Clockenflap Coverage: The Hong Kong Live Music Scene

Last month, a collective cheer arose over Hong Kong’s interwebs as word spread of the return of Clockenflap, an upstart music and arts festival. After what felt like an uncertain hiatus, Clockenflap is back in full force as it was intended—an open air affair promising a blitz of international, local and regional music and multimedia attractions. When registration opened for the free two-day event at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, the overwhelming surge of requests blocked the organizers’ server from sending scores of confirmation emails.

Clearly, an outdoor music festival that Hongkongers can call their own has been a long time coming. With nothing near the stature and stability of Britain’s Glastonbury, Japan’s Fuji Rock or California’s Coachella, “Asia’s World City” has not regularly offered its audiophiles the kind of large-scale event that’s a yearly ritual for music lovers in many other parts of the world. Last year, while outdoor rock showcases were springing up in mainland China at an astounding rate, Hongkongers found out that Clockenflap, which had been a hit for two years running, would not take place as expected.

There are several factors that make Hong Kong a difficult place to stage an alfresco alternative music festival. One huge barrier is a lack of space approved for outdoor music events, but the bigger issue is noise. Cyberport hosted Clockenflap in 2008 and 2009 before concerns about noise levels drove festival founders Mike Hill, Jay Forster and Justin Sweeting to re-consider their venue options. “One idea was to do an acoustic, unplugged festival,” says Forster. “But we realized that wasn’t really what Hong Kong needs.” Clockenflap had come about to fill a gap in the music landscape left by the Rockit Festival, which was held from 2003-2006 in Victoria Park before moving to Macau (and indoors).

Clockenflap technically did happen once between 2009 and now, albeit on a much smaller scale than hoped. As they addressed various constraints in securing a new outdoor venue, the founding trio enacted The Clockenflap Society of Clockenflap, granting members-only access to a multi-story warehouse event in November 2010 that was headlined by The Charlatans from the UK. The well-attended show “was basically just a stopgap,” says Forster, “to have an annual event of some kind in line with what Clockenflap is about.” Keeping the brand alive helped them continue to grow their reputation while they forged ahead in securing West Kowloon for this December. “The Charlatans were extremely positive about the event we did, and these kinds of things feed back to the scene [in the UK],” says Hill.

On a smaller scale, putting on an indoor rock show, especially featuring artists from overseas, presents another unique set of circumstances. Without enough acts coming through to support smaller-scale dedicated venues for up-and-coming bands (which are found in most major cities), promoters often stage bands in non-traditional spaces that may seem quirky or makeshift at first. Grappa’s Cellar, an Italian restaurant in the basement of Jardine House, has hosted North American groups OK Go, the Handsome Furs and Ratatat. Hang Out at Youth Outreach Centre in Sai Wan Ho, where New York’s Asobi Seksu and Beijing’s P.K. 14 have rocked out, does not include that critical staple of gig culture: a bar. In fact, alcohol is not permitted on the premises.

While these multi-purpose venues are cooperative and help to encourage a live scene, they may not have the proper equipment or resources to support several bands in one night. “If venues do have their own [equipment], it’s never really that good because it has rarely, or in some cases never, been played,” explains Jon Lee, a musician and the creative director of ThisMusicStudio. “Sometimes the provided sound technicians are unqualified to handle full band settings, as they are DJ or club sound guys.” This burdens promoters with more responsibilities and costs, meaning that smaller events without sponsors can usually only hope to break even at day’s end.