Cantopop Group RubberBand in Vancouver

Mau of RubberBand performed in Vancouver

A Hong Kong friend had an extra ticket to see the Cantopop band RubberBand so I watched them perform tonight at the Vogue Theatre downtown.

The venue was pretty much sold out, with lots of eager fans to see their favourite band live.

Singer Mau Hou-cheong, guitarist Clement Fung Ting-ching, bassist Lee Siu-wai, and drummer Lai Man-wang are celebrating the band's 20th anniversary with a North American tour of San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and New York City.

Hong Kong fans embraced the band at the Vogue

During the set with an intermission in between, Mau told the crowd he had lost his voice a day earlier, but he sang as much as he could without straining his voice. The fans were appreciative of his call-outs to Vancouver, and sang the lyrics to many of the songs.

While the band formed in 2005, RubberBand didn't sign with a label until the following year. In 2018 they became independent and started their own music label called R flat. 

The indie band became particularly popular during the Umbrella Movement in 2014, as they supported the protesters occupying the streets calling for universal suffrage.

In January 2022, RTHK blacklisted 10 local groups and singers, including RubberBand together with Denise Ho, Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, Kay Tse and Charmaine Fong.

A year later RubberBand toured around Europe, performing to Hongkongers who emigrated overseas. Coming to North America is an extension of the tour, with RubberBand making its United States debut.

No rest for the wicked -- after finishing the performance around 10.40pm, the band held a meet-and-greet after the show for VIP ticket holders and then fly to Toronto tomorrow. 

 

Jimmy O. Yang the Greatest Influencer for HK

Yang is enjoying the view and raking in the dough in HK

The Hong Kong Tourism Board pretty much hit the jackpot when it invited Chinese-American comedian and actor Jimmy O. Yang to come to the city to perform and see the sights.

People were madly scrambling for tickets to his five shows -- at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom -- but the website kept crashing but somehow all the seats were snapped up.

Only Cantopop stars get to perform at the Coliseum, but Yang was the exception -- as he was invited by HKTB and by extension, the Hong Kong government.

He had five sold out shows in the Coliseum

While he was in his hometown, Yang visited the sights, like Man Mo Temple, and hung out in cha chaan tengs, ate stinky tofu on the street, showed viewers how to eat chicken feet, got a chop made in the lane in Sheung Wan, and even went to Chow Sang Sang's original Castle Peak Road store where he checked out their gold necklaces and apparently bought some bling bling.

"I spent my childhood in Hong Kong and have always felt the city's unique vibrancy. It's a place where tradition and innovation merge, allowing you to traverse between a century of culture and natural beauty in a single day. Every journey is full of surprises, revealing Hong Kong's diverse urban landscape," he said.

Sounds more like that's what the HKTB wrote his script.

Which makes us more curious about how much he was paid to perform and visit some requisite places to promote Hong Kong as a cool travel destination. From his video it looks like he stayed at The Peninsula...

Yang visited Man Mo Temple

With over 2.46 million fans following Yang on Instagram, the HKTB certainly got a lot of eyeballs on Hong Kong and it's a natural fit really. 

But since they figured it out, does he know he lost a lot of Hong Kong fans' respect after selling out?

The tourism board invited 650 KOLs or "key opinion leaders" in the first quarter of 2025, more than the total for all of last year. But that's not all. There will be another campaign called "Seeing is Believing", where Hong Kong will invite more than 100 international influencers in July and August.

Bringing in KOLs seems to be working. In the first four months of this year, Hong Kong welcomed 16 million international visitors, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year.

Anthony Wong Yiu-ming in Vancouver

Wong performed last night in Vancouver

Last night I attended my first Cantopop concert! In all my years living in Hong Kong I never went to one because I wasn't familiar with the music, no one asked me to go, and it felt inaccessible.

But a friend asked me to go see Anthony Wong Yiu-ming in Vancouver and I shelled out for a pretty good seat, only metres away from the stage at The Centre downtown. I'm surprised that since 2013 the building, which used to be owned by four brothers from Hong Kong is now owned by Westside Church! Nevertheless it's a great venue, clean and comfortable seats. Several Hong Kong bands and artists have used this place, partly because the staff are not in a union.

He was last in Vancouver five years ago

I was expecting a band with dancers, but it was very scaled down, Wong with two musicians who mostly played synthetizers, and one periodically played guitar, the other played the accordion for one song. 

Wong's fans were excited to see him -- one near the front even had a bright sign lit up with LED white lights that said "明哥" or "Ming Gor", a term of endearment. Many wore either his current concert tour T-shirt, or previous ones.

I don't know the songs that he sang, but later in the show he sang Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now. Wong explained that when he goes to a different place he likes to sing a song from there. As French is also spoken in Canada, he sang a song by Edith Piaf.

He explained he admired Jean Cocteau, a Renaissance man in his day, who was a poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director and visual artist. He was good friends with Piaf. She died October 10, 1963, and Cocteau died the day after.

Wong noted that Anita Mui Yim-fong was born October 10, 1963...

Early on in the show fans rushed to the stage to give him flowers. My friend had heard earlier that Wong had asked his fans not to give him flowers but money instead. Possibly a joke? But Wong was grateful to receive the flowers and read out a few of the cards, though these fans had written very long letters to him and he couldn't read them all.

He sang a mix of new and old songs

On stage, Wong drank a lot of liquids, as he coughed a bit. But after he seemed to end the show, and the audience clamoured for him to come back. He finally appeared and seemed to have his second wind and sang songs that Joseph Koo Kar-fai had written, again explaining it was because the legendary composer had lived in Vancouver (until he died last January). Wong seemed to be excited and told the audience he was singing yet another song that he didn't perform in Toronto, which got his fans all cheering.

The show started at around 8.20pm and didn't end until 11pm!

This evening, he came to the Asian Centre at the University of British Columbia to talk about his work in Cantonese. Again the room was filled with fans, almost all from Hong Kong, with a few from China.

Someone asked him if he would stay much longer in Hong Kong given the situation, and his brushes with the law. Wong admitted that he had thought about leaving, but he said his loved ones are in Hong Kong which is why he will stay. He added that he feels like he doesn't belong anywhere in particular and that's fine with him.

Another asked about his songwriting process and this was where Wong praised his collaborators, the two musicians who were on stage with him, along with a few others. He said it was a collaboration, where he might have some ideas and they try to realise it for him, and it's a back-and-forth collaboration; Wong insisted he could not do it by himself as he does not know how to read music, let along write it, but he has ideas, and these musicians have the technical ability to help him.

Fans asked Wong questions at UBC

One woman asked about his influences and how he curated them. He said there were too many to say what they were, but explained that when he was a child, he helped his father with his work and for that he got some pocket money. Wong would spend it watching movies in a theatre that changed films every two days so he watched a lot of them. He also listened to a lot of music too and from there he said he has been exposed to a lot of different things.

A fan asked about why Cantopop is not as globally popular as K-pop and he said it's because the Cantopop songs are very Hong Kong, it's about the place, the people, the circumstances... with K-pop it has a melody that is accessible and the lyrics are generic, that everyone can relate to.

Wong was gracious with his time and answered each question with lengthy replies; other celebrities might just answer with a word or a quick sentence or two. His fans hope he will come back again soon -- his last concert in Vancouver was five years ago!

Hearing Hong Kong Indie Music in Vancouver

Charming Way warmed up the crowd with its 90s rock sound

Living in Hong Kong for so many years I never went to a Cantopop concert, mostly because I didn't have a particular liking for the artists, but also I didn't understand the lyrics.

However I had my first introduction to two indie Hong Kong bands who were recently in Kelowna for BreakOut West Festival & Conference, where they spoke about their music, networked with other musicians and producers, and performed a few times.

They are Charming Way and The Hertz, and both played last night at Red Gate on Main Street.

Many took pictures and videos

Charming Way's music has a 90s nostalgic sound, and interestingly to reach a wider audience, write most of their lyrics in English. The lead singer Aaryn is tall and lanky, with a frizzy mop of hair. He plays the part of the frontman really well, making jokes with the crowd. "Do you understand my language?" he said, riffing off of what Cantopop star Eason Chan said a few days ago in Macau.

Someone shouted to Aaryn, "Take your clothes off!" to which he demurred about doing a strip show. He eventually took off his oversized leather bomber jacket to reveal his white tank top. I found out later he is also a TVB actor!

Each of the band members has their own distinct fashion style, like the drummer Terry, who looked smart in a hobo cap with a denim shirt and tie, and oversized trousers, while one guitarist wore a toque over his shaggy hair and wore a grungy T-shirt and baggy jeans, while the other had short hair, part of it dyed blonde, and wore a white T-shirt and shredded jeans.

They got the audience, almost 100 young Hongkonger hipsters, bopping their heads and also one of their last songs was Victoria, named after Victoria Harbour, which got the crowd nostalgic.

Charming Way warmed up the crowd for The Hertz, and the audience were thrilled to see them. The Hertz was formed in 2018 and it's interesting to find out lead singer Herman Wong was actually born in Vancouver and grew up in Toronto, which he revealed on stage.

Now the crowd was jumping up and down, waving their hands up and digging the beats. Why they named themselves after a rental car company I'm not sure, but they were very popular with the crowd.

Many were excited to see The Hertz perform

At one point Wong was pleased to speak freely in Vancouver, and said that nowadays in Hong Kong people are more careful about what they say, and in general speak less. He also encouraged the audience to watch more live music, as there weren't many venues left in Hong Kong.

A friend who was there last night watching his favourite band, explained his brother-in-law who didn't know much Cantonese, really likes The Hertz's music and is keen to learn the language now. He asked my friend to translate the lyrics, and he found them to be quite deep! He even bought some merch -- CD, foldable bucket hat -- as souvenirs.

For me as a first-time observer, it was nice to see an event for Hongkongers to gather and express themselves through seeing their favourite bands and giving them a warm welcome to their new home. There is a demand for these indie acts, and hopefully more will come through in the coming months and years.

Eason Chan's Viral Outburst

Chan said he would speak whatever language he wanted

Hong Kong Cantopop singer Eason Chan Yik-shun caused a stir at his concert in Macau on October 13 when he hit back at fans in the audience asking him to speak in Mandarin, saying "so be it if you can't understand".

Some people in the audience could be heard shouting, "Speak Mandarin", to which Chan at first said something in Thai, followed by English: "I love speaking whatever the way and language I want", which received cheers and applause from other people in the crowd.

Then Chan's tone became critical, when he said in Cantonese: "Wouldn't 'could you speak in Mandarin please?' be better than 'speak Mandarin'?" He added he could speak the language [Mandarin] fluently, but it would be nice if people could be polite, which drew more applause.

Chan caused an uproar at his concert in Macau

Chan said he would say "shut up" to anyone who asked him to speak English. "So be it if you can't understand," he added before moving onto his next song.

It seemed as if the singer was venting his annoyance for having to placate Chinese fans who expect the star to speak Mandarin... but did he realise he was in Macau where over 90 percent of its visitors are from the mainland?

But then again he is from Hong Kong, and there are many Mandarin speakers who appreciate listening to Cantonese.

Nevertheless some felt Chan was taking a political stance, as language has become a sensitive issue in the city. 

But when it comes to his politics, Chan is not clear-cut. In June, his management cut ties with a concert organiser in China due to a censorship row after the latter replaced the name of a politically outspoken lyricist in the show application to authorities. 

The person in question is Albert Leung Wai-man, known as Lam Chik, who has written many of Chan's hits. However, Leung is also known as being supportive of Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who fled into exile in the UK.

Previously he partnered with Adidas

Chan also outraged many of his fans when he announced he was severing ties with Adidas after it refused to use Xinjiang cotton.

Adidas along with Burberry, Nike, Calvin Klein and H&M publicly said they would not source cotton from western China due to concerns of using forced labour by Uyghurs.

His fans threatened to boycott his concerts and albums, and now he has enraged another part of his fan base. 

Or does he do this just to get attention?

Coopting Leslie and Anita, 20 Years Later

What do fans think of this government tribute, 20 years later?

Hard to believe but 20 years ago on April 1, Hong Kong lost one of its brightest stars, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, a talented Cantopop singer and actor. Later that year in December, Anita Mui Yim-fong passed away from cancer. 

I was not in Hong Kong at the time -- a friend was so distraught he sent me copies of the Chinese newspapers covering Cheung's suicide at the Mandarin Oriental in Central in 2003. 

Fans used to remember Cheung every April 1

Since then every April 1, fans have bouquets of flowers sent to the outside of the hotel where a makeshift memorial is set up every year.

Fans come to take pictures of the flowers that have messages telling "Gor Gor" how much they miss him.

However last year with the national security law in place, the police made it very difficult for fans to even gather. Plainclothes police shooed people away, and they could only take a quick picture of themselves holding their flowers by the hotel and then leave.

This year it seems the government wants to take advantage of the two-decade anniversary with the first annual "Pop Culture Festival" with the slogan "Let's Pop"... 

Let's pop???!!!

What does "Let's Pop" mean?

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has organised the extravaganza to celebrate the glory days of Cantopop in the 1980s and 1990s. There will also be a "Miss You Much Leslie Cheung Exhibition" at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum to remember the much-loved star, while a concert will be held at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Cheung and Mui will also be celebrated in a show called "When Leslie and Anita Meet Hei & Gin", featuring some of the two performers' greatest hits at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre.

It is rather macabre for the government to resurrect these two stars from the dead in the hopes of reviving Hong Kong's fortunes. Fans should be given the opportunity to remember them the way they want to commemorate their favourite performers. Were fan groups notified about these massive initiatives? 

Also -- why is Hong Kong looking to the past when it should be looking to the future? The authorities seem to be politicising these two performers, using their names and reputations to earn street cred.

When a "Pop Culture Festival" says, "Let's Pop", it's just popping pathetic...