- Sydney's festival scene is in a period of renewal. Large-scale electronic music events like Future Music and Stereosonic have stopped, leaving a gap that's being filled by smaller events. One of these is Days Like This, a one-day event that, for the second year running, set itself apart with bookings that would rival many European festivals. The lineup could have been considered niche in Australia, and yet the organisers still managed to nearly sell out Victoria Park. The crowd felt more international than any local festival I'd been to previously, albeit with a slightly laddy atmosphere that sometimes jarred.
The schedule was rammed: 21 artists were squeezed across three stages, making for one hectic day of chasing acts. The Black Madonna wasted no time on the main stage. By 1:45 PM, she had the already sizeable crowd moving to Jasper James's uplifting remix of Romanthony's "Bring U Up" and heavier cuts like "Lazer Beams" by Green Velvet & Harvard Bass.
The festival site was easy to navigate, and bar queues were relatively quick all day—no mean feat for a large event in Sydney. For the punters who arrived too late, there was a lengthy queue to get past security, while the police presence was heavy. It was a tad more chilled at the Times Like This stage, where Kornél Kovács eased in with warm, atmospheric house. As the clouds whittled away, an unfussy Moodymann stepped up with iPhone earphones plugged in, cycling between bits of funk and techno, before turning the set on its head with R&B cuts like Kelis's "Millionaire" and Childish Gambino's "Redbone." "I'm just playing you my collection," he told the crowd over the mic. Some were impressed by the variety—others were bemused.
Over at Moments Like This, the festival's third stage, I had already missed Call Super's set, which ended at 2:30 PM. By then, Heidi was playing driving house, in a similar style to Seth Troxler over on the main stage. Floating Points followed Heidi, resetting the vibe with a live set that featured favourites "ARP3" and "Vacuum Boogie." Despite the impressive Funktion-One rig, you couldn't always hear everything clearly, due to loud sound bleed from the main stage.
As the sun blared, Marcel Dettmann dished out moody, uncompromising techno. The weather was better suited for Motor City Drum Ensemble, who invigorated the crowd with bright, classic house and a slightly askew cover of Chic's "Everybody Dance." Ben UFO was just as engaging—Joe's "Tail Lift" went down a particular treat—before he pushed toward peak-time garage, acid and breakbeat.
The day's clear crowd favourite was Bicep, who performed live at sunset. Their final track, "Glue," was met with frenzied whoops. Meanwhile, Sven Väth had begun his three-hour closing set on the main stage—his extended set time the result of headliner Maceo Plex pulling out at the last minute. There was more intimate fun to be had watching Len Faki, who closed Times Like This with track after track of raw, punchy techno, before signing off with Faithless's "Insomnia."
Like last year, there was too much packed into one day, the festival spreading itself thin with clashes and short performances. It'd also be great to see a more gender diverse lineup in future—this year there were six women booked, an improvement on two in 2017—especially as other similar events, locally and internationally, work toward that goal. Still, when it comes to programming, Days Like This remains ahead of the pack in Australia.