ANDAZ
Portland’s Original Bhangra, Bollywood & Desi Bass Dance Party (est. 2002)
Anjali & The Incredible Kid
Friday, September 27th, 2024
(ground floor of Revolution Hall)
Anjali and The Incredible Kid first introduced Portland dance floors to the sounds of Bollywood and Bhangra in 2000, but it was not until July of 2002 that they founded a party dedicated exclusively to featuring the sounds of the desi diaspora. ANDAZ was an instant success and many thought the success was a fad. The party started as the Truth Hurts song “Addictive,” featuring a prominent sample of the Bollywood song “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai,” was making its way up the charts to a peak of #9. This was one year before a Jay-Z remix of Panjabi MC’s Bhangra track “Mundian To Bach Ke” reached the US Top 40. This was five years before MIA covered the Bollywood song “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja,” and made use of South Indian soundtrack percussion players to create the dense rhythms of several of the tracks on her Kala album. This was seven years before Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Academy Awards and grossed $140 million dollars at the North American box office, with a soundtrack by the Bollywood composer A.R Rahman that one two Oscars, reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums twice, once knocking Lady Gaga out of the top spot after a twelve-week run. This was eight years before Bollywood movies were released in mainstream theaters throughout the Portland metro area, including such unlikely places as the Century Clackamas Town Center. This was 21 years before Amazon Prime released a four-part documentary on Punjabi singer AP Dhillon. This was 21 years before Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh performed at Coachella, and 22 years before Diljit’s sold-out stadium tour across North America including the largest Punjabi concert ever outside of India, his starring role as Punjabi folk icon Chamkila in a Netflix film, and his appearance on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. This was 22 years before the Hollywood Theatre began monthly encore screenings of the Tollywood hit RRR.
“Known for fusing heart-quaking electronic with bhangra—a genre with roots in the traditional folk music of the northern Indian state of Punjab—and the soundtracks of Bollywood films, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid’s dance floor sites are sweaty, glorious chaos.” Portland Mercury 4/18/2020
