Punjabi superstar hits the B.C. Place stage

Nearly 18,000 people went crazy last time Diljit Dosanjh performed at Rogers Arena in April 2022, a moment that made history as the Sanchez was the first Indian artist to perform at Rogers Arena. This Saturday he’s back in town for his Illuminati tour and excitement is through the roof. Oh my God, he can’t ask me. I’m like the biggest fan. Do this going so I cannot miss this and I’ve been like a huge fan so I preferred going spending more money rather than saying, oh, everybody is so excited for the show, so I think it’s going to be very spectacular. Amarjit Giriwal and her husband Kulwinder have come all the way from Calgary. The moment he announced it, he knew I was excited, so he bought it for me for my Christmas gift. Saturday will be the first time a Punjabi artist headlines an event at PC Place, a venue that can hold more than 50,000 people. He’s one of them who’s going mainstream from a mainstream perspective, from a Asian side of the house. So which is which is good? Which is good that you see every artist performing at the same level as other artists in the North America? It sort of feels like, oh OK, well, it’s about time. That’s how it feels, Mundir says. The emergence of South Asian artists into the mainstream music scene is an inspiration for young and emerging performers. Last month, another Punjabi artist from Surrey, Karan Oslo, won a Juno Award. Becoming the first racialized artist to win in his category, I think that there needs to be a little bit of a like an awakening to the global impact that is South Asian music, which by the way, has almost entirely all of its roots here in British Columbia, in Vancouver and Surrey. Mandir says recent collaborations between mainstream and Punjabi artists is a sign of growing popularity of Punjabi hip hop music. More proof of that, only a handful of tickets for Saturday’s concert are still available. Saurabh Sanu, CBC News, Vancouver.