Giant crowd leaves DJ’s head spinning
A normal Saturday night for Baz Raghib is spinning tunes for a crowd of a few hundred at a club in Auckland.
Tonight, the DJ and producer, who goes by the name “illBaz”, will perform three times while opening for Six60 at their stadium show at Western Springs.
His potential audience is a little larger than usual, with a sold-out crowd of 50,000 expected. So how’s he coping with the scale?
“I can’t seem to grasp it yet,” said Raghib, 26. “My mind can’t register it yet. I can’t even tell you.”
Raghib was hand-picked by Six60 to be part of the recordbreaking night, which also includes performances by rap crew SWIDT, pop act Drax Project and reggae band Sons of Zion.
Each act will be playing to some of the biggest crowds they’ve faced as part of the show, the first time a New Zealand band has sold out a venue the size of Western Springs.
Raghib, whose biggest show to date was opening for Migos at the 12,000-strong venue Spark Arena, said his “jaw dropped” when he got the call.
“I was literally jumping up and down going crazy. They [Six60] are so big, they don’t need a support act, [but] they’re so devoted to New Zealand music they go out of their way to make sure there’s an upcoming artist opening for them.”
He’ll play three 30-minute DJ sets of hip-hop and R&B tunes during the night to warm up the crowd before Six60 hit the stage.
Raghib describes his job as “making sure everyone is having a good time”.
Because of the occasion he plans to bring out several surprise guests, including Grey Lynn local legend Che Fu, and rising stars Villette and Church & AP.
“This is such a historic event. It’s only right that I get to share it with other musicians that are doing amazing and didn’t get this opportunity,” he said. “I feel so blessed.”