Clockenflap headliners the Chemical Brothers aiming for a sensory overload
Band’s first appearance in Hong Kong to wrap up the festival Sunday night is part of a renaissance after a five-year break from producing albums
For more than 20 years the Chemical Brothers have dominated dance music, with big beats, big hits and big stage shows. Now they’re ready to bring their immense firepower to Hong Kong’s biggest musical event – headlining the final night of the Clockenflap festival on Sunday.
The original superstar DJs, whose hits include classic floor-fillers Hey Boy, Hey Girl, Block-Rocking Beats and Setting Sun, are the biggest name on a stellar bill at this year’s three-day event. Other big hitters set to play the eighth instalment of the international gathering include controversial rapper M.I.A. and Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros.
Over the festival’s three days, fans will be treated to dozens of bands from as far afield as the US and New Zealand. For rock fans, there’s British guitar band Foals, while local pop pioneers Huh! will launch their comeback after more than 20 years apart. Party monsters will be able to get down to the funky tunes of George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic and the knockabout reggae of Fat Freddy’s Drop.
It promises to be the weekend of the year, but without doubt the biggest draw will be “The Chems”, whose brand of dance and rave has delighted audiences all over the world.
“Music for me is that moment when you’re not really thinking of anything or conscious of what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it – if you think about it too much, you get into your own head,” Ed Simons, one half of the British duo, told the UAE’s The National newspaper this week of how he and partner Tom Rowlands approach their art.
