Lee Ryan Impromptu Concert

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Lee Ryan, of British boy band Blue, has extended his visit to Hong Kong to play an intimate gig for 100 of his fans at pentahotel Kowloon. Lee, who has sold more than 15 million records worldwide with hits such as, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” is looking forward to playing the cosy lounge-like set – entry is on a first come first serve basis.

Lee Ryan
Date: 7pm, 7 May 2016
Venue: pentahotel Kowloon, 19 Luk Hop Street, Hong Kong
Tickets: Free

Da Ping Huo – Sichuan Private Kitchen

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Chinese painter Wang Hai (王亥) and his wife Wang Xiaoqiong (王小) opened the Sichuan private kitchen Da Ping Huo more than twenty years ago. Mrs Wang was a fine chef and worked in the kitchen producing genuine Sichuan dishes as well as entertaining customers with Chinese folk songs and popular ballads.

The couple retired in 2011 and current owners Wendy Wong, at one point a protégé of Wang Hai, and Calvin Chan took over. To celebrate Da Ping Huo’s 20th anniversary the new owners have invited folk soprano Li Yilin (李怡霖女士) to revive the old traditions and the vocalist is slated to perform acapella every Sunday to Wednesday at 8:30pm and 9:30pm until mid-June surrounded with Wang Hai’s art.

The menu retains many of Mrs Wang’s – who spent a year as guest chef at the Mandarin Oriental overseeing their weekly Sichuan night – original recipes including Mrs. Wang’s Roast Beef ($388), Mapo Tofu ($180), Chengdu Fish Fillets in Hot Chili Oil ($480), Hot and Sour Noodle Soup ($128) and Spicy and Hot Wood Ear Fungus ($128). New seasonal dishes include Lettuce Wrap with Minced Pork and Celery Bites ($208), Spicy Fried Prawns with Lotus Root ($388), Sichuan Spicy Chicken Pot ($388), Traditional Steamed Prawns ($388), Kung Pao Chicken ($208), and Stir fried Fish Fillets with Pepper ($388). There’s also a 5 course set lunch menu available ($120).

Da Ping Huo:
L/G Hilltop Plaza, 49 Hollywood Road., Central. Tel: 2559 1317

SXSW 2016 – 10.39gb of Free Music

sxsw-2016The South by Southwest music festival or SXSW as it’s more popularly known is one of the largest in the world. And for over a decade SXSW has published thousands of DRM free tracks from it’s participating artists. This year’s release features over 1500 tracks and more than 10 gigabytes of music, FREE.

If you can’t physically make the festival all of the SXSW showcase MP3s are freely available on the festival’s website but that’s a lot of bands and music to search through. For the last few years Ben Stolt has taken the time and effort to put all the MP3s on BitTorrent to make exploring and enjoying the music available a bit easier. The 2016 torrent, split into two parts, contains 1,593 tracks.

All the tracks released since 2005 for previous SXSW festivals are still available with the 2005 – 2016 archives totalling more than 69 gigabytes. The links for the 2016 SXSW festival torrents are:
SXSW_2016_Showcasing_Artists_Part1.torrent – 1,006 files – 6.50GB
SXSW_2016_Showcasing_Artists_Part2.torrent – 587 files – 3.82GB

Each year SXSW torrents prove very popular with many thousands of music aficionados downloading gigabytes of free music across virtually every genre from both established acts and upcoming bands.

This year’s SXSW music festival has finished but the music will live on for as long as there are people sharing.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ MacPherson Stadium – 11 March, 2016

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor returned to Hong Kong at the MacPherson Stadium on the 11 March, 2016 thanks to YourMum. A packed venue enjoyed an evening of sonic delight.
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Bon Iver @ MacPherson Stadium – 8 March, 2016

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Bon Iver charmed a packed MacPherson Stadium in Mong Kok on the last stop of his tour. The 70 minute set was a mix of solo and band arrangements often with a three voice ‘choir’ adding to the aural intensity.
Click on photo for the full gallery of images

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Saturday at the Sevens – The Proclaimers

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Saturday’s Sevens musical entertainment this year is eighties band The Proclaimers. Over an almost twenty year career twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid have carved a niche for themselves where pop, folk, new wave and punk collide with the emotional honesty, political fire, wit and sing-along raucousness of their songs to entertain fans around the globe. As big fan David Tennant puts it “They write the most spectacular songs, big hearted, uncynical passionate songs.” Their songs were turned into a stage play and then a movie based on the stage play based on the songs… Expect to be singing along to the likes of (I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles, Sunshine on Leith, Letter From America, I’m on My Way, Life With You, Lets Get Married

Death Cab for Cutie @ MacPherson Stadium – 1 March, 2016

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The line started early and stretched along three sides of Mong Kok’s MacPherson playground as fans eagerly queued for a spot close to the stage for the sold out Death for Cutie concert. The Seattle band entertained fans with a 90 minute set and 15 minute encore on their first visit to Hong Kong; departing to rapturous applause with a promise to return soon.
Click on any image to see the full gallery of photos.

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India by the Bay Opening Reception @ India House – 24 February, 2016

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India by the Bay 2016 opening reception hosted by the Indian Consul General Prashant Agrawal at India House. This year’s festival curated by Sanjoy Roy includes Sharmila Tagore, Shobha De and Rajasthan Josh… for a full schedule of events see here
Click on any photo to see the full gallery of images

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