NIGHTLIFE

CLUBS HIGHLIGHTS - THIS WEEK Armand Van Helden Tomorrow, 11pm-6am Regal Airport Hotel, Chek Lap Kok. Tel: 2797 3058 Tickets $340 advance (HMV stores, Tixmart)/$400 door One of the hottest names in the world, New York mix maestro Armand Van Helden, is brought to Hong Kong as part of an Asian tour organised by Club [V]. Sander Kleinenbery leads the support. Rabid Tomorrow, 11pm-6am Lai Chee Garden, Yuen Long Tel: 9326 8304 Tickets: $230 advance (HMV stores), $280 on door More action from the SAR's finest scratch crew. DJs Tommy, Galaxy and Frankie Lam plan to raise the temperature, while two air-cons battle to bring it down. Shuttle buses run from the Kowloon Hotel, Wong Tai Sin from 11pm. Club Progressive Tonight, 11pm-very late New Club Star, 3/F, 382 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2574 4388 Tickets: $120 on door Local DJs Tszpun, Rexx and Ruby play house for the crowd at one of the best regular nights around. COMING SOON Fierce Handover Party Friday 30 June, 10.30pm-6am Regal Kowloon Hotel, 71 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2882 7783/2543 8588 Tickets: $350 advance (HMV stores, Ticket City, Tixmart) / $450 door Fierce Productions brings Timo Mass, Quivver and Andry Nalin over for a rollicking night. David Lam and Blackjack warm the crowd up, while DJs Tommy, Galaxy and Yeodie get busy with hip-hop in the back room. And all that for the price of your average weekly party. Fuse Saturday 1 July, 10pm-6am HITEC, Halls A, B & C, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay. Tel: 2341 7755 Tickets: $480 advance (Ticket City, Tixmart) / $600 door Mrs Wood, Blu Peter and AJ Gibson lead the way at another handover anniversary mega-rave at HITEC - scene of Unity three years ago. Circulation play live with DJs Richard Summerhayes, Tommy, Teng Boon and Jimmy White on the decks in the other room. Up a notch in price, but it's a big one. Ticket outlets HMV: 2739 0268 (Central) Tixmart: 2815 1516 Ticket City: 2805 2804 AND THE REST.... CE Top 3/F & 9/F Chuang Hing Commercial Building, 37-43 Cochrane Street, Central. Tel: 2544 3581 A spanking new sound system has helped revive this familiar haunt. Funk, breakbeat and tech house at Club Elements on Friday with DJ Joel Lai plus guests, 9/F. Hear No Evil is on the third floor from 4am with DJs Christian and Banana. On Saturday it's Funky People with Suraj, Tareq and friends. 9/F, 11pm on. All $100, including one drink. Club Temptation 4/F, 491 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2833 5548 Abby Lai opens the week on Tuesdays when it's free entry and champagne for women. DJ David Lam resides at Club Risin on Fridays with guests. DJs Rain and Miggy on Wednesday and DJ Edwin on Thursday. Mon, 11pm-4am (free admission); Tues-Thurs, 11pm-4am. $100 (members and non-members); Fri-Sat, 11pm-6am. ($150 non member/$100 for members); Sunday, 9pm-4am happy hour. Club 97 9 Lan Kwai Fong, Central. Tel: 2186 1819 Costly but cool. Supposedly members-only, but not exclusively. You risk being turned away at weekends, when the place can be too rammed to move. Resident DJ Janva spins hip hop/latin on weekdays, techno and house on weekends. Cosa Nostra oozes jazz and funk on Thursdays. Tues-Weds, 9pm-2am; Thur, 8-4am (free); Fri, 6-10pm gay happy hour, 11-6am ($100); Sat, 11-7am ($100). ING 4/F, Renaisance Harbour View, Convention Plaza, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2824 0523 DJ Darryl Griggs plays at a vastly improved venue. On Wednesdays Griggs has to step aside for the popular salsa night. Mon-Sat, From 10pm. Cover: Mon-Thurs $100, Fri-Sat $200. JJ's Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Tel 2588 1234 (ext 7323) DJ Adam Rowley replaces DJ Sassi as resident. Rowley, who has had stints in England and Majorca, previously played at Henry J Beans in Shenzhen. Mon-Thurs, 10pm-2am; Friday: 10pm-3am; Saturday: 10pm-4am; Sunday: closed. Cover charge starts 8.30pm: Mon-Thurs: $100 including one drink; Fri-Sat: $200 for two drinks. New Club Star 3/F, 382 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2574 4388 Established all-night hang out for the hard partiers. Tomorrow, Home Speed Party with local boys Edwin, Frankie, Roy Malig and Andy Chow sharing the decks. Mon-Thurs, Ladies Night, no DJ. $80, free for women, including one drink. Mon-Fri. 5pm-midnight happy hour and karaoke; midnight-9am disco; Sat: 9pm-9am disco. Phi-b Lower basement, Harilela House, 79 Wyndham Street, Central. Tel: 2869 4469 A club serving up different sounds every night in Central with guranteed late hours. Kulu kicks off the week on Mondays, DJ Glen plays soul and funk on Tuesdays, with DJ Steve Yao on Wednesdays. Thursdays get harder with hip-hop and drum n bass from with Johnathan, while Eric and Jean-Paul's mix of house funk, breakbeat and tech house take over on Fridays and Saturdays respectively. Mon-Thurs, 5pm-2am; Fri-Sat 5pm-5am. Free. HH: 5-9pm Propaganda 1 Hollywood Road, Central. Tel: 2868 1316 Popular gay disco, though everyone welcome. Resident DJ Ricky lays down tunes from pop to progressive, trance, and hot-house, depending on what the crowd seems up for. Mon-Thurs, 9pm-3:30am; Fri, 9pm-5am; Sat, 9pm-6am. Cover: Mon-Wed, free; Thurs, $80 (with drink); Fri, $70 before 10.30, $120 after; Sat, $120 before 10.30, $220 after. Someplace Else Basement, Sheraton Hotel, 20 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Tel: 2369 1111 DJ Darren plays late Mon-Sat, serving up pop and hip-hop. Mon-Fri, 11.30pm-2.30am; Sat, till 3am. Stix 310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2839 3397 Resident DJ Steve Bamford, spins house techno, breakbeat and progressive house, deep house, no special nights. Ladies nights on Thursday. Mon-Wed, 5pm-1am; Thur-Fri, 5pm-2am; Saturday, 6pm-3am. Cover: $100 after 10pm. Yellow Frog 35 Peel Street, Central. Tel: 9103 5080 DJs Eric, Byron, Ricci, Jason, Matt the Hat and guests serve up an upbeat mix of house, funky house, and some trance, all with a European flavour. You can party all weekend and there's a reggae night on Thursdays. Tues-Sat, 2pm - late. Free. LIVE HIGHLIGHTS ... Red Taurus Speed Sports Bar and Grill Hong Kong Stadium, 55 Eastern Hospital Road, So Kon Po. Tel: 2577 0377 Flamenco and Latin jazz from Red Taurus, a Hong Kong collective of international musicians who, if you ask nicely, may turn their hand to any style you like ... except thrash metal and grunge. Every Fri-Sat, 10pm-1am. Free. Dale Barlow Jazz & Blues Club & Bar 2/F California Entertainment Building, 34 D'Aguilar Street, Central. Tel: 2845 8477 Hot sax from Australian horn blower Dale Barlow, a former stalwart of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Tues-Wed, 9.30pm. Tickets $150. Saint O JJ's Grand Hyatt, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2588 1234 Wherever you go in Hong Kong you always seem to run into a band playing ... Caribbean music. In Wan Chai it comes from this Canadian six-piece, who stir a heady brew of reggae and calypso with Latin and salsa. Mon-Thurs 9.45pm-1.30am. $100. Fri-Sat 10pm-3am. $200. Buddy Ray's Sweet Beat Band Someplace Else The Sheraton basement, Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2369 1111 And Kowloon-side, the cool calypso, soca and reggae come from the outfit with the loudest shirts this side of Jamaica. Mon-Sat, 6.30-11pm. Free. Blue Wail Nokia Gallery Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. Tel: 2521 7251 Asia's top blues harmonica player, William Tang, leads his band to support his new album, Out Of The Blue. Tonight, from 9.30pm. AND THE REST... Beach Pub Beach Resort Hotel 1780 Tai Mong Tsai Road, Sai Kung. Tel: 2791 1068 R&B and pop classics at the water's edge with the Boys on the Beach. Sat, 9pm. Blue Note Jazz Bar Mezzanine floor, Kowloon Shangri-La, 64 Mody Road, Kowloon. el: 2721 2111 Vocalist Eden Atwood and pianist Jeremy Monteiro perform some of the smoothest jazz in town; Mon-Sat, 8.30pm-12.30am. Breakers Fun Pub Gold Coast Hotel, 1 Castle Peak Road, Castle Peak Bay, Kowloon. Tel: 2452 8888 African and Latin sounds from singer-composer Elkin Marin. Mon-Sat, 10pm. Bruce Lee Cafe 22 Robinson Road, Mid-Levels. Tel: 2525 3977 Rock 'n' roll and disco from Manan. Sun 6-10pm. China Coast Bar & Grill 9 Cheong Tat Road, Chek Lap Kok. Tel: 2286 8888 One-man band Akostika dishes out rock, pop, R&B and folk. Tues-Sat, 8.15pm-1am. Cococabana 7 Mo Tat Wan, Lamma Tel: 2328 2138 Latin sounds every Saturday from sunset. Cubana Bar & Restaurant 47 Elgin Street, Central. Tel: 2869 1218 Cuban salsa from the Havana Libre Quartet, Thurs and Sun, from 8pm; $100, ladies free. Delaney's Kowloon 71 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2301 3980 Singer-guitarist Dave Colquhoun, every Tuesday from, 8pm. Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist Jane Eliz ('one part Jewel and two parts Natalie Imbruglia', so her Web site says), every Thursday from 8pm. Delaney's Wan Chai 2/F, 1 Capital Place Tel: 2804 2888 Folk from four-piece Easy Does It. Fri, from 8pm. Grappa's Country LG/F, Jardine House, Connaught Road, Central. Tel: 2521 2322 Jazz from the Allen Youngblood Trio. Sat, from 8pm. Green Spot 1 Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley. Tel: 2836 0009 Jazz from the in-house band. Nightly, 9pm-3am. La Placita 13/F, Food Forum, Times Square, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2506 3308 R&B, soul and chart hits from six-piece Toy Symphony; Mon-Thurs 9pm-1am, Fri-Sat 10pm-2am. Ned Kelly's Last Stand 11A Ashley Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2376 0562 Jazz from the Kelly Group. Nightly, 9.15pm-1am. Peak Cafe 121 Peak Road, The Peak. Tel: 2849 7868 Jazz in the garden with saxophonist Benny Inot, bassist Paul Candelaria and singer Jo Jo Monroy. Thurs, 7.30-10.30pm. Planet Hollywood 3 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2377 7888 R&B, jazz and pop from the six-piece Hollywood All-Stars; Tues-Thurs, 9pm-1am; Fri-Sat, 9.30pm-1.30pm. Sapphire Sessions Tango Martini 3/F, 81 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2528 0609 Stave off those Monday blues in the company of The Sapphires, a three-piece Latin jazz outfit that will have you sinking into your sofa. Sun, 9pm-midnight. The Wanch 54 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2861 1621 A varied line-up features the talents of Ecoustic, Scooter, Akostika and punk die-hards The Bastards. Fri, 10pm-1am; Sun, 6pm-1am. Tott's Asian Grill and Bar 34/F The Excelsior, 281 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2837 6780 Canadian outfit Cinderella Rockafella; Mon-Thurs 9pm-1am; Fri-Sat 9.30pm-2am. BARS TEN OF THE BEST Alfreds on the Corner, 14 Yuen Yuen Street, Happy Valley. Tel: 2575 3181. HH: none. A quiet hideaway for wine lovers. Area, 21 Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2575 6300. HH: 5-8pm. Lose yourself in the cool, moody deco. Chemical Suzy, 2 Austin Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2736 0087. HH: 6-9pm. For young hipsters (and those who still want to be). Club Feather Boa, G/F, 38 Staunton Street, Central. Tel: 2857 2586. HH: none. Part lounge room, part bordello, part the curtains and enter. Cyrano, 56th/F Island Shangri-La, Pacific Place Tower Two, Central. Tel: 2877-3838. HH: 5-9pm. Soft seats, soft jazz and views to die for. La Dolce Vita, 9 Lan Kwai Fong, Central. Tel: 2810 8098. HH: 5-8:30pm. A place to see and be seen. La Kasbah, Basement 17, Hollywood Rd, Central. Tel: 2525 9493. HH: none. Rock La Kasbah to the Arabic sounds and tastes of Maghreb. Mes Amis, G/F 35 Pottinger St, Central. Tel: 2973 6167. HH: 4-9pm. Tucked away from Central's hustle and bustle. Time After Time ,118 Jaffe Rd, Wan Chai. Tel: 2865 0609. HH: Mon-Sat 6-8pm. Wan Chai's best-kept secret. V-13 Vodka Bar 13 Old Bailey St, Central. Tel: 8208 1313. HH: Vodka Hour 6-8pm - $30 standard cocktails, martinis, beer and wine; $20 Tuesdays - house shots $20 all night. Hip and happening. Groovers and shakers Bartender of the week: Dong Nunag. Age: 29. Home ground: Wild Orchids, Tong Chong Street, Quarry Bay. Job description: Mixing a lot of cocktails and making my customers laugh while they wait for them. Favourite drink/mix: Margaritas. Pet hate: Cockroaches walking in from outside and approaching my customers. Best/worst pick-up line heard: 'You must be tired cause you've been running through my mind all day.'