How The Flame fires up Hong Kong fans with Cantopop hits in big busking gigs
As The Flame’s popularity grows, the band is facing challenges navigating logistics and regulatory restrictions
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Hong Kong buskers regain popularity as crowds try to ease stress at outdoor music shows
A crowd of almost 500 people huddled together on a Saturday night at Hong Kong’s Wan Chai waterfront, pumping their fists in the air to a cover of the girl group Cookies’ hit song, From an Impatient Person.
The 2003 Cantopop song, about a girl anxiously waiting for her crush to reciprocate her feelings, is a favourite among Hongkongers who grew up in the 1990s.
Throughout the night, the band known as The Flame kept fans on their feet, clapping and singing their lungs out to renditions of chart-toppers by Nicholas Tse Ting-fung and Twins and Cantonese versions of cartoon theme songs.
Since last October, the band has been holding monthly Cantopop busking performances attracting hundreds of Hongkongers to sing and dance along for hours at a time.
The group, whose current members include vocalist Kit Cheung Kit-ying, drummer Chan Sze-chai, guitarist Ken Chow Ka-leung and bassist Li Ho-yan, has been busking almost weekly since forming in 2012.
All that drew to a halt in 2019 due to the social unrest and subsequent pandemic restrictions on gatherings.
“I feel that post-pandemic, the social atmosphere felt very down,” Cheung, 34, said.
