As we continue our 22nd anniversary shows, it was so much fun to host five up‑and‑coming Hong Kong bands on the Henderson Land Community Stage at the AIA Carnival. Hong Kong bands keep proving how much great talent is brewing here – thank you, musicians, for putting in 200% effort. Huge thanks to everyone at the AIA Carnival for making this happen (especially Ed and Alex), and to Jack, Felix, Keith and Veronika for handling the sound so magnificently. Thanks also to Aaron Michelson for the photos, our reviewers Tibialis, Peter L and Rosie Chan, and @harebrained.studios for the awesome artwork. And finally, a big round of applause for our shuttle team on the day – Gordon and Matthew – I couldn’t have done it without you all.
踏入第22週年，搞完周年表演之後今次仲有機會喺 AIA Carnival 入面嘅 Henderson Land Community Stage 搵嚟五隊本地新晉樂隊一齊玩。香港樂隊真係好爭氣，證明本地仲有好多勁嘅音樂火花，多謝各位音樂人一直畀出200% 努力。
亦都好感激 AIA Carnival 成個團隊幫我哋成事（特別鳴謝 Ed 同 Alex），仲有 Jack、Felix、Keith 同 Veronika 好專業咁搞好整個演出嘅音響。多謝 Aaron Michelson 幫我哋影相，reviewers Tibialis、Peter L 同 Rosie Chan 嘅樂評，仲有 @harebrained.studios 幫我哋整咁型嘅artwork。最後要畀一大輪掌聲我哋當日嘅 shuttle team —— Gordon 同 Matthew —— 冇你哋任何一個都搞唔掂。
❤️ Chris B xx
Rue
1. Fall out of love
2. Moving on
3. Add up my love – Clairo (cover)
4. Close your eyes
5. Sister
6. Be right there
7. Stay the night
RUE:
RUE – vocal + guitar
Jaz – keyboard + guitar
RUE opened her SoundSplashing set with “Fall Out of Love,” and from the first lines it was clear she is a songwriter more interested in small emotional calibrations than big gestures. As a duo with Jaz on keys and occasional guitar, the arrangements stayed lean, almost skeletal, which suited her writing, and RUE has such a lovely crisp and clear voice. I found myself singing along, “Be right there! Be right there!” even though it was my first time hearing the song, which surprised me with its catchy singalong vibe. In fact, on reflection, I sang along to a number of never-heard-before RUE songs, so she clearly knows how to write singalong hooks.
If there’s a sign that she’s still early in her evolution, it’s in the endings: several songs seemed to suddenly stop rather than have a more considered exit. Overall, the set was disarming and felt like watching someone sketch their feelings in pencil onstage — the lines already clear and expressive, but you can still see the faint marks where the full picture might later be shaded in.
– Rosie Chan
The Funkaphones
Rhythm is Freedom
Another Christmas
Look Up
Trina
Summer Vibes
Twisted
Highway 1
HIPSTER
Kyle- Lead Vocals and Keyboard
Ryan- Guitar
Davy- Bass guitar
Anthony- Sax
Carl (filling in for our main drummer Baw)- Drums
Put yourself in the AIA carnival, with the typical carnival games like can smash, wiggle wires and rides like Big Ben Tower, Vertical Limits. Near the food section you see an audience dancing along to a band that longs for Christmas and the lead vocalist seems to dance like he is possessed by a Christmas spirit.
The Funkaphones, coming in second after the performance of Rue. It was my first time seeing them and I personally enjoyed their performance. Their hyperactive energy matched with the carnival’s various rides and games and they had good interactions from the crowd which also included a pop-quiz.
It took only a few songs by them and Kyle’s funnily crazy dancing moves for a crowd to gather in front of the stage and dance along to the music.
Two songs in particular caught my attention. “Another Christmas”, a song about their love for Christmas in early February. Christmas seems to be really close to their heart, especially Kyle’s as he busted out the wackiest dance movies of the whole event during this song. “Highway 1” the name to this song was an answer to a pop-quiz that Kyle had for Californians in the crowd, the question being which highway runs all across Los Angeles.
Overall, their set was full of energy and a lot of fun, and the crowd clearly felt it too, with plenty of people up and dancing throughout. I would love to see them live again.
-Tibialis
MIS
我就是哈比
1929
木偶再遇記
被馴養的人
We will meet someday
華倫 – Vocal
東 – Vocal/Keytar
Bee – Guitar (absent)
Harry – Bass
祥仔 – Keyboard
馬仔 – Drum
MIS arrived at SoundSplashing Underground with the swagger of a band who already know the camera loves them, but tonight the lens felt slightly out of focus. I’d seen them at the 21st Anniversary Festival last year and was hoping for more of the same.
Opening with 「我就是哈比」, their big‑hearted, bouncy pop‑rock anthem, all shiny hooks and major‑key confidence; I was ready. Yet somehow the rest of the set felt underwhelming compared to my expectations. There were only five musicians on stage instead of six, and Chris B told me afterwards that guitarist Bee is in hospital; it instantly re‑coloured what I saw: a band performing as an incomplete organism.
Then there was the talking. MIS clearly love being onstage and love talking to their audience; there’s nothing wrong with that, especially in Cantonese where patter can be as much a part of the culture as the songs themselves. But here, I found myself just wishing they’d play more music and talk a little less.
Yet even with the flaws, there’s something stubbornly compelling about MIS. All‑Cantonese material that swings from bright pop‑rock to bruised emo is still a precious thing in Hong Kong, especially when it’s delivered by a group who so clearly believe that being a “band” still means something. You could see it every time the music did take over: we were all moving and swaying, so I’m hoping that with a full lineup and a more disciplined live script, their live show could become the kind of set people are still talking about on the MTR home.
-Rosie Chan
Alpha Tone
1. Intro (Instrumental)
2. 無明火
3. 黑思想
4. 蝴蝶
5. 迷宮
6. Last Party
Vocal: Chiu Cheuk Sing (Zing)
Guitarist: Shek Mong Wa (Moz)
Bassist: Ng Kwok Sum (Frankie)
Drummer: Chan Hoi Tung (Crow)
Programmer: Wong Chi Chiu (Steve)
Alpha Tone walked onstage billed as “pop rock,” which is a bit like calling a typhoon “light drizzle.” Whatever private joke that was between the band and Chris B, it became the night’s first punchline the moment they hit their first downbeat.
From 〈無明火〉 onward, the band lived in that space where alt‑metal, J‑rock drama and big‑room catharsis collide. Zing is a frontman who doesn’t just sing over the band; he surfs the noise. Moz and Frankie keep things visually and musically lively, their precise guitar and bass lines giving the set extra bite. Crow, the tightest drummer of the night by some distance, is the axis around which this all spins. His playing is precise: kicks and toms hit with weight, cymbals punctuate rather than clutter, and he leaves just enough space for Steve (on programming) to breathe. This is the kind of rhythm section work that makes you realize how many bands confuse “busy” with “powerful.”
What makes this set linger is not just the volume or the polish, but the sense of intention. Alpha Tone clearly know exactly what they want to be: a band that bends heaviness toward emotional impact, not aggression. So, yes, you could label this “pop rock” if your definition of “pop” includes Sleep Token, stadium‑era Bring Me The Horizon and the moment in every anime opening theme where the sky explodes behind the protagonist.
Onstage at SoundSplashing Underground, Alpha Tone weren’t joking at all. They were busy sounding like the heaviest thing on the Carnival stage – and very possibly the most ready for a much bigger one.
-Peter L
The Red Garage
1. Sheep on the street
2. Meathogs
3. Billy Weston
4. Camel
5. Jungle Jive
6. Wethouse Road
7. Outro Jam #1 (encore)
Kieran – bass
Ethan – guitar
Will (temp. replacement) – drums
There’s a moment, early in The Red Garage’s set at SoundSplashing Underground, when it feels like the whole thing might skid sideways. The bass is having technical issues, the vocals are shaky, and you can almost see Chris B doing mental trauma‑math, remembering a previous “instrumental” band that weaponised out‑of‑tune singing. Then something subtle happens: the technical issues get fixed, the mics recede from the foreground, and the band remembers what they actually are—a psychedelic rock unit whose real language is texture, space, and the tension between repetition and drift.
The Red Garage are very loud, but the volume becomes part of the experience; I felt like I was inside the band and part of their performance. Kieran and Will can really lock together into a groove that somehow feels both lazy AND precise, while Ethan’s guitar playing spirals upwards in unpredictable ways. Kudos to Will, who slotted in so well despite being a temporary replacement.
The band’s strengths lie in how they occupy space, how they let sounds collide, smear, and bloom inside a loud but carefully shaped environment. At SoundSplashing Underground, the singing wasn’t a disaster, but the moments I remember all come from when no one was trying to sing and the music, finally, was allowed to speak for itself.
-Rosie Chan
Photos by Aaron Michelson
由Aaron Michelson、攝影。
Poster by Harebrained Studios 海報由 Harebrained Studios。
