South African comedian Trevor Noah’s show in Bengaluru on 27 September was cancelled due to a bad sound system. The comedy show, a part of the Off The Record world tour, was scheduled to be held Manpho Convention Centre near Manyata Tech Park in Nagavara in Northern Bengaluru.
The show was to begin at 7.30 PM, which started at around 8 PM, but at around 9 PM, Trevor Noah tweeted that the show had been cancelled. He said that due to technical reasons they are forced to both the shows.
“We tried everything but because the audience can’t hear the comedians on stage there’s literally no way to do a show,” he tweeted, indicating that there was a problem with the sound system which could not be fixed.
Dear Bengalaru India, I was so looking forward to performing in your amazing city but due to technical issues we’ve been forced to cancel both shows.
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) September 27, 2023
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…
Trevor Noah assured that the ticket prices would be refunded, and apologised for the inconvenience and disappointment, which he said that has never happened to them before.
Trevor Noah told the audience that the sound guys couldn’t figure out how to fix the issue, and therefore he would not be able to perform. He said sorry for the situation and said that everyone would get their money back.
That was @Trevornoah saying sound guys can’t figure out how to fix this. I won’t be able to perform like this. Sorry for the situation. He said everyone will get their money back. Just want to add, the venue didn’t even have proper bathrooms. Dei @bookmyshow pic.twitter.com/UXVEyRfNQq
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) September 27, 2023
Apart from today’s show, the show scheduled for 28th September also has been cancelled, as the problems found in the venue can’t be fixed. Although Noah only talked about bad acoustics, the venue also has issues with bad seating, bad air conditioning, and bad access roads.
Several people who attended the show by purchasing tickets on Bookmyshow took to social media to complain that they could not hear anything. The audience said that the audio was terrible, and they were shouting ‘We can’t hear’.
@bookmyshow – HORRENDOUS choice of venue for the @Trevornoah show in Bangalore. The audio system was terrible, we couldn't hear anything, the audience is shouting "WE CAN'T HEAR" desperately. Insanely disappointing experience.
— Balagopal K.V. (@balagopalkv) September 27, 2023
People also complained about the selection of the venue, which is a flat auditorium without gallery seating, which means apart from not being able to hear, most people were also not able to see anything on the stage.
The crowd also complained about bad air-conditioning, as the auditorium became hot. People on social media slammed bookmyshow for bad planning.
However, the show faced even before it started, in the form of horrible traffic jams. There was massive traffic congestion at Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road, and people coming to the show were stuck in traffic for a long time. Some even tried to sell their tickets at a discount as they knew that they would not reach the venue on time.
Urgent sale: My friend has two tickets to the #trevornoah 7.30 PM show today in Bengaluru and she cant reach because she is stuck in traffic (Bengaluru woes, i know).
— Dr Nandita Iyer (@saffrontrail) September 27, 2023
She bought them for 6500 a ticket/ selling for 5000 now. DM me for details ASAP.
The show was postponed by 30 minutes because most ticket holders were unable to reach the venue due to traffic congestion. However, when it did start, it had to be cancelled due to sound issues.
Trevor Noah’s Bengaluru shows were a part of his Off The Record Tour in India scheduled in 3 cities – Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
