THE PLANNER

Published: 12:00am, 22 Jul 2002

Culture

This Is The Life

Australian artist Sandra Tobias shows colourful gouaches produced over the past 12 months in Hong Kong. 'Riding on buses, ferries, trams and the world's longest escalator I've captured small pockets of Hong Kong - a Chinese flag, a paper lantern, a red balloon.' The Economist Gallery, Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. Tel: 2521 7251. Ends today

China Philharmonic Orchestra

The Philharmonic, which is actually based in Hong Kong, is teaming up with soprano Vivian Chan Lai-chun and tenor Alex Tam Tin-lok for an evening of music. The pair will sing arias and duets from Tosca, La Traviata and Tales Of Hoffmann, and the orchestra will play Li Huanzhi's Spring Festival Overture, Bizet's Carmen Suite No 1, Beethoven's Symphony No 5 and Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1 In G Minor. Terry Leung will be the guest conductor. Concert Hall, City Hall. Wednesday, July 24, 8pm. $70-$130 Urbtix

Jazz Up Series: The All-Star Jazz Band

Four jazz greats perform this weekend as a part of the Leisure And Cultural Services Department's Jazz Up Series. John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster have formed a virtual dream team of jazz musicianship in the 'All Star Jazz Band'. Between them, they have played with some of the world's greatest artists. Holland joined the legendary Miles Davis' band in 1968, and has since been awarded the Jazz Journalists' Association bass player of the year award twice. Drummer Foster played with Davis for 13 years: 'Al could set it up for everybody else to play off and keep the groove going forever,' Davis once muttered. 'For what I wanted in a drummer, Al Foster had it all.' Concert Hall, Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui. July 27, 8pm. $200-$500 Urbtix

Summer Concerts

Pet Shop Boys

The high lords of British pop arrive in Hong Kong for a one-night-only show on July 31 at the Hong Kong Convention And Exhibition Centre. They perform hits from their new album, Release, which sees the duo fuse guitars and good old rock'n'roll sounds with their electro melodies. Hong Kong Convention And Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. 8pm. $280-$680 Ticketek

Diana Krall

The singer's gig was postponed last month due to her father's death and has been rescheduled for next week. Since she won a Grammy in 1999, Krall has drawn further acclaim. Her newest album, When I Look In Your Eyes, has sold a remarkable four million copies in six months. Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. July 29, 8.30pm. $350-$950 Ticketek

The Chemical Brothers

In the first gig of their Asian Tour, the Chemical Brothers are set to blow the roof off the Convention and Exhibition Centre in an unsurpassed show of mass dancing activity. There will be no seating. Groove and Dancemix are organising the event for a capacity crowd expected to exceed 6,000 people. Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. Thursday, 8.30pm. $480-$680 Ticketek

The Cranberries And No Doubt

A double bill features two unlikely bands: Irish outfit The Cranberries are celebrating their 10th anniversary with the release of their second album, Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. They are joined by American act No Doubt. Led by their tantalising frontwoman, Gwen Stefani, No Doubt are enjoying intense media attention, globally, with their fifth album in 15 years. Rock Steady was recorded in Jamaica, London and Los Angeles and captures the essence of each location with elements of dancehall, trip-hop and house. Both bands are billed to play full-length sets. Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. August 15, 8pm. $350-$880 Ticketek

HK Sound And Vision Festival

The Sound and Vision Festival returns next month for its second year of celebrating independent music and accompanying visual media. With a smaller budget, the festival will have a do-it-yourself emphasis with a small run of films, concerts, club nights and classes. The theme is music documentaries, with the screening of local works such as Dare Ya, the first documentary about local hip-hop band, LMF; and Ronda Chan's comprehensive take on the state of the Chinese music scene, China/Chinese New Music 2002. A Summer Music School is taught by the festival organiser and promoter of alternative music, Wong Chi-chung. August 12-16, 6.30pm-8.30pm. Lim Por Yen Film Theatre. LMF will play a gig at HITEC on August 18. Inquiries contact Bobo at 6083 6604 or e-mail [email protected]. Ticketek

Summer Sonic 2002

This is an annual Japanese music festival - held simultaneously in Tokyo and Osaka - which Guns'n'Roses are scheduled to be headlining this year. While the line-up has not been finalised, organisers of the Hong Kong event hope the legendary outfit will play at the first replica of the Japanese festival, before jetting on to Japan. There have been subtle changes within the band since they seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth in the mid-1990s. Frontman Axl Rose still leads the show with Guns'n'Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed by his side. New faces include bassist Tommy Stinson, formerly of the Replacements, Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck and Primus drummer Brian 'Brain' Mantia. Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. August 14, 7.30pm. Tickets $600 Ticketek. Inquiries: 8100 3230 or e-mail [email protected]

Urbtix: 2734 9009

Urbtix/CityLine credit-card booking: 2111 5999

Fringe: 2521 7251

CityLine: 2317 6666

TicketNet: 2312 9998

Ticketek: 3128 8288

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