Popular comedian Trevor Noah concluded the Indian leg of his ‘Off The Record Tour’ this week after three sold out shows in Delhi and Mumbai. A performance in Bengaluru was however scrapped at the last minute over ‘technical issues’ and inspired much of his material in the later performances. Grammy winning musician Ricky Kej however opined on Wednesday that the former Daily Show host had been a rather ‘complacent and irresponsible artist with a complete disregard for his paying fans’.
“If Trevor Noah really bothered about his ticket purchasing fans, then he would have made it a point to arrive earlier in the day (or previous night) and personally carried out a reconnaissance of the venue, tested out his microphone and ensured that the sound was optimum. I am sure he does that at other prestigious venues all over the world, and I am shocked to realize he did not bother to do this in Bengaluru,” Kej tweeted.
It was the artist’s responsibility, he argued, to put forward their personal sound requirements and preferences and then check on the details before performing.
“…to just show up for the event, without even checking your sound is hugely irresponsible. It was the audience that got punished in the process.. audiences that paid money and travelled to experience him,” he added.
Noah had been set to perform at the Manpho Convention Centre in the city on last week as part of his ‘Off the Record’ tour. The organisers cancelled both of Noah’s shows in Bengaluru scheduled for September 27 and 28.
“Trevor also attributed this incident to “India” as a whole, which is in very bad taste. This is definitely a case of terrible event management, but more importantly a very complacent and irresponsible artist with a complete disregard for his paying fans (and India).. who blames everyone and everything but himself,” Kej added.
The Emmy winning comedian had earlier dubbed it an unprecedented situation and assured Bengaluru in a ‘farewell’ post that “our story isn’t done”.
“We tried everything but because the audience can’t hear the comedians on stage there’s literally no way to do a show. We’ll make sure all ticket holders receive a full refund and again I’m so sorry for both the inconvenience and disappointment this has never happened to us before,” he had explained.
(With inputs from agencies)
“Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!” Click here!
