Welcome to our new weekly series, placing a spotlight on the
upcoming Summer Festivals gearing up to take over Australia! For our
first week, contributor Chris Singh takes a look back at the 2009 Day's Like This!
Festival - one of the few alternative festivals designed for people who
love good music, minimal crowds and an amazing atmosphere.

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There are not many festivals in Australia that would construct a
line up which would be seen as incredible by those that are very
discerning when it comes to music. The guys over at Niche productions
and Waterfall entertainment seem to recognise this and offer a
solution; days like this. With the introduction of this amazing
festival which took place in January of this year came the announcement
of a line-up which, I’m sure, aroused music lovers all across
Australia. Those that did not reside in Sydney surely would have been
overflowing with Jealousy as this isn’t one of those travelling
festivals; it takes place exclusively in Sydney at the excellently
set-up venue that is the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park.

I knew the line-up (the likes of Public Enemy, Mr Scruff, Sharon
Jones & The Dap Kings, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Morcheeba, Carl Craig, A
Guy Named Gerald, and Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves) but I
still did not know what to expect when I lazily made my way into the
Entertainment Quarter this year. The line-up was perfect, but being a
brand new festival, would it all run smoothly?

By the end of the day the answer to my question was a resounding
‘YES’ as I left the Entertainment Quarter a very happy (and impressed)
boy. With the slight annoyance of Morcheeba being extremely
late to take the stage the day was filled with pleasantries as the
extraordinary talent I saw that day made me wonder ‘why didn’t this
festival come sooner!’

I made some cherished musical discoveries that day (namely Eli “Paperboy” Reed and his amazing True Loves, pictured above); witnessed Public Enemy
performing the historical ‘It Takes A Nation To Hold Us Back’ album in
its entirety and certainly giving us our money’s worth; boogied to the
sounds of Platinum Pied Pipers; got crunk to Yo Majesty; and was blown away by the legendary Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.

You are guaranteed an amazing musical journey with this festival -
one that all lovers of good music MUST check out. With a great talent
of ensuring that every single artist on the line-up is indeed an
‘artist’ in every sense of the word, Niche Productions and Waterfall
Entertainment have something special with this festival; Sydney needed
this.

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So what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a ticket to the 2010 event
! The lineup this time around is equally mouthwatering - Hip Hop lovers will froth over the recent addition of Method Man & Redman, while the Blues and Roots fans will be in awe with Roots Manuva, The Cat Empire, Amp Fiddler, Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues and The Black Seeds.
Geez, feel like Byron much? Fantastic! And for many of these acts,
Day's Like This! is the ONLY place you can see them in Sydney.

Find out more in our Festival Guide
!

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Check back next week as we spotlight the other "alternative
festival" - which has grown to rival the beasts - featuring one of the
best lineups of the 2009/10 season - Laneway Festival.