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issue 237 02 august 2007 issue 236 19 july 2007 issue 235 01 july 2007 issue 234 14 june 2007 Previous issue

live music

Five Favourites
Acoustic guitarist, instrumental music composer, arranger and background vocalist Barry Chung

Who is your favourite guitar player of all time?
Mr Chet Atkins, I would say – he is a mature player, not the flashy and show-off type, but he can do some pretty advanced licks that will blow you away. He has also influenced many other well-known guitarists like Pat Metheny, Tommy Emmanuel and Steve Vai.

What is your favourite instrumental album?
Strangely enough, it’s not one of Chet Atkins’ albums. Also, I have not one but two favourite instrumental albums – Secret Story by Pat Metheny and Secret Garden by Secret Garden. I find them both very touching in a way.

Who is your favourite singer of all time?
Male: Art Garfunkel (sounds like an angel). Female: Karen Carpenter (can’t explain why.... but just can’t beat her voice and expression!)

What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
DEFINITELY Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone. The love theme is so beautiful, it makes you cry!

Who is your favourite actor?
Either Robert De Niro or Al Pacino‑– one would automatically think of the movie Heat, I guess. I just like them!

Barry Chung, who made music history last year when he became the first ethnic Chinese winner of the USA Songwriting Competition (instrumental category) first prize with his song Once You Know, will launch his debut all-acoustic instrumental album at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Gallery on Saturday, August 18. The Refresh – CD Launch Party will kick off at 10:30pm. Tickets priced at $100 include one standard drink.

Whole Nine Yards of Music

It’s not only the HKSAR that’s celebrating a 10th anniversary this year. Rather, it turns out 1997 was also the year indie band Whole Nine Yards began rocking with their own recognizable style of music. Three years ago, the band’s composer-vocalist, Garry Gibbons, moved over here from the USA. Although he wasn’t entirely inactive in his first couple of years in Hong Kong (among other things, he composed the theme song for local indie movie Exit/Strategy (2004)), it’s only been in the past year Gibbons has gathered a new set of band members and started performing in earnest again. On Sunday, August 19, the Whole Nine Yards will be in concert with special guests alternative music band Velvette Vendetta at the X-One Pub & Cafe in TST. Showtime is 9-11:30pm. Entry costs $150, and includes two free drinks and a chance to win a guitar.

Harmonica Henry

Harmonica fiend Henry Chung is having quite an eventful August. Following a gig with Helter Skelter at Club Cixi earlier in the month, the self-styled ‘blues harp wailing lawyer’ will return to the club on Thursday, August 16, this time with his blues band, The Cosmic Explosion. There’s no cover charge but call 2286 0333 for reservations. Then on Friday, August 17, Chung will match up with master guitarist Eugene Pao early on during the two-night extravaganza that is Grappa’s Summer Jazz Festival. The music will begin at 9:30pm on both nights. A single evening’s ticket costs $288 while a two-evening pass is $388. Advanced reservations are highly recommended: call Grappa’s Cellar, 2521 2322.

Summer Fling Twice Over
The fling is the thing for the fine folks at Katterwall – so why stop at one this summer when they can give us two? Come Saturday, August 25, the Kassia Women’s Choir, Men’s Chorus and Youth Choir are getting together for Summer Fling number one at the Helena May’s Garden Room while Monday, September 10, will see them assembling for more of the same at the Fringe Club. At both concerts, women, men and youths will each sing four songs individually before combining for two more hit tunes to complete a programme that includes oldies but goodies like Frank Sinatra’s Old Devil Moon and pop classics like Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind and the Beatles’ Yesterday. Both performances start at 8pm. Tickets for the August 25 concert are $200 (including a glass of wine) available from choir members and Katterwall, 2575 3931, while those for the September 10 show are $150 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Shaan Shines
Brace yourself for some high-energy Bollywood-style singing and dancing when South Asian superstar Shaan and his troupe of fifteen musician and dancers shimmy into town to perform on Thursday, 30 August at the HK Cultural Centre’s Concert Hall. And who knows? Maybe you might feel compelled to join in when the popular entertainer goes ahead and delivers a promise to get his audience to shake and shiver and rock and roll along with him over the course of the more than 2 hour long concert! The show is scheduled to get underway at 8pm. Tickets are $800 to $200 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Lantau’s Largest
The Islands Youth Association’s Silvermine Bay Music Festival 2007 on Saturday, August 18, will be the biggest music bash ever held on Lantau Island. With eight hours of entirely free rock, punk, pop and more courtesy of a number of local bands – we’re hearing 10 plus – on a beautiful beach under a benign sun, the Mui Wo area of Hong Kong’s largest island sounds like a good place to chill out, cold beer in hand or not, between 2pm and 10pm that day.

Go Green Go!

International environmentalists Greenpeace set up Greenpeace China in Hong Kong a decade ago. That non-profit organization’s 10th anniversary celebrations and promotion of ongoing campaigns for a sustainable future will culminate in a grand musical celebration featuring popular singer-songwriter Anthony Wong Yiu-Ming, girl band at17 and other People Mountain People Sea (PMPS) members on Tuesday, August 21. The PMPS Go Green Go Greenpeace concert was conceived as a musical journey through a decade of environmental and social change in the HKSAR that will also tell the story of the growth of PSPS, Greenpeace and Hong Kong itself. Showtime is at 8:15pm at the 3,600-capacity Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Tickets are $400, $300 and $200 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. All proceeds from ticket sales (after deducting costs) will be donated to Greenpeace China to help fund environmental campaigns in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Listen Up! 15
Three local bands take the limelight this month in the Mark-1 Music Centre’s 15th edition of the Listen Up! concert series. Indie group Blivit’s original members Winslow (aka Wing) on vocals and rhythm guitar and Lallruns (aka Law) on lead guitar will be joined by bassist Massir and drummer Kei (aka Ken). Brendan (vocals and bass), Gabe (drums) and Shaun (vocals and guitar) make up David Bowie Knives, whose proud boast is that “We may not be the best band in Hong Kong, but we certainly are the sexiest! FACT!” So What is not so much a retort as the name of the third band, an all-female trio: Shirley, Jan and Rani promise to bring a softer touch to proceedings, not least since their musical influences include Mozart and Chopin as well as Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Sinead O’Connor and Beyond. The 2-hour Friday, August 17, show will get underway at 10:30pm at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Gallery. Entry is $90 (with one standard drink).