Gift of a golden voice Most music fans over the age of 35 have probably been touched by a Burt Bacharach tune and chances are the vocals were provided by the great Dionne Warwick, who is performing in Hong Kong early next month. She delivered the golden vocals on the Bacharach standards Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Walk On By and I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself. Warwick, known for her heartfelt, aching voice, had a rough patch after breaking free of Bacharach in 1973, but became a mainstay on the charts again from the late 1970s. The gold-selling Heartbreaker - a collaboration with the Bee Gees - was a particular success in 1982, and Warwick won her fifth Grammy award for the 1985 Aids-fund-raiser single That's What Friends Are For, which also featured Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Impress your mum by taking her to the Warwick show on October 3 at AsiaWorld-Expo. Tickets prices start at HK$450 through HK Ticketing. Sun, sand, surf and sounds Every sunny Sunday afternoon for the past few years an unusually good-looking and clued-up crowd has headed to the South Bay Beach Club to enjoy a small slice of Ibiza transplanted to the southern shores of Hong Kong Island. The South Bay Sessions have been spearheaded by local DJ Steve Bruce (below), the Asian face of British label Seamless Records who has helped develop the venue into the closest thing Hong Kong has to the Cafe del Mar. And starting on September 26, it won't be just Sundays any more. The sessions will now be running all weekend, and with an eye-catching lineup: Bruce will be joined on Saturdays by Dee Montero, a rising figure who performed at Ibiza venues such as Cafe Mambo and Space during the summers from 2000 to 2006. Several regulars from Bali's famed Ku de Ta will be calling through over the next few months, and Bruce is also trying to get a DJ exchange programme together that would boost the club's musical variety and hopefully get South Bay residents spinning overseas as well. Now that the temperature's about to drop to a bearable level, check out what has to be Hong Kong's best beach club. The music starts in the early afternoon and there's no cover charge. Showcase of the loud and proud Indie rock fans have been a bit short of gigs for the past two months, but many will be coming out of the woodwork this Saturday when DP, the hairiest and arguably the heaviest hitters in the Hong Kong underground, host a mini band showcase in Grappa's Cellar, Central. DP may just be the duo of bassist Dave Wong and drummer Paul Maclean, but the resulting sound is much greater than the sum of its parts. The duo's chunky Black-Sabbath-inspired style has won them praise from international acts they've supported in Hong Kong. This weekend they'll be appearing with a reformed Bone Table, who earned their name through rocky murder ballads, and the metal-funk outfit Gong Wu. Doors open at 10pm and entry just HK$50.
