Chemical Brothers, Die Antwoord join 2016 Hong Kong Clockenflap festival line-up

Dance music veterans the Chemical Brothers are the latest headline act to be added to the lineup for this year’s Clockenflap festival in Hong Kong. They are among a wave of bands confirmed for the open-air event in November that includes confrontational South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord.

The booking of the Chemical Brothers, British electronic music pioneers, should go some way to easing the pain caused by the pull-out of LCD Soundsystem. The reformed US dance rock band gave up a headline slot at the festival so they can record a new album.

The Chemical Brothers – Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons – came together in Manchester, northern England, in 1989 at the height of what was called the “Summer of Love”, an era that witnessed the rise of acid house music and unlicensed rave parties around the UK. They have notched up six No 1 albums in the UK and have evolved into one of the world’s biggest live electronic acts, with an acclaimed stage show that includes psychedelic imagery, lasers and strobe lights, and even gigantic dancing robots.

The dance act will close the festival on Sunday, November 27. Clockenflap music director Justin Sweeting says: "The Chemical Brothers are not only legendary in terms of all they’ve done to pioneer electronic music over past two decades, they are also still so relevant today.   With so many solid-gold hits in their set and an absolutely incredible live show,  they will deliver the ideal closing set for the 2016 festival."

Die Antwoord – the other A-list act announced late on Tuesday by festival organisers – have amassed a huge cult following since they exploded out of Cape Town in 2008 with a confrontational sound that combines rave music with rap, foul-mouthed lyrics in Afrikaans and a striking frontman in the form of the heavily tattooed Ninja (Watkin Tudor Jones).

Tuesday’s announcement also included the news that UK hip-hop star Blood Orange and veteran American indie rockers Yo La Tengo will perform at the three-day festival.

The acts join a number of A-list artists already confirmed for the festival on the Central harbourfront – to be held from November 25-27 – including Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros, funk pioneers George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, British indie rockers Foals, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Cheer Chen and Canadian experimental outfit Crystal Castles.

Clockenflap has been staged at the West Kowloon Cultural District site since 2011, but has had to make way for the construction of arts and cultural facilities planned for the waterfront Kowloon site.

Organisers say the new Central venue could provide more space than was used in Kowloon used for the festival, and will have the same capacity. About 60,000 visitors attended last year’s event.

For more information about Clockenflap, visit www.clockenflap.com