French rockers Balbec are a truly modern band. The group counts its success not in records sold but how many listens its songs have received through the internet.
It's the medium that transported contemporary luminaries Arctic Monkeys to fame, though Balbec are a long way from that crossover yet. Still, the self-financed, self-managed and unsigned band has taken advantage of the Web - as well as the growing global clout of bands from its once musically marginalised homeland - to establish a global reputation.
The result is that tomorrow night the group will play Le French May's 'Hong Kong is Gonna Say Yeah', along with compatriots Hushpuppies and Hong Kong-based outfit the Lovesong.
Balbec's lead vocalist, Isabelle Ledru, speaking on behalf of the band, rates this Asian debut as the biggest event to date in the outfit's six-year career.
'It is a significant achievement for us just to have been able to build and consolidate a band through six years,' says Ledru.
'We have had more than 100,000 plays on [the website] MySpace and that has helped lead us to Hong Kong, which we are proud of. Nowadays, many bands are emerging through the internet, through self-promoted gigs, through contests.'
While rap and R&B acts have proved successful in France in recent years, rock has slowly emerged from the shadows, with many bands such as the Teenagers singing in English rather than in French to ease the way to global acclaim in the wake of Daft Punk, Air and, most recently, Justice.