Fantana Reports V2.1: Adventures Down Under Pt.1

So here I am in Sydney, down under. Been here just under a fortnight now, and things are good. The weather has been pretty hot and my British body is just about used to the temperature. No sunburn yet touch wood! Been living off my last pay packet from the job I left back home, and need to step up the hunt for work while I'm over here - gonna try and get my Cruise-like cocktail skills back in action as soon as I can so I can get some scrilla coming in. After the weekend I'm gonna get my serious head on and get down to business.

Blagged free entry into the Days Like This Festival last weekend in Sydney's Entertainment Quarter which was pretty dope. Loads of artists from all over the globe were in full effect. A big set from Aussie producer Katalyst was the first one I caught, and although I'm not entirely sure who all the guests were aside from Steve Spacek and one of the emcees from Koolism, the overall performance was polished and pretty heavy.

Atmosphere and Brother Ali was probably the highlight for me, with an incredibly tight performance - it was the first time I've seen 'em live, after missing 'em back home in Brighton a few months back, and even though I'm not that up on their recorded material, it wasn't hard to get into, and I'll definitely be checking for the new LP after seeing them here.

DJ Vadim and Yarah Bravo ran a tight ship and rocked the crowd with a great set. Caught up with Vad at the afterparty, and after suppressing the surprise of seeing me over on the other side of the world, told me that both him and Yarah have solo LP's due to hit the light of day in the near future. Yarah rocked the crowd as ever, and although I've never been that into her lyrics when recorded, she definitely has the ability to work the stage, and she has mad presence when doing her live thang.

Caught a bit of the Morcheeba set, but that kind of down beat stuff has always bored me stiff, so wasn't feeling it. Wanted to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, but she was on at the same time as Atmosphere so didn't manage to check that. Killaqueenz I did see though, and they were pretty dope. I know my man Orifice from Foreign Beggars recorded one of the Gash remixes with them when they were over in April, and I'm gonna have to hunt that track down, as I definitely want to know what thats like now!

The headliners were the one and only Public Enemy who I've seen many times in the past, and to be honest, I didn't think it was the best performance I've ever seen them do, but to many of the people in the crowd it would have been their first time, and seeing it through their eyes may have given me a better impression.

Anyway, as far as my music goes, I'm still on a mission to hook up with some Aussie cats while I'm over here, and have been making some good contacts so far. Tonight I'm heading to a 'Tribute to the 90's' hip-hop night where my good friend Josie Styles is representing alongside Ology (also from Sydney) and P-Money from New Zealand - so should be a dope night.

Anyway, big shout out to all three of you who read this blog of mine, and stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Fantana down under. Shouts out to my man Longusto who's also out here in Syn City at the moment, Pneumatic, Black Ops, Illustrate, Lex, Josie, CJ, Ology and everyone who's helped me get myself sorted over here so far.

Peace