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Bands' political message subverts cut-price Kai Tak concert

Bands performing at show, funded by developers, on day of march deliver message sponsors may not have wanted to hear, then join protest

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Thousands watch the concert amid the rain. Photo: Vivienne Chow

Critics said the Hong Kong Dome Festival was a tool designed to keep Hong Kong's young people away from yesterday's political march - but one local band ensured that music fans who chose pop music over protest didn't miss the call for democracy.

RubberBand were pilloried online after being put on the bill for the gig, but their 30-minute set had a distinctly political theme - even if the crowd was more concerned about the storm swell over the Kai Tak venue.

The rain poured onto the former airport as RubberBand's four members took to the stage sporting black T-shirts with the word "NO!" across their chests.

"It is this unhealthy election system that creates all the problems … we need to fight for 2017 universal suffrage and freedom of speech," said frontman Mau Hou-cheong before belting out mainland rocker Cui Jian's I Have Nothing, an anthem for 1989's Tiananmen Square democracy protest, and local alternative duo Tat Ming Pair's Ask the God.

"We should be choosing our chief executives," he told the crowd of 18,000.

The group and fellow local band Mr, which opened the show, faced calls to withdraw from the concert, which was funded by property developers and coincided with the huge July 1 pro-democracy march.

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