1. I’ve been to a number of Midnight Youth shows over the past few years, so it was rather lovely to sit and enjoy a few snippets from the front-man himself, Jeremy Redmore at Noise.  This particular session also included Mark de Jong of Parachute Music and Matt Coleman from Let the People Speak where the lads spoke about artist - manager relationships.  The session ended on a high with Redmore sharing one of his strong beliefs on how to succeed with a career in music – to ‘write great songs, and people will follow’.

2. Now, my ears aren’t quite as good as they used to be, but I think that the lovely Lydia Cole may have mentioned something about a shoelace or a whole shoe being lost at last year’s Parachute festival at her set.  I’m not sure how, but what I am sure of is that this time round, the sweet lady threw her left shoe into the crowd - much to everyone’s delight!  Who wouldn’t want a free shoe from her though…I mean really?

3. Woooah!  East of Eden, you crazy cats!!!  After a nice wee walk in the summer sunshine, it was awesome to check out an energetic act like these guys!  Throwing themselves around the stage, it was pretty much a photographers dream from wild hair being thrashed around, bloody guitars and lead singer Ryan Wilson jumping at the crowd and thrusting his mic in peoples’ faces.  Loved it!!!

4. Ahhh…Ruby Frost…How can you not love such a delicate flower like this one…yep…pretty safe to say that it was love at first sight for me, so it was great to see her alongside Scott Maclachlan chatting about recreation v’s vocation. I’m sure it was to most musicians and artists who turned up for this one at Noise, comforting to know that it’s not just me who has to rough it in crappy hostels / mouldy hotels and pull the occasional overnighter in the city just to carry on with what you love doing.

5. This year Parachute goers were treated to a rather lovely market area, which was set up behind the main stage area.  There were treats galore and I saw some rather fantastic purchases from there, which I was a little jealous of, I must say!  The markets ran from 11-5, which was a nice touch and looked to be very successful indeed!

6. A couple of years ago, I had the absolute pleasure in being introduced to an amazing artist and an incredible band – Massad, and The Good Fun who both took awards home with them from the Smokefree Rockquest.  I’ve followed their adventures since, and it was truly wonderful to see the lads team up yet again at Parachute this year for some action at the Deluxe Stage.  The crowd was pretty spesh I must say, and listening to ‘I love you Massad!’ being yelled out was very sweet indeed.

7. There comes a time in the day where you just can’t go on…your body starts to run out of power, and you get so hungry that you feel like you’re going to fade into nothingness because you’re just that starving!  Well…thankfully this year at Parachute, there was plenty of choice for food including one of my faves – Burgerfuel!  Well…I guess if they can do it in Dubai there’s no reason why they can’t do it at Mystery Creek…good on you guys!

8. Well we started out the year with crap weather, but thankfully we’ve had a couple of good ones including Big Day Out and now I can safely say – Parachute! Thankfully there was not one drop of rain on the Saturday, rather a bit of dust and more sunshine than what comes out of that CareBear’s tummy – you know the one I’m talking about aye? Need I say more?  It was a good day that would have made Tamati Coffey a very happy man.

9. Last year at Parachute I enjoyed a band named The Frisk on the Apollo stage…this year I enjoyed the same band on the main stage under their new name – Young Lyre!  What an amazing achievement, and I can see how they have done it.  A fantastic performance from these guys and the crowd absolutely loved it!  Wonder where they will be next year then?

10. In the three years now that I’ve covered Parachute, I have always been amazed at how well the photographers and journalists have been treated.  This event is incredibly well organised and managed by a wonderful team of staff which also includes volunteers who help out with the set up, day and beyond…So a very special and warm thank you goes out to all of the people who helped to make Parachute 2012 (and prior) what it was and has been in the past.  You guys are amazing!

Amanda Ratcliffe

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