July 19: Fall Out Boy (Macau)
Grab your eyeliner and your sullen teenage brother – Fall Out Boy’s in town! The American punk-pop band has sold millions of albums and won numerous MTV Video Music and Teen Choice Awards, but they’re probably best known for the fact that their bassist, Pete Wentz, is married to singer Ashlee Simpson. Oh, and because Wentz and Simpson decided it would be a good move to name their baby boy Bronx Mowgli. The quartet is set to rock the Venetian’s 15,000 seat CotaiArena with their patented blend of catchy hooks and emo-inflected lyrics. Local band Mr. will serve as Fall Out Boy’s opening act. Check out page 47 to see bc’s exclusive interview with Wentz, who chatted with us about chicken foetuses, breathing underwater, and much, much more.
5:30pm, CotaiArena, The Venetian, Macau, Tickets: MOP$580, MOP$380, MOP$180, Tel: 6333 6660, www.cotaiticketing.com

July 26-28: Fuji Festival
The Fuji rock festival has had a history of success since its inception in 1997 and this year it takes in Naeba Ski Resort, Niigata. As usual, it features a huge line-up of big names and stars including Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Lily Allen, Bright Eyes, and many others. The different concert stages are spread across the mountain: from the “Red Marquee” to the “Crystal Palace Tent”, the map almost resembles that of a theme park, and one can be sure to find that level of fun and more. For more info on the bands and tickets, visit www.fujirockfestival.com

July 31: The Radio Dept
Elin Almered and Johan Duncanson had barely conceived the Swedish indie pop band The Radio Dept in 1995 before it seemed to go into hiatus, reforming in 1998 with Duncanson and Martin Carlberg. Soon after Lisa Carlberg and Per Blomgren joined. When the band sent some of their music to Sonic in 2001, the magazine liked their sound enough to feature them on a free CD sampler that went out with an issue. It was through this that Labrador Records heard and signed them, and the band went on to release two albums, Lesser Matters (2003) and Pet Grief (2006). The Radio Dept’s music contains hints of dream pop, shoegaze and twee pop, and the band has been compared to Pet Shop Boys, My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins. Amongst their influences, they cite The Avalanches, Nick Drake and Frank Sinatra.
8pm, 3/f, HITEC, Tickets: $380, Tel: 31 288 288, www.hkticketing.com

August 3: Placebo
With a total of over 12 million records sold and a worldwide acclaimed music career spanning over a decade, UK rock trio Placebo returns to Hong Kong with a new line-up and a new album, Battle For The Sun, released on June 8. Led as always by singer/guitarist Brian Molko, Placebo’s current line-up includes Stefan Olsdal (bass, guitar and keyboard) and new drummer Steve Forrest. Formed in 1994, they released their first album Placebo in 1996 and have now recorded five studio albums, two DVD’s and a singles collection.
8 pm, HITEC, Star Hall, Tickets: $680, $480, Tel: 31 288 288, www.hkticketing.com

August 7: Little Dragon
Little Dragon’s sound can be described as organically soulful pop. The band features radiant vocalist Yukimi Nagano and her close high-school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrick Källgren (bass) and Håkan Wirestrand (keyboards). Their influences range from Depeche Mode to Prince, LCD Soundsystem to James Holden, dancehall to R’n’B, jazz and soul. Little Dragon return with a spectacular second album, Machine Dreams.
8:30 pm, Grappa’s Cellar, Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central, Tickets: Advance $260/Door $300,
Tel: 2264 1025

11 August: Keane
Instead of a guitar, Keane - Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley and Richard Hughes - use a piano as their lead instrument and their unique brand of piano-rock has resulted in three massive selling albums Hopes and Fear (2004), Under the Iron Sea (2006) and last years Perfect Symmetry.
8pm, HITEC, Star Hall, $580, $380, Tel: 31 288 288, www.hkticketing.com

August 15: Summer Disco Party featuring Lady Gaga (Macau)
A few years ago, the eccentric pop chanteuse known as Lady Gaga was just Stefani Germanotta, a girl from Yonkers, New York, who had brown hair, wrote songs for other people and wore pants. Now Stefani has morphed into a superstar diva whose hit tunes Just Dance and Poker Face are as infectious as they are ubiquitous. Her debut album, The Fame, was released last September in the US and has already sold 2.3 million copies worldwide – not bad for a woman who turned 23 just four months ago. She’ll be joined at the Venetian by The KUFS, a hip-hop dance group from Korea, Beatbox MMH and local Cantopop darling Stephanie Cheng. Tickets for the disco party aren’t cheap, but it’ll be worth the price of admission just to see what crazy outfits Gaga dons onstage – she’s been known to wear dresses made of plastic bubbles and metallic hotpants...
8pm CotaiArena, The Venetian, Macau, Tickets: MOP$880, MOP$480, MOP$280, Tel: 6333 6660, www.cotaiticketing.com

August 16: Linkin Park (Macau)
Linkin Park fans were devastated last year when the rockers had to cancel their scheduled show in Macau because lead vocalist Chester Bennington had injured his back. The band rescheduled the gig and Bennington and his bandmates, Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, DJ Joe Hahn and Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell will be unleashing their signature mix of hard rock, rap and metal next month, and maybe even playing a few songs from their upcoming album. Let’s just hope nobody slips a disc while they’re moshing in the front row.
7:30pm CotaiArena, The Venetian, Macau, Tickets: MOP$880, MOP$580, MOP$380, Tel: 6333 6660, www.cotaiticketing.com

September 30: Underworld
The two main characters behind Underworld Live are Karl Hyde and Rick Smith who have been recording together under various names since 1980. It has been 15 years since their debut album and they are still pressing on. Their music is a fusion of many different elements, including techno, dub, trance, krautrock, drum’n’bass, ambient house and even blues, complementing and contrasting not only sounds, but also emotions.
9pm AsiaWorld-Expo, Tickets: $540 (b4 July 31), after August 1- $590, Tel: 31 288 288, HYPERLINK "http://www.hkticketing.com" www.hkticketing.com

Sustained Strings
words irma widjojo

A Chinese musical instrument marathon unites people from all over the world

Huqin, the generic term for Chinese string instruments, is one of the most popular families of Chinese musical instruments in Hong Kong or even in the world. And according to Yan Huichang, artistic director and principal conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, among all the instruments in the huqin family, the erhu is the most favoured because of the closeness of its sound quality to the human voice. ‘The tone colour of huqin is expressive, [but] it is quite technically demanding too,’ he says.

In 2001, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra organized a huqin festival that was particularly remarkable for the over 1,000 players who established a new Guinness world record for performers of the erhu playing simultaneously. Now, in a follow up to that festival, the orchestra is trying to make history again.

The upcoming 2nd Huqin Festival will include a Global Huqin Relay, a 24-hour huqin music marathon that will be aired online all over the world, making it the first such 24-hour non-stop global broadcast – or, as the orchestra describes it, ‘Music without boundaries in every sense of the words.’

Since the 2001 festival, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra has organized many other instrumental celebrations, such as the Drum Festival (2003-2008), the Dizi and Xiao Festival (2005) and the Zheng Festival (2006), among others. ‘I want the festivals to be cultural events involving the whole community of Hong Kong,’ Yan says. ‘That’s why we have organized mass performing activities on top of major concerts: so people from Hong Kong and around the world could get involved to feel the power of the music by themselves.’

It is an attractive approach as 300 huqin players from over 30 organizations, ranging in age from six to 77, have agreed to participate in the current festival. They include local musicians and members of the Wenqin Orchestra of Malaysia and the Ontario Chinese Orchestra of Canada, as well as players from Shenzhen. ‘[This is] another proof that music is without bounds, and as long as you embrace it with passion, you can help create history,’ says Yan.

The relay will be followed by a closing ceremony that includes performances by the top players in the huqin community: virtuosi Min Huifen, Yu Qiwei and Hu Zhiping will join the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra on stage. Yan says that through this 2nd Huqin Festival, he hopes to ‘bring another “memory of a lifetime” to the participants and audiences.’

The Global Huqin Relay will start at 6pm on July 18 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre foyer. An early evening concert at 6pm on the following day will be held in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza. Admission is free – and that includes the scenic backdrop of the world famous view of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour at night.