To make this performance a pleasant experience for the artists and other members of the audience, PLEASE switch off your alarm watches, MOBILE PHONES and PAGERS. Eating and drinking, unauthorised photography and audio or video recording are forbidden in the auditorium. Thank you for your co-operation.
藍奕邦獨立思考音樂會
Pong Nan in Concert: The
Individualism Experience
演出及製作 Credits 特稿 Feature
流行音樂與藝術
Pop Music and Art
我給一個開演唱會的朋友寫了一篇文章
藍奕邦 Pong Nan
創作總監 藍奕邦
音樂總監 李漢金
技術總監 / 燈光設計 陳焯華
演出 Performers
主唱 / 鍵琴 / 鋼琴 藍奕邦
結他 李漢金
低音結他 勝 乃
鼓 黃偉勳 *
結他 / 和音 徐繼宗
製作人員 Production Team
數碼影像 黃志偉、林子邦
及 蔡智揚
服裝 Dialogue...
髮型（藍奕邦）
Lawrence C @ Salon idé Il Colpo Group
化妝（藍奕邦）
Vinci & Winki Tsang @ vincitsang.com
鳴謝 Acknowledgements
Pong Nan Creative Director
Anthony Lee Music Director
Billy Chan Technical Director and Lighting Designer
Pong Nan Vocals / Keyboard / Piano
Anthony Lee Guitar
Alex Katsumata Bass
Stephane Wong* Drums
Jone Chui Guitar / Backing Vocals
John Wong, Pong Lam Digital Image and Lawrence Choi
Dialogue... Costumes
Hair Stylist for Pong Nan
Lawrence C @ Salon idé Il Colpo Group
Make-up for Pong Nan
Vinci & Winki Tsang @vincitsang.com
Song BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd
美仕特科技有限公司 Miso Tech Co Ltd
通利琴行 Tom Lee Music Co Ltd
伍宇烈 Yuri NgKoya Jonathan HisakazuJennifer Chiang
林奕華 Edward LamKetchupCasey Chung
陳浩峰 Cedric Chan Mark-1 Music Centre Pius Tong
周耀輝 Chow Yiu-faiGilbert Ho
提供照片製作電子影像的朋友
All parties who contributed photographs for digital image production
協助推廣這節目的傳媒朋友 All members of the media who assisted in promoting this event
藍奕邦演奏之鋼琴由通利琴行提供
Special thanks to Tom Lee Music Co Ltd for providing the piano for Pong Nan’s performance
I am definitely not an artist, nor am I too fond of this term. I think I'm just someone who has always liked to dig into the art of writing pop songs.
by Pong Nan
From the moment I announced that I would be performing in the Hong Kong Arts Festival this year, I kept being confronted by people who asked me what would be ‘special’ about the concert: would it be multi-media? Would there be drama? Would dance or choreographed movement be involved? Would I be discussing anything controversial? Would I make a sacrifice for art and shed all my clothes?
In short, everyone wanted to know if the concert would include what people consider as ‘artistic elements’. Colleagues also were very worried that the performance would be too deep and difficult to understand.
I wondered why they would have such expectations or uncertainties. It was probably because of who I am at this moment.
That’s right. I am a mainstream pop singer and what I do is pop music. The audience knows very well that I am a pop singer, and I know very well my legal responsibilities; I have a contract with a mainstream recording company and I am one of many singers who have contracts with a television company. So I know very well that I cannot put myself on high and say
that I am not ‘mainstream’ or that I am ‘alternative’. The days of internet singer, or those when I played and sang at the Fringe Club or at Harbour City left beautiful memories, but they are in the past, so I cannot avoid the responsibilities and prejudices that come along with the status of a mainstream pop singer.
This may be precisely why people are curious or even suspicious over just how I, as a pop singer, happened to get involved with an arts festival.
Conversely, I wanted to ask: isn’t pop music itself one type of art?
Admittedly, many people say that Hong Kong’s pop music can’t be called an art form. I’ve read many extreme assessments that say that local Hong Kong mainstream music is rubbish. Can it be that only classical music, jazz or music presented in foreign languages are to be considered art? As someone involved in the mainstream music world, I feel truly distressed. Such overblown criticism erases all the effort put in by those working in the world of music. Leaving myself aside, I believe that Hong Kong has a group of people working intently on pop music, and they are people who would not willingly create rubbish.
Art comes from inspiration, and inspiration comes from life. Art therefore actually
comes from living, and it has its roots in many trivial bits and pieces. Since both ordinary people and artists have their own lives, art is not something remote and inaccessible.
This is why I feel that even the most ordinary events in life constitute a kind of art. It may be a job you’re doing, a piece of homework, or some kind of artistic work, it all depends on whether you are doing it with enthusiasm.
A few years ago, I was with an advertising company and working as an unimportant account executive. I was going to the office in the morning and waiting for each working day to end. I couldn’t wait for each job to be finished. One day, my boss said to me: “Make your job an art the art of serving clients”. I didn't know what he meant and I left the job soon after. I probably just didn’t have any enthusiasm for serving clients!
The same thing is true with pop music. Turn on the radio or television set, or even your cell phone, and you’ll hear a pop tune. But familiarity does not mean what you are hearing is not a work of art. Of course there are those who look on pop music as a conveyor belt product, but there are others who work enthusiastically within the confines of pop music to write a piece of music that will be popular and yet appeal to both refined and popular tastes. This satisfies oneself as well as the demands of the recording company and disc jockeys it’s neither too slow nor too upbeat; it reveals itself within the first minute; and it’s over in three and a half minutes.
I am definitely not an artist, nor am I too fond of this term. I think I’m just someone who has always liked to dig into the art of
writing pop songs. I don’t dare to say that every song I write or sing is a good song, but I do say that I have never sung or written something of which I am ashamed.
Being a member of the audience for pop music also can be an art. Some only demand a momentary pleasure and once heard, the music disappears from the mind. Some people like the singer rather than the song and only like songs sung by their personal idol. Some will listen carefully and recognise what the song says, so as to create an interchange between the singer and the listener.
To return to the questions posed in the first paragraph: No, there will be no multimedia effects, drama, dance or other choreographed movements, controversial topics or nudity in my concert. Pop music in itself is a form of art; there is no need to add anything ‘special’ for it to become art.
It is a concert of popular songs; there’s no need for embellishment. What you get is me, the on-stage band and the off-stage support team working their hearts out. That’s all.
Our deepest gratitude goes to the Hong Kong Arts Festival for giving everyone on the stage and behind the scenes this opportunity to release their enthusiasm for popular music.
I hope you all like this concert and that you will turn your experience as members of the audience into your own art.
Born in Hong Kong, Pong Nan has lived and studied in Canada, the US and Japan. In 2000, Nan graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Culture and Politics, and returned to Hong Kong to work in the advertising industry. At the same time he began his professional music career as a composer, writing songs and lyrics for many popular artists such as Jacky Cheung, Sandy Lam and Andy Lau. Nan also took up the role of an actor and music composer in stage plays such as The Happy Prince, 18 Springs and The Great Entertainer
In 2004, he began his career as a singer-songwriter and released his debut album The Unadorable Pong Nan, which earned him critical acclaim and accolades such as the IFPI Best Selling New Male Artist Award. His composition for Andy Lau, Chang Yan Dao, became one of the 27th Annual Top Ten Hits. His 2005 follow up album Almost Happy was another bestseller and was received even more enthusiastically by critics, earning him the Silver Award for Outstanding Achievement from Television Broadcasts Limited. This year, aside from releasing his third album, Nan will also begin producing other popular artists.
Anthony Lee entered the Hong Kong music industry as the lead guitarist in Rose Garden and became involved in working behindthe-scenes. He has worked with renowned film directors such as Ko Chi-sum, Wong Jin and Lau Wai-keung, and produced film music for over 30 local films. His work on the film I Have A Date With Spring earned him a nomination for Best Film Music at the 14th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Between 1994 and 1996, he was the music director for the stage production of I Have A Date With Spring and performed over 100 shows with his live band. On production work, Lee has arranged songs and performed session work for various Hong Kong pop artists including Eason Chan, Twins, Joey Yung, Fiona Sit and Shine. He is now the producer for Pong Nan.
Alex Katsumata is one of the top bassists in Hong Kong with many years experience of live performance. Influenced by the Beatles, he began playing the organ and took up classical piano when he was a child and broadening his interest to folk and guitar music in high school. Later Palmer and Chris Squire inspired him to take up the bass and during his college years he played in several different fusion bands. In 1992 Katsumata moved to Hong Kong and has made a name for himself, playing with many top-notch professional musicians in town and continues to do so.
黃偉勳 Stephane Wong
鼓 Drums
黃偉勳於演藝學院畢業，主修繪景藝術。九歲起習鼓，中學時代 開始學習結他、口琴、低音結他，並組織樂隊。曾參與之樂隊有: 大頭佛、 Charisma 、 King Ly Chee 、 Oliver 、 Tommy Chung & Friends 、Whence he came等。黃偉勳於 1998 年蒲窩青少年樂隊 比賽及 2000 年黃金蒙馬特音樂節中奪得「最佳鼓手」的獎項。近年 活躍於主流樂壇，擔任音樂會鼓手及錄音製作。合作的歌手及組 合有陳奕迅、何韻詩、草蜢、達明一派、At 17 、藍奕邦及范曉萱 等。黃偉勳曾獲邀往日本、中國、韓國、新加坡、台灣、荷蘭等 地演出。
Stephane Wong graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in Scenic Art. He started learning drums at the age of nine and during high school he learned the guitar, harmonica and bass, joining various bands. He has played with Tai Tau Fut, Charisma, King Ly Chee, Oliver, Tommy Chung & Friends and Whence he came. He won the Best Drummer Award at the 1998 Warehouse Youth Band Competition and the 2000 Gold Coast Montmartre Band Sound Festival.
Wong is currently active in the mainstream music industry, performing in live shows and recording sessions. Artists and musicians he has worked with include Eason Chan, Denise Ho, Grasshoppers, Tat Ming Pair, At17 and Mavis Fan. Wong has been invited to perform in Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the Netherlands.
Jone Chui began his professional music career in Taiwan, where he debuted in the folk-pop group Boxx in 1999. Having released two albums with the group, he then moved into the roles of composer, lyricist and record producer. In 2002, Chui won the First Prize at the 14th CASH Pop Song Writers Quest. He has written hits for many local pop singers including Andy Lau, Joey Yung and Fiona Sit. He has also produced records for Juno Mak and Yan Ng. This year Chui plans to release an album in which he will perform songs he has written for other singers.
陳焯華 Billy Chan 技術總監／燈光設計 Technical Director and Lighting Designer
Billy Chan graduated from the School of Technical Arts of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Theatre Lighting Design. He is now a freelance theatre worker. His major productions include WWW.COM (Hong Kong Repertory Theatre), The Eccentricity of a Nightingale (Hong Kong Ballet), and A Lover’s Discourse (Edward Lam’s Dance Theatre and Zuni Icosahedron).
John Wong graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Film and Television. Wong’s recent theatre productions include East Wing West Wing series and 18 Springs for Zuni Icosahedron; A Lover’s Discourse and The Great Entertainer for Edward Lam’s Dance Theatre and Zuni Icosahedron jointly. His debut feature, The Tourist, was screened at the 27th Hong Kong International Film Festival.
林子邦 Pong Lam
數碼影像 Digital Image 林子邦 1997 年於香港大學畢業後，一直從事電子影像、多媒體、 地下音樂及商業多媒體創作。近作包括： IdN designEdge Conference 網站及獨立音樂人 Oliver Ching 個人網站；電子影像 作品包括：非常林奕華及進念二十面體之《戀人絮語》；流行音樂 會電子影像作品包括達明一派為人民服務演唱會及楊千嬅演唱會 開年大典 Vol.3 。
After his graduation from the University of Hong Kong in 1997, Pong Lam has worked in the fields of digital graphics, multimedia, underground music and commercial multimedia. His recent work includes websites for the IdN designEdge Conference and independent artist Oliver Ching. Productions for multimedia theatre performances include Edward Lam’s Dance Theatre and Zuni Icosahedron’s A Lover’s Discourse.
