Soulfest Sydney - Support DJ for D'Angelo, Maxwell, Common, Angie Stone, Leela James

Am i dreaming? I got the call for DJ support duties for the first ever SOULFEST in Sydney… billed as Soul of Sydney DJs with Phil Toke, and my long time bro DJ Trey. Crazy, we were handpicked to soundtrack the whole on the main stage event between acts, from start to finish. No words, completely honoured, humbled and damn lucky!

The Lineup: D’Angelo. Maxwell. Mos Def. Common. Angie Stone. Anthony Hamilton. Musiq Soulchild. Leela James. Aloe Blacc + top local talent.

Arugably the best soul line up EVER put together on a single bill - 52 Grammy nominations between them, Two giant stages with us 3 DJ’s perched up betwen them. Ten hours of incredible performances, no clashes… everyone got to see everyone.

I’ll never forget this day, because i’d been prepping for this gig for a week in Boracay beforehand, flew back into Sydney that morning coming off a 17hr haul via Manila. Got picked up by one my boyz from the airport and straight to Victoria Park - in time for the 10am soundcheck (ya he got the comp. entry ;)

A few hours later I’m behind the decks, cooking up a variety of beats in between all the artists i grew up listening to - singing every word, and looking out over the gotta be around a 20k strong crowd - still asking myself “am i dreaming?!”

When I wasn’t DJing… and this was the best part, we had the best seats in the house, in the artist’s area, right in the middle two metres away from the stage watching them all do their thing - wooooow incredible!

D’Angelo’s performance though, especially got me, he had been MIA since his Voodoo album in 2000 - the music industry hadn’t heard a thing from him in 14 years. He is my all-time GOAT R&B / Neo Soul Artist (and it’s not even close!) … then Maxwell headlining the event - his vocals live on “woman’s work” was the icing on the cake .. I’m done!

But apparently i wasn’t done … Nope! Jumped on another plane the next day with my man D, we flew into Melbourne n caught D’Angelo one last time - this time from the other side of the stage.

Snapped all these pics on the day myself! So blessed.

CMAN pointing to the camera from behind the decks on the Soulfest stage, the daytime Victoria Park crowd stretching out below
Who’s playing that funky ish?? Moi – DJ CMAN! Big ups to my boy DJ TREY for snapping this shot!

Soulfest festival poster with the full artist line-up, Maxwell, D'Angelo, Common, Mos Def, Aloe Blacc, Angie Stone, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton and more, Soul of Sydney DJs on the bill, dates for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
Official Artist Line Up Flyer – SOUL OF SYDNEY DJS

Turntables, mixer and a laptop in the DJ booth at morning soundcheck, first punters wandering into Victoria Park behind the barrier
Straight off a 17 hour plane leg journey Coron via Manila to soundcheck at 10am in Victoria Park.

CMAN selfie in sunglasses at the decks, headphones round his neck and the Victoria Park festival crowd behind
Obligatory selfie!

Anthony Hamilton in a hat and denim vest leaping at the front of the Soulfest stage, his band and the Soulfest logo screen behind
ANTHONY HAMILTON (I used to have his ‘I will go’ track from New York Undercover on repeat in the late 90’s!)

Aloe Blacc singing in a grey suit and hat in front of a giant Aloe Blacc screen with his band around him
ALOE BLACC (Motown era soul, pitch perfect performance)

Phil Toke in a flat cap posed with two friends crowded into the DJ booth behind the Pioneer decks
PHIL TOKE (Bringing some funk heat to Soulfest)

Common rapping on the Soulfest stage with his face on the giant screen behind and his DJ at the decks
COMMON AKA COMMON SENSE (brought the raw energy!)

DJ CMAN working the decks on stage at Soulfest
Ayo sound guy! Where’s my damn monitor?! all the way over the other side of the local acts stage!

CMAN and DJ Trey grinning into a selfie at the decks with the festival crowd spread out behind them
With DJ TREY before a quick changeover, my man rocked it (cheeky bastard dropped Brown Sugar right after D’Angelo’s set – gotta give the people what they want)!

D’Angelo in a headscarf raising his fist to the sky, crystal-edged guitar slung on, Soulfest screen glowing behind
D’ANGELO (there is only one. Was getting emotional seeing him live. Real Artist, Real Musician – this was my performance highlight).

D’Angelo seated at the edge of the stage singing into the mic, his band and the Soulfest lettering behind
D’ANGELO (yes, the ladies goin’ wild behind me)

Grinning back from the night-time DJ booth over a packed Victoria Park crowd, laptop screen glowing
“Bro, can they hear me?”, “Yes man, ladies up front singing “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” 🙂

Maxwell in a suit and orange sunglasses reaching out over the crowd, shot from below the stage
MAXWELL (straight butta, super smooth, kinda reminded me of Marvin Gaye in some respects, another personal favourite, Urban Hang Suite son!)

Maxwell at the mic stand with both hands raised, washed in red and purple stage light
MAXWELL (workin the 12-15ish thousand strong crowd like a pro)

The Victoria Park night crowd shot from the DJ booth, Maxwell at the mic under the stage lights, phones out along the barrier
MAXWELL (a fitting end to an incredible event – taken from the DJ booth where we were spinning)