After the logistical nightmare that was last years Parklife festival, the only way for the event organisers to go this year was up. The thought of it somehow being worse than 2007’s event was unthinkable, because that’s how bad it truly was. Awful sound, awful set-up, awful crowd (and on that note, way too many people in attendance) and more line-up clashes than you could poke a stick at. Thankfully, almost everything was rectified for 2008. 25% less tickets were sold, and this year there were even select tickets available for sale on the door. The crowd were incredibly friendly, ready for anything and passionate about the music. And the true sight for sore eyes was the lack of retina-burning fluro clothing on display. Last year, it was like walking into a giant pencil case filled with highlighters, but this year; normal colours, normal clothing, barely any dickheads and a whole lot of fun. Which is exactly what you want from a festival.

The day kicked off with a set on the wheels of steel from Van She Tech, opening with Justice’s latest epic monster “Planisphere,” before gliding through their own remixes of Ladyhawke’s “Back Of The Van” and Utah Saints’ “Something Good” to rapturous applause. Neon Neon lit up the stage with their car-infused electro-rock, whilst the Damn Arms DJs, Bag Raiders and Yuksek respectively bung out killer party sets for the masses dancing around their allocated stages. The day truly belonged to Goldfrapp though, whose startling and stunning performance in front of a packed out Water Stage was truly breathtaking. “Number One”, “Ooh La La”, “Train” and the showstopping performance of “Strict Machine” were magnifique, but it really was all about the ethereal performance of “Caravan Girl”; quite the powerful and emotional live music moment. Goldfrapp were, hands down, the greatest act of the day.

Often compared to Goldfrapp are Canadian poppers Dragonette, who delivered a surprisingly flat performance; a number of the band were quite ill and lead singer Martina looked like she was rather exhausted. Unfortunately, more points were taken away from them for leaving off “True Believer” – their best song – from the live set.

Local hero Miami Horror MORE than made up for any Dragonette-inspired disappointment with a set of bonza brilliance and, as you could imagine, Van She’s full-blown live band set which followed was a nice way to kick off the dark night sky. Opening with “Cat & The Eye”, it was nice to finally see the boys playing an evening festival set, as opposed to a day time one which, in all the years and all the festivals I’ve seen them play, is the only kind of festival set they had played until Parklife. Closing with their Play Paul collaboration “So High.” Fake Blood was just as incredible, and Does It Offend You, Yeah?’s closing set placed quite the delicious cherry on top of an already stellar proverbial cake.

Obviously not everything can go perfect though. No passouts? Come on, you have got to be kidding me. Then, as much as they sorted out the crowd and sound situation this year, the immense clashes between acts on the line up were STILL in full force. Soulwax and Diplo both on at the same time as Dragonette, Peaches and Plump DJs on at the same time as Van She, Dizzee Rascal and 2ManyDJs on when Fake Blood and Does It Offend You, Yeah? played to their crowds… it was a day of seriously hard decision making. Often, it paid off (Van She over Peaches was a solid choice), but other times, it just delivered immense regret (Dragonette over Soulwax? What an idiot I was.) But other than that, Parklife re-cemented itself in the party calendar as being one of THE most important music festivals of the warmer months.