Thursday July 16
The July instalment of bc’s monthly acoustic music showcase, bc unplugged, features folksy singer-songwriter Jingan Young, dynamic duo Steve Cray and Sue Shearman, and Joey Basha (of Milkteeth) with Dixon Chan. Join us at The Wanch (54 Jaffe Road, Wanchai, 2861 1621) at 9:30pm for hot tunes, cold drinks and a chance to get up close and personal with some of the city’s best local musicians. The best part apart from the great music? As always, bc unplugged is totally free.

July 16-19
It’s been two years since Cantopop icon Leon Lai last appeared at the HK Coliseum. Now he’s back, performing in Chow Tai Fook Presents Dream Wedding Leon Live, a four-night concert extravaganza. The Beijing-born singer, one of the so-called ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ (along with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, and Aaron Kwok) of Chinese popular music, has also made a name for himself in movies and television. He even won the 2002 Golden Horse award for Best Actor for his role in Three: Going Home. Leon’s most recent live-action film appearance was alongside Zhang Ziyi in Chen Kaige’s Forever Enthralled – a title that also no doubt predicts just how Leon’s devoted fans will feel at his concert. Tickets for Leon Live cost $480, $280, $180 or $100 from URBTIX. 2734 9009.

Friday July 17
Music and generosity come together in Rock On! Three Bands, One Cause: A Charity Rock, AmCham Charitable Foundation’s fundraiser to support local charities. To make a sweet experience even sweeter, tickets include a three-hour open bar while Killer Soap, Uranus, and Helium3 support the cause on stage. Killer Soap promises an East meets West vibe, Uranus is a modern band with hints of classic rock and Helium3, one of the top three groups at the 2007 World Battle of the Bands, draws its influences from the land of the Union Jack and music of the ’80s. Make your contribution and enjoy the music at The Melting Pot (1-5 Elgin Street, SoHo, 2559 2777) from 9pm to midnight, with tickets for AmCham members $280 and $330 for non-members.

July 17-August 9
Cinemaphiles will find plenty to pique their interest with a visit to the LCSD’s series Life as Art, Life as Dream – Allen Fong in Retrospective. Although the New Wave director is best known for crafting movies that fall under the category of ‘realism’, this series seeks to prove that Fong is more than just a realist: he’s a pioneering truth-teller who compromises for neither consumers nor critics. On the programme at the Hong Kong Film Archive Cinema (50 Lei King Road, Sai Wan Ho) are several episodes of Below the Lion Rock, the television show that gave Fong his start, as well as five of his six features. Tickets are $30 and are available at URBTIX, 2734 9009. Fong himself will give a talk with Cheung Man-yee, who produced his televised work, on July 18 at 5pm, also at the film archive.

July 17 and 18
Don’t know your ‘salam alaikums’ from your ‘shalom aleichems’? Genesis To Broadway at the Fringe Club (2 Lower Albert Road, Central, 2521 7251) is the show for you. At this concert, award-winning Australian composer and pianist Warren Wills takes his audience through the long history of Jewish and Middle-Eastern music, a journey that, if the title of the performance is to be believed, stretches all the way back to the time of Noah and Abraham. Wills will also be joined by opera singer Joyce Wong and jazz vocalist Heidi Mak, the trio ending the night with a set of Broadway hits – a crowd-pleasing conclusion for a show that includes such potentially inaccessible music styles as klezmer, whose lyrics are usually only in Yiddish.

July 18-26
This week, Lantau Island beckons with even more enticements than the fabulous views from its famous cable cars and the Tian Tan Buddha statue: Venture into Ngong Ping village and you’ll find the Ngong Ping Drum Festival, a celebration of both African and Chinese percussion. Thrice-daily main performance parades (12:00pm, 2:14pm, and 4:00pm) with two-dozen drummers are complemented with another daily musical procession at 2:00pm. Finally, on Saturday and Sunday at 2:50pm, intrepid visitors will have the opportunity to learn drum basics for themselves at Ngong Ping’s Drum Jamming Workshops. Tickets for the cable car to Ngong Ping village can be purchased online at www.np360.com.hk.

July 22-28
In a bookworm’s dream, the Convention and Exhibition Centre (1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, 3128 8288) is about to be transformed into The HKTDC Hong Kong Book Fair 2009. Over 500 exhibitors representing 19 different countries are set to attend the fair, including, for the first time, book hawkers from Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. The book fair – Hong Kong’s 20th – will also feature a special Multimedia zone, in which techies can browse e-books and educational software. And if you’re looking for one volume in particular, the fair’s organizers have you covered: just visit their website, http://hkbookfair.hktdc.com/en/index.aspx, to search for the book of your choice. General admission is $25 for adults and $10 for children. Morning tickets for those entering the fair by or before 1pm, and an $80 book-lover super pass giving holders unlimited entry and the ability to avoid queues, are also available. Call 1830 670 for tickets.

July 22-August 6
Bonkers for Bruce Lee? Cuckoo for Jackie Chan? A maniac for Yip Man? Head to the Hong Kong International Kung Fu Festival for your martial arts fix. The fest includes plenty of action in the form of the three-day World Guoshu Competition, as well as quieter options like the family-oriented Kung Fu Carnival and a mixed-media art exhibition, Spirit of a Nation, on the history of Chinese martial arts. The carnival, held on July 25 and 26 on Tsin Sha Tsui’s Avenue of Stars, is free and open to the public. Tickets for the Guoshu competition can be purchased at www.hkticketing.com, 31 288 288, see URBTIX for other 2734 9009.

July 28 and 29
Hong Kong can hardly be called a city of angels but with the visit of Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, it may seem so with the celestial sounds issuing from our home town. The choir will give two concerts – one on July 28, the other on July 29 – and will be accompanied by members from the Hong Kong Virtuosi at the second. The choir primarily sings the daily church services in the King’s College chapel, but its world-wide reputation has led to countless concerts around the globe, including performances at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Istanbul International Music Festival and, of course, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Bask in this musical experience at 8pm on July 28 and 29. Tickets are $280, $220, $160 and $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009.

Friday July 31
ka-POW is a night of guitar-driven indie rock organized by local band Shotgun Politics that will include Chochukmo and Innisfallen with DJ Dank Rock from Hungry Ghosts spinning some of the best indie/electro rock tracks today. Shotgun Politics, which calls itself a ‘party rocker band’, has set up ka-POW specifically to fertilize the local music scene. The bands start rocking at 10pm at Backstage, 52-54 Wellington St, Central. Tickets are $85 at the door. For enquiries, phone 2167 8985.

Looking Ahead...

July 30-August 2
Antigone by Theatre du Pif
Tel: 2734 9009

July 31-August 4
ACGHK 2009 HeartBeat Band Sound Competition

August 3
Placebo Live in HK
Tel: 3128 8288

August 11
Keane – Perfect Symmetry Tour – Asia 2009
Tel: 3128 8288

August 14-16
Shadow Box
Tel: 2734 9009

August 15
Summer Disco Party featuring Lady Gaga Live at CotaiArena
Tel: 6333 6660

August 21-23
Cinderella
Tel: 2734 9009

August 27-29
I Ought to Be in Pictures
Tel: 3128 8288

August 30
Hironobu Kageyama & Masaaki Endoh Galaxy Return in HK Live
Tel: 3128 8288

September 26
An Evening With Il Divo
Tel: 3128 8288

September 30-October 4
Wild Wild Rose
Tel: 3128 8288

[ Next issue - 30 july 2009 ]