RubberBand hopes their first world tour Ciao can ‘embrace’ Hongkongers abroad with the sound of home

This month, the two might end up in the same place again, as RubberBand embarks on a world tour – their first since the group came together in 2004. After hearing the news, Mau’s Italian friend sent the singer a message saying he might go to London to catch their show.

“I felt very happy because even though he is not a close friend, he is someone I met on the road,” said the 42-year-old vocalist fondly known by his Cantonese nickname meaning “number six”.

“I don’t think I would recognise his face if I see him now, but if he is really here, I will be very grateful.”

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This is only one of the many reunions that the four-piece band hopes to ignite with their inaugural world tour, “Ciao” – the same name as their live concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum in 2021, where they “carried more desolation”, the lead singer recalled.

But now, the title has taken on new significance. “The word has two meanings in Italian: they say it when you greet someone but also when you bid farewell,” Mau said.

Along with their instruments and lyrics, the band is also hoping to bring a sense of home to Hongkongers who’ve been forging new lives abroad for the past few years.

Mau explained: “We’re coming all the way from afar to say hello, to check on you all, to embrace you once again with music.”

Starting from the end of March, the group will tour around western Europe, with performances in London, Manchester, Berlin and Amsterdam.

“The UK is especially a place where many Hongkongers settled down,” bassist Lee Siu-wai explained. “As for the other two stops, we just wanted to see if we could run a few more shows before coming back to Hong Kong.”

Drummer Lai Man-wang affectionately described their tour in Europe as a way of “making and bringing local street snacks” to those who had not experienced the taste of home for a while.

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“These past few years, Hong Kong has undergone massive changes. Many have chosen to leave the city since 2019 and settle elsewhere such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia,” Mau said, referring to one of the largest emigration waves the city has ever seen.

In the last two years, hundreds of thousands have bid adieu to Hong Kong, with some 144,500 of them heading for Britain.

“So this time, we’ll take the opportunity to visit these people,” the lead singer said of the world tour.

Not only is RubberBand’s world tour a spot for Hongkongers to reunite with their hometown, but the members are also looking forward to bringing back old friends of the band – engineers and vocalists who have moved to other parts of the world.

For the band, the theme of “Ciao” is particularly close to their hearts because, like most Hongkongers, the four have been practising the art of saying goodbye to loved ones and childhood friends who have left the city.

Lee, the bassist, recalled witnessing a previous exodus in the years leading up to Hong Kong’s handover to China.

“Many classmates suddenly disappeared, and it was not as [technologically] convenient as nowadays,” he shared of his primary school years. “It was very sad. One of your good friends just vanished from your life entirely, forever.”

Now, his daughter is experiencing a similar emotional roller coaster. “She built close relationships with many classmates before they suddenly left,” Lee lamented.

“Seeing her face – her aching face – feeling the loss of a friend when we go to the airport to see them off, that’s the exact feeling I was going through when I was her age.”

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Mau, on the other hand, has just started getting used to the goodbyes. “I was not getting used to it at all in 2022 ... During farewell meals, [people] would lash out with their emotions in the name of sharing for the last time,” he said, adding that people often asked why he didn’t leave too.

These partings plunged the singer, who has stayed for family reasons, to a low point. But it was around this time that the band produced a song that gave him comfort.

In the song, “這刻我們”, which translates to “us in the moment”, the lyrics read: “Even though we are going to part ways right now, we are both on the right path.”

Mau shared: “There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to life’s choices as long as it makes you happy.”

After almost 20 years since forming the band, the members are nothing but grateful for the opportunity to tour in Europe.

“We were signing with record companies until 2016 when we started our own music label called R flat. It felt like we were growing together,” Mau said. “Now ... it feels like it’s finally our chance.”

Apart from the excitement for their travels ahead, they are also in the midst of producing their 10th album. Following the band’s tradition of alphabetically naming their albums, this one will start with the letter “j”.

The “j album”, Mau said, would be a little less serious than their last one, i, which reflected society’s sentiments at the time it was released in 2020. The coming album will examine how we approach interpersonal relationships after three years of the pandemic and societal chaos.

“We’ll see if we can play some of the new songs during the encores [on tour] because some of these songs already have lyrics written,” Mau hinted playfully.