, right?
It's hard to top a impromptu proposal, but when Bradford baseline collective Bad Boy Chiller Crew took to the stage shortly after giving it the whole, 'let's f****** go', fans were euphoric, literally falling over themselves to get as close to the stage as possible.
In the crowd, a group of friends say they are in their element. "This is my first Parklife," Sarah says. "I moved from Devon last year and I've always wanted to experience Parklife. We've had such an amazing time - I'm not even sure who all the people we've seen are, but they've all been brilliant."
Another group of friends nearby say they are also enjoying the vibes. "We're absolutely loving it," friends Debbie and Marlene said. "The sun has been out, we're having a great time." Marlene added: "This is the first time I've been to Parklife in three years, it feels great to be back and with people again after so long. It's just such good fun."
Asked who they're most excited to see, Debbie said: "50 Cent, definitely. We also wanted to see Children Of Zeus and Bad Boy Chiller Crew today and then Meghan Thee Stallion and Lewis Capaldi tomorrow."
Over at The Hangar, meanwhile, DJ/producer extraordinaire Peggy Gou whipped the crowd into a frenzy, before DJ Mall Grab enticed audiences with a bit of tech house. Later, Mall Grab’s console is wheeled off the stage as Kieran Hebden - aka Four Tet - takes to the controls.
He slows the tempo at first - always a brave move - but before long, it’s full-tilt rave and melodic two-step. A wig is hurled into the air, and passed around. Come on people. Knits. They’re no joke.
Meanwhile, for those who know, the Repercussion stage was one of the smallest, but most perfectly formed stages at the festival. Manchester’s own Children of Zeus both represented and united the city, vocalist Konny Kon busting out his ‘Sharp Brother’ football jersey - harking back to both City and United’s classic sponsors - as well as dropping classics selections from last year’s album Balance and 2018’s breakthrough Travel Light.
Later, on the same stage, East London’s Kojey Radical - with dayglo ripped jeans and moves for days, whipped the crowd into a thrashing mosh pit, with Talkin’, his track featuring R&B icon Kelis, before climbing into the crowd and ending on the scorching War Outside.
As day turns into night, but well before the last of the headliners take to the stage, we're at The Temple for electronic duo Gorgon City. As their set begins, we're welcomed to the famed Gorgon City itself - which seems a bit of a stretch as the mud of Heaton Park falls slightly short on what you would expect to be a mythological Greek city, but we digress. With pyrotechnics, fire, and smoke galore, it's certainly something to ensure people stay awake after a few hours of partying.
Elsewhere, on the main stage, DJ Tiffany Calver made her presence known: "My name is f****** Tiffany Calver. Are you ready to turn out, Parklife?" And, of course, we were. The DJ also served as the perfect hype woman for next act Loyle Carner. "Make some noise if you're ready for Loyle Carner," she demanded from the crowds while mixing between throwback anthems from Ashanti and Snoop Dogg.
When Loyle Carner finally took to the stage there was a noticeable difference in his demeanour compared to his debut Parklife appearance in 2017. One foot rested on the speaker, the Loose Ends musician radiated confidence, and was clearly more assured than before. Still humble though, he made sure to thank the crowd for continuing to support him - a rather nice touch.
As the dark descends, stage headliner Jamie xx takes over, a mirror ball the size of a wrecking ball hanging above him. From there it’s an eclectic soundclash of jump-up jungle all the way through to deep, emotional house music. 50 Cent may have hoovered up the majority of the main arena crowd, but these lot know why they’re here and they’re not leaving for anything.
And so to the day’s headliner, for those who have been staking out their spot in front of the main stage all day long - One Curtis James Jackson III - who arrived earlier in the afternoon with the biggest security convoy that the festival has ever seen (per Parklife boss Sacha Lord).
At stage side, those lucky enough to be crammed into the pen are fizzing, though Rap Game UK judge DJ Target, standing next to the M.E.N, is impressively stoic (though he does get his phone out once 50 hits the stage).
It's his first festival appearance of 2022, and the classics flow from the off - P.I.M.P., Candy Shop, 21 Questions, Window Shopper - with a hefty looking golden ‘50’, encrusted with diamonds, hanging from his neck. Maybe that’s what all the security was for, eh?
Chase & Status, who tweeted earlier that they were 'heading back to where it all began', ended tonight's proceedings at The Valley stage in true style with a dazzling light show partnered up with a selection of their finest drum and bass anthems.
So… if you take just one thing from day one of Parklife 2022, it’s that maybe things might back to normal. Well, as normal as things can ever be at Parklife. Oh, that Manchester hasn’t forgotten how to throw a party.
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