Performing without a complete tech rider and soundcheck is a nightmare for musicians. Even though the circumstances were not in his control, India’s favorite male vocalist, Arijit Singh, managed to perform his 2.5 hours set yesterday at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. He received love in abundance from his fans who understood the circumstances that he had to perform in. On the other hand, this bad incident shows the extreme amount of talent that Arijit has: to pull off a concert that was bound to be a disaster if he didn’t have a back up plan.
It was supposed to be a memorable evening of full musical enjoyment for visitors who bought their expensive tickets to hear their favorite Indian music hero live. Arijit-fans stood in the summer heat for hours, uninformed what was going on inside the venue. Apparently, the organizers didn’t communicate at all what the reason was for such a delay. According to social media posts and reactions, the only statement that fans received was from Arijit Singh himself. 
This is not merely an incident. In general, Dutch organizations who organize big Bollywood shows tend to not take communication seriously. Concerts starts late, or artists cancel or don’t show up at the last minute. In this case the artist was outspoken and didn’t hush this incident away. Otherwise the organizers of such big shows have the tendency to blame the artists for the delay or even worse bad performance.
What happend yesterday reflects badly on all organizers that promote Indian art and music in Holland. The trust of visitors in event-organizers decreases and Indian managers and artists will not take Dutch show organizers seriously. It’s not more than ethical to give your artists and audience the best hospitality possible. These big Indian shows are a way to promote India in the Netherlands and vise-versa. In legal terms, even though the concert was badly organized, the artists, thus organizers delivered what they promised. But it would be recommendable that the organizers come with an official statement and somehow financially compensate their audience.
*To clarify my post, I did not attend this concert, but I did notice all the commotion on social media regarding this concert. In fact a Dutch Media organization reported about this concert. For more details: https://www.rtvnh.nl/nieuws/188577/ontevreden-zanger-laat-honderden-bezoekers-uren-wachten-voor-hmh
