The Week [Hong Kong Music Festival] Announce This Year’s Lineup

Local legends, underground icons and up-and-coming bands will all take the spotlight at The Week’s celebrated series of seven gigs – hosted across seven different venues over seven consecutive nights. Showcasing more than 25 acts from hard rock and hip-hop to blues, folk and world music, The Week Hong Kong is now firmly established as HK’s most diverse celebration of homegrown sound.

Highlights of the annual festival include progressive metalcore powerhouse Parallel Horizons, ‘cinematic rock’ heroes Nowhere Boys, gritty post-punk quintet David Boring, and Geniuz F, one of the most talented members of HK’s loudest hip-hop label Bakerie Crew.

Also on the 2019 bill are alt-rock breakouts Seasons for Change and multilingual Filipino-Hong Kong rapper JB (aka Jiggie Boy), the rhymesmith behind Cantonese summer smash 點解咁撚肥 (This GuyWhy So Fat) – a viral sensation which has clocked half a million YouTube streams.

Bands and solo artists are presented over a series of thematic bills, with each gig spotlighting a different strand of HK’s resilient music scene, through individual nights dedicated to Hip-hop, Metal, Blues & Folk, Post-punk, Alt-rock and World Music.

Like previous years, The Week 2019 kicks off on March 3 with the now-traditional Showcase event, offering a snapshot of breaking bands, this year featuring Wellsaid, 2018 newcomers Brother Plainview, and shoegaze scenesters Twisterella*, who arrive fresh from launching hyped debut album ‘Seasons Over the Years’.

“We’re super-thrilled to be playing alongside some of our favourite indie artists at The Week, and can’t wait to meet music lovers at the first indie festival of 2019,” said Hanes Cheung, guitarist of Twisterella*. “As an original band in Hong Kong, there are never enough opportunities to play and get your music heard – which is why events like The Week Hong Kong are so important in nurturing local musicians and helping the scene grow. Come out and support HK live music.”

Now approaching its third annual edition, The Week Hong Kong is a volunteer run event, which has proved widely successful in connecting with hungry HK music fans. Attendance for last year’s gig series, in April 2018, reached more than 1,300 – nearly double June 2017’s debut (as The Gig Week).

“It’s been great to see so much support for an event which showcases our own city and the response has been really encouraging,” said co-founder Elaine Ip. “Our hope is that by making it easy to discover and celebrate, The Week Hong Kong will strengthen the music scene here and help it grow even broader, richer and more colourful.”

As in previous editions, The Week 2019 will host gigs at a varied selection of carefully curated event spaces, reflecting the territory’s unique geography as well as its musical diversity. Host venues include Lai Chi Kok’s The Space @D2, Tai Kok Tsui’s Lost Stars Livehouse and Yau Tong’s This Town Needs. On Hong Kong Island venues stretch from Ping Pong in Sai Ying Pun to Wan Chai’s The Hub and MOM Livehouse in North Point.

“It’s not just about breaking down barriers between musical genres, but also reaching out across the different communities that call Hong Kong home,” said co-founder Paul Sedille. “Showcasing the diversity of Hong Kong’s underground means crossing over between languages, neighbourhoods and smaller scenes that can otherwise feel very segregated.”

Early bird tickets for all shows are on sale now, priced HK$180 (student HK$120), while a week pass for all seven nights costs HK$860 (students HK$560). Book now at www.ticketflap.com/theweekhk. (For a 10% discount on any purchase of three different nights, use the promo code MAKEITTHREE.)

Full Lineup:

Showcase – Sunday March 3 @ The Hub, Wan Chai
Twisterella* – www.twisterella.bandcamp.com
Wellsaid – www.facebook.com/wellsaidmate/
Brother Plainview – www.facebook.com/brotherplainview/

Blues & Folk – Monday March 4 @ Lost Stars Livehouse Bar & Eatery, Tai Kok Tsui (Olympic/Mong
Kok MTR)
Henry Chung & the Spontaneous Combustion – www.facebook.com/chungbros/
The Pineapple Jam – www.facebook.com/thepineapplejam/
Tomii Chan – www.facebook.com/tomiichanmusic/

World Music – Tuesday March 5 @ Ping Pong Gintonería, Sai Ying Pun
Chris Polanco and Azucar Latina band – www.facebook.com/chris.polanco.923
The Zero Point – www.facebook.com/thezeropointhk/
Hak Gwai – www.facebook.com/hakgwaihk/

Metal – Wednesday March 6 @ TTN (This Town Needs), Yau Tong
Rain in Time – www.facebook.com/RainInTimeHK/
The Priceless Boat – www.facebook.com/thepricelessboat/
Parallel Horizons – www.facebook.com/ParallelHorizonsHK/
The Ancient Mental – www.facebook.com/tamhkband/

Post-punk – Thursday March 7 @ MOM Livehouse, North Point (Tin Hau MTR)
David Boring – www.facebook.com/davidboringhk/
Say Mosquito – www.facebook.com/saymosquito/
The Pafala – www.facebook.com/thepafala/
The Viscose – www.facebook.com/theviscose/

Hip-hop – Friday March 8 @ D2 Space, Lai Chi Kok
24HERBS ୎ޱࢥ – www.facebook.com/24HERBS/
Geniuz F – www.facebook.com/Bakeriemusicproductions/
JB a.k.a. Jiggie Boy – www.instagram.com/jiggie_boy/
PPC Records – www.facebook.com/PPCRecordsHK/
Beatbox matrix
DJ blaze – www.facebook.com/djblazehk
Lazyboi Dri & King $aral, from 7on7 – www.facebook.com/7on7hk/
ᔜᐟ੝ଙӾஞ – www.facebook.com/SpiritualTeenCentre/

Alt-rock – Saturday March 9 @ 1563 At The East, Wan Chai
Nowhere Boys – www.facebook.com/nowhereboyshk/
Seasons for Change – www.facebook.com/SeasonsforChange/
Bamboo Star – www.facebook.com/bamboostarhk/
Black Coffee – www.facebook.com/blackcoffeehk/