Big Smog

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall Saturday May 29

They say he plays like Gershwin and I say if Gershwin plays like Kevin Cole, Gershwin must have been really good!

In an all-Gershwin programme, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performed to a well-attended concert. Conductor David Alan Miller, a champion of American music, led the orchestra with pizzazz and precision; and the orchestra responded to the genre with brio.

The evening started with Oh Kay!: Overture, and ended with An American in Paris. It also included songs like Summertime and My Man's Gone Now from the opera Porgy and Bess; and Gershwin standards like The Man I Love, They Can't Take That Away from Me, Love is Here to Stay, Embraceable You and ‘S Wonderful, all performed with American soprano Indra Thomas. Indra started off a bit shaky, but slowly blossomed into a very charming performer who beautifully captured the jazz idiom that usually escapes most classically trained singers. While her middle and low registers seemed to thrive in Gershwin songs, her high register was a bit tattered.

The highlight of the evening was Kevin Cole in Rhapsody in Blue, I Got Rhythm Variation and his encore piece of a medley of Gershwin tunes. His humble demeanor on stage belies his stunning virtuosity. Kevin’s gift went beyond technique and tone and onto a performance of great affinity and passion for Gershwin music. It is not everyday that I see the audience smiling in an HKPO concert… in awe, a lot of times, but smiling? Now that is very special.

World Cup mania has started to grip Time Out HQ, so much so that we’ve collectively regressed to childhood and invested in the Official Licensed Sticker Album of the 2010 World Cup.

We’ve just started on the long road of collection, and seeing as we’re unlikely to get all 636 stickers in the album on our own, we’re enlisting your help. Got any doubles or ones you don’t want? Send them our way, and we’ll give you a shout out on this blog. We’ll gladly swap them for our useless doubles.

So, wanna play? Get the album and stickers at 7-Eleven. Then let us know who you need for your album. We’ll be posting our doubles, as well as our requests, right here on the Big Smog Blog.

If you want to send some stickers to us, here’s the address:
Time Out World Cup Sticker Bonanza
12/F, 188 Hennessy Rd,
Wan Chai
 

Want to make a start on collecting art but no idea where to begin? Then the Time Out Art Tour is for you. This interactive tour, hosted by experts from Time Out Hong Kong Magazine, gives you the lowdown on buying at the Fair, including what to look out for and buying etiquette, as well as the opportunity to view a specially selected collection of works under US$5,000 from various participating galleries. Lasting roughly an hour, the tours include a brief talk on “the essentials of starting a collection”, a special viewing and a Q&A session.

The tours take place at the following times:
Thursday: 7pm-8pm
Friday: 3pm-4pm
Saturday: 2pm-3pm, 3.30pm-4.30pm & 5.30pm-6.30pm
Sunday: 2pm-3pm & 3.30pm-4.30pm

All tours are free of charge. Visit the Info Point at ART HK 10 to register.

Many people will have tomorrow off but how many know the reason why they’re getting a nice three day weekend? One check of the calendar and you will see that May 21 is The Buddha’s Birthday which celebrates the birth of Buddha, aka Prince Siddhartha Gautama. His exact birth date is unknown but the holiday is celebrated on the eighth date of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. It is celebrated in many countries where Buddhism is the main religion such as Nepal, India, Japan but it is only an official holiday in Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea.

On this day, Buddhist temples all over the city will hold a ceremony where monks pour water over Buddha statues to cleanse the newly-born prince and also wash away any bad thoughts and feelings. Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island and the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas in Sha Tin will have ceremonies open to visitors with a feast of vegetarian dishes to follow.

Also taking place on the 21st is the end of the traditional Cheung Chau Bun Festival. The end of this 14-day festival marks the finals of the bun snatching contest. Both male and female contestants climb up 15 metre towers covered in plastic lucky buns and collect as many as possible in three minutes time, scoring points for each bun. The height of the towers and the frantic pace of the contestants makes this a definite crowd pleaser.

So take advantage of this weekend and experience two of the oldest local Hong Kong traditions.

Starstreet Precinct May 15

It was more than half an hour before the start of registration, and there was already a small troop of people lining up to present their tickets, collect their goodie bags and be on their way. By the time the counters were opened for business Three Pacific Place was packed and excitement filled the air, along with the steady hum of the collective gathered for the event.

Among the swaying groups of participants wandering from one venue to another were volunteers from The Women’s Foundation, enthusiastically encouraging tipsy individuals to contribute money to their collection boxes. In the end, Winewalk was a massive success that was blessed with good weather, and the Winewalk route littered with a constant stream of people drinking with good cheer to a good cause.

Cheers to that.

HITEC Thursday May 6

Tears for Fears demonstrated their trans-generational musical prowess last night as they played to a head-bopping audience that ranged from tweens to those who can actually remember when the 1980s pop rock duo formed.

Curt and Roland opened with a slow-tempo version of Mad World. From there on, the pair blazed through their hits in a 16-song set that included Sowing the Seeds of Love, Head Over Heels, a cover of Billie Jean and, rather confusingly, Mad World again.

The crowd was left wanting more as the nostalgic trip back to the 80s was coming to a close, and launched into an impromptu mass sing-along to the chorus of Shout until the duo came back on stage for the encore. There were a great many happy punters leaving Star Hall last night; hardly surprising seeing as they had waited nearly 30 years for the Brits to come to Hong Kong. Curt did mention that as they get older, they like to return to where they’re loved, and looked for reassurance by asking the audience, “You love us, right?” The resounding “yes” that followed could very well mean we’ll see their return soon enough.

Setlist

Mad World (orch)
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Secret World
Closest Thing To Heaven
Sowing The Seeds Of Love
Call Me Mellow
Mad World
Memories Fade
Quiet Ones
Floating Down The River
Everybody Loves A Happy Ending
Seven Of Sundays
Billie Jean
Pale Shelter
Break it Down Again
Head Over Heels
Woman In Chains (Encore)
Shout (Encore)

Although Hong Kong’s Mexican popularity is not exactly huge, we can still celebrate this unofficial holiday commemorating the Mexican army's unlikely victory at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Mr. Taco Truck out in Quarry Bay (22 Finnie Street) is offering FREE flautas for any order over $25 until they run out. It’s happy hour all night over at Tequila Jacks (33-35 Chatham Road South) where tacos and tequilas are $10 each while Tequila (11 Old Bailey Street) is giving away free tequila shots to those dining in. To celebrate with some music, try Skylark Lounge (63 Wyndham Street) where they’re playing Latin tunes the entire evening. Also check out Agave, Izote, Coyote Bar and Grill, iCaramba, and El Taco Loco to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with some authentic Mexican fares.

So put on your sombrero, kick back a couple of Coronas and be on the lookout for any hanging piñatas.

The Mira Hotel Friday April 30

The Mamas Gun spaceship touched down at the swanky Mira Hotel on Friday night and they brought along their feel good tunes. Under the glimmering chandeliers of the ballroom, a diverse crowd of the young and the old, locals and foreigners alike grooved and swayed to tracks from the group’s first album, Routes To Riches.

The band kept the atmosphere light and made it hard for anyone not to enjoy themselves. We particularly enjoyed the 10-second freeze by the whole band mid-way through Bitch. They did a good job mixing up the selection of songs, constantly changing between up tempo songs and slower ones, never letting the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd die down.

Lead singer Andy Platts sounded as good live as he does on the album. Showing his Hong Kong roots, he sang a verse of their hit Yesterday’s News in Cantonese. Although his pronunciation was a little rusty, the crowd ate it up anyway, cheering for each line.

The British quintet had the crowd whoo-hooing and na-na-naing all night long and Hong Kong showed it knew how to get down and funky.

Setlist

Rico
Wishing
You Are The Music
Finger On It
Pots of Gold
Let's Find A way
Big Betty
Yesterday's News
House On A Hill
Bitch
Psycho Territory
(Encore) Yes We Can Can (Alain Toussant cover)
(Encore) Supa Sneakers