‘There is something known as a soundcheck’: Grammy winner Ricky Kej's dig at Trevor Noah over cancelled Bengaluru show

Three time Grammy award winner and renowned musician Ricky Kej on Wednesday hit out at comedian Trevor Noah over his cancelled Bengaluru shows, calling him “irresponsible” for not carrying out a soundcheck in advance.

Kej wrote in an extensive social media post that Noah would have tested out his microphone and given specifications for his preferences “if he really bothered” about his fans. “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. This is the artists responsibility,” he said.

He also gave examples of multiple other artists - Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, Metallica, Symphony Orchestras and Russel Peters - who have successfully performed shows in the Karnataka capital, posting that Greek composer and pianist Yanni had performed at the same venue as Noah in 2014.

READ | Trevor Noah shares pics from India trip and a message for Bengaluru fans after cancelled show

“The sound and experience was fantastic, because Yanni worked with everyone involved to deliver a spectacular concert. Yanni cared about his fans,” Kej wrote. He further criticized Noah for attributing the incident to India as a whole, saying it was “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 shared in the post.

READ | Bangalore’s shambolic state has provided enough content for Trevor Noah’s future shows, says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

He also condemned Noah's statements on the front row audience being “classist”, saying it was “completely uncalled for”. "Trevor implying that the audience was classist citing that the front row only cared about themselves is an insult and completely uncalled for. The people who are seated within the "optimum range of the soundsystem" sometimes find it hard to believe that this is not the case throughout the audience. So the people in front may not have understood why the people at the back were complaining. To imply they were classist and to attribute this as something he has "learnt about India" is absolutely uncalled for. Trevor seems to have a general bias against India," Kej wrote.

See Ricky Kej's post here:

He was reacting to Noah's farewell post to India, in which he said his story in Bengaluru was not over yet and that he will come back and make sure that “next time…it’s the best show ever. ”

“India. What an experience it was coming and performing in your country for the first time. Thank you for sharing your rich history, your delicious cuisine and your fantastic arguments with me. Thank you to everyone who came out to the shows in Delhi and Mumbai because you made it truly unforgettable. Bangalore, our story isn’t done, I’ll be back and next time we’ll make sure it’s the best show ever,” Noah had shared in his post.

Noah was scheduled to perform in Bengaluru on September 27 and 28, however, he cancelled both the shows at the last minute owing to “technical” snags.