After 8 years of bigger and bigger line ups, Manchester’s number 1 festival have made a bold move back into the cooler realms of pop music. We thought we’d give our two cents on how Parklife became the edgiest festival in the North once again.
First off, and most importantly, Parklife have managed to pin down Liam Gallagher for a headline set. The Oasis front man has had the most triumphant return to the spotlight, after years of struggling in Noel’s shadow. And where is Parklife held? Heaton Park, no less… Any Mancs will know exactly what that means. For the rest of you… Oasis headlined Heaton Park in 2009 and the technical difficulties were so bad they ended up refunding everyone. This is gonna be one hell of a return for Liam. He’s back, and he doesn’t need Noel.Secondly, the rest of the line up is genuinely full of the coolest acts around in 2018. The xx are here to remind everyone what a year they had in 2017, like warming up for Radiohead at Glastonbury, and their magnificent third album. Then there’s N.E.R.D, the band of the biggest popstar in the world – Pharrell. Then there’s Skepta, the king of British music, as the Brits proved, and Giggs, the coolest MC bar worldwide, no thanks to Drake. The list goes on, and we haven’t even got to the DJs yet.
Where to start with the DJs? Well there’s the one and only Carl Cox, fresh off the back of the end of his eternal Space Ibiza residency, who’ll be headlining the new Valley stage. Check it out in the video below. Then there’s the UK debut of Jamie Jones b2b Seth Troxler b2b Martinez Brothers, which will definitely be the most hyped b2b in recent memory. Then there’s the small matter of Eric Prydz, whose recent EPIC 5.0 light show has been quietly re-setting the bar for EDM performances.Then let’s get into the leagues and leagues of DJs below these huge names, who find themselves high up on other dance music festival line ups. There are headliners in Nina Kraviz, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Bicep (Live + DJ set), and unmissable names like the Black Madonna, and the Grammy nominated Camelphat.
Let’s just say Parklife have set the bar high for 2019…
Weekend and day tickets are available now from £145, here.
