When I listened to his albums this summer, first thing in mind was these albums were definitely worth listen. But to be honest I was never really interested to know who is him like in person, I’ve always wanted to surprise my self when it comes to relating music to its creator, let-the-tracks-speak-for-itself kinda thing. We’re about to see him at Pitchfork festival this year but reality brought us back home, so when we knew his doing Asian tour, we just have to see who’s Mac.

We’re lucky enough to be able to review some cool festivals around, including Clockenflap Festival this year. Mac was one of the line ups on the last day, so one thing we’ve noticed was this guy likes to blend with the crowd. After their Hongkong trip, they played in Bangkok, where he and his band buds learnt how to differentiate lady boy with a regular girl.

So, last Saturday night we arrived at Home Club, Singapore when the two Kiwi’s Carb on Carb played their rock setlist, they just directly heated up the stage on the first place. Not long after them 4 piece Filipinos indie band, Bee Eyes, went up stage with their fun rock songs and a bit of pop and slacky style, loosened up the crowd. Consisting of guitarists Julius and Idris, along with drummer and bassist Miguel and Diego they played “Someone Else”, and provide what “The Best Band In The Philippines” had to offer.

Bee Eyes was pretty much impressed us, but since we were excited to see the guy who sings “Ode to Viceroy” we put down our beers and straight to the front stage. Ok not that front, but front enough to have the opportunity to touch his butt (d’uh!). We were totally amazed by how sweet his songs are, yet how crazy he is in real. The only thing on my mind was who the fuck is this guy? Mac alongside with his (also) talented band buds, Pierce McGarry (bassist / Walter TV and weird video maker), Peter Sagar (guitarist / Homeshake) and Joe McMurray (drum) totally introduced us to the wilderness of Canada. Remind us again where the heck Drake comes from?

The setlist was pretty much the same as in the festival or other small gigs like in Bangkok. Which is very nice, it gave the impression that he doesn’t differentiate the crowds. Starting with “Cooking Up Something Good”, continued with “The Stars Keep On Calling My Name”, “Rock and Roll Night Club”, “Ode to Viceroy”, “Annie”, “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” and making funny jokes (while trying hard to make the crowd go wild) with “Baby’s Wearin’ Blue Jeans” and did his thing by crowd surfing in the middle of “Still Together”. The Gig was pretty much chilled out rock n roll night. After the gig we had the chance to chat with the bands. So might as well say saturday night well spent!

Not much different with Singapore, when we headed to The Bee, in Kuala Lumpur. Just face it, nobody likes Mondays. It’s always a day associated with stress, anxiety, and fatigue but this monday wasn’t just any ordinary monday. After our interview with Mac and his buds, we knew today will be the day where fans of Mac DeMarco can remember as the night where they can go back to the rock and roll night!

Bee Eyes was also opening for Mac DeMarco that night. After an eight song set, Bee Eye’s gets the crowd to let DeMarco know that they’re ready for him. And from the moment DeMarco and the band walked up the stage we foresaw the show to be as raw as possible. “We love rock & Roll, and we hope you do too” professed DeMarco to greet the floor. He unhooked the barrier lines and called forward every soul in the room to move up (not forgetting to smoke in the midst) and start rocking to “Cookin Up Something Good”, this time “Rock & Roll Night Club” came next, with an end unexpected to all. Pierce wrapped up the song with a screamo-ish spinoff, engulfing our inner rock demons to claw out. 3 songs in and it’s already a floor-quaking show. DeMarco loves his casual intermissions between songs to interact with the floor, or call it smoke breaks even, they even dedicated the next song to the couture brand, Dolce & Gabbana. Gracing the band with “Ode to Viceroy”, Lead guitarist, DeMarco shreds an intense guitar solo, one of many at least. Jumping across the stage and kneeling down, emotion is well apparent throughout the set.

After playing “Annie”, the venue became an open mic night. DeMarco decides to “Shake it up” and pass the mic to someone in the crowd, singing along to “Stairway To Heaven”. By this point it was like being in their very own garage chilling together drinking beers listening to their music. The lack of boundaries gave the opportunity for the crowd to interact with the band with freedom. “My Kind Of Woman” followed after, relaxing the crowd while they sing to every lyric.

Climaxing the show with “She’s Really All I Need” meshed together with an electrifying guitar solo emulating the greats. From here on, it was full on rock and roll, but with a twist. Pierce announces that there were only two songs left, evidently lying. Stirring things up and not following the rule book is just their style, not to mention the extensive swearing to cherry the feel. Stringing together his song together with a cover of Status Quo’s “Takin’ Care Of Business” slyly changing the lyrics from “You get up every morning/From your alarm clock’s warning” to “Wake up in the morning/Suck my dads cock”. Jumping from Limp Bizkits “Break Stuff” to The Beatles “Blackbird” to a heavy metal scream of “Stairway To Heaven”. It didn’t make sense, but it somewhat did because the audience was just into the whole ensemble reciprocating DeMarco’s humor. Whatever you’d expect to see at a gig is present, but twisted in all sorts and shapes to DeMarco’s liking, ending his set crowd surf during “Still Together”

Justifying DeMarco’s statement at the start, we do love rock and roll. Infused with his slackery, sloppy style of music. He just bled out effortless charisma and charm, turning this not-so-ordinary Monday to a raw, interactive massacre of fun.

By the end of the days, we know now there’s something noteworthy about Canada besides Ryan Gosling, Robin Scherbatsky and Chuck Hughes.

[Text: Dorothy/Zafran. Photo: Dorothy/Kristy Chong]

Since 2011, the event has been held at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade, which is a great, spacious venue that is easily accessible by public transportation and oversees the world-famous Hong Kong skyline at the main Harbourflap stage. Hence, Clockenflap’s atmosphere is one that is both amazing and memorable. I, myself, have been attending Clockenflap for the past 3 years. Although every year has been amazing, 2013 had a brilliant line-up, making it an experience that I can honestly cherish for the rest of my life.

Founded in 2008 by Jay Forster, Mike Hill and Justin Sweeeting, Clockenflap Multimedia Arts & Music Festival has played a crucial role in developing Hong Kong as a cultural hub for art, film and most of all, music. With a carefully crafted mixture of both international acts (Bombay Bicycle Club, Santigold, Primal Scream Azealia Banks) and local artists (DP, Sun Eskimos, The Yours, Uptown Rockers, Chochukmo), the festival has established itself to become one of Hong Kong’s coolest annual events.

Clockenflap 2013’s three-day festival was held between 29th November and 1st December. The many great local and international acts this year included indie heartthrobs The 1975 and new wave band Metric. Alternative rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, one of the headliners, played a head-bang worthy show, which was rather surprising with lead singer Robert’s mellow aura.

The Strypes was also extremely notable and surprising. They were put in to replace Two Door Cinema’s Club’s cancellation due to lead singer Alex contracting severe laryngitis. Despite being a last minute addition and extremely young, their mature musical expression and soulful talent made up for it. In fact, I have never in my life seen or heard a rock band able to incorporate a harmonica so passionately in a live set. All in all, their set was a fresh, entertaining experience.

Other great aspects of Clockenflap this year was included great quality and selection of food, popular international acts and relatively short waiting lines (for food, coupons and getting within the festival), which was a definite improvement from previous years.

The highlight of my festival was Franz Ferdinand, hands down.”Not only did they play a dance-worthy set, Alex Kapranos engaged the crowd with numerous chants of “we’re gonna burn this city!” from their track ‘This Fire’. Lively hipsters mosh pitted at the front of the stage while the band played a wonderful mixture of songs from all four albums.

But the most mind-blowing part was the encore, which included an energetic “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action” and drum outro, where all four band members of Franz Ferdinand played a single drum set to close off their show and end the night. One of my more personal favorite moments was when my friend carried me on his shoulders (as I am rather short), and then Franz Ferdinand started playing “Jacqueline”, which also happens to be my name!

However, this year local acts were not as plentiful. I was slightly saddened to see that several of my favorite local indie bands were not playing this year unlike previous two years. Also, the time slots were only posted within festival ground. This was a bit troubling those planning to only see particular acts and not spend the entire day at the festival. Notes for the organizer, maybe to add more of local bands next time and an online time table would be extremely helpful, especially for the festival-goers only going for certain acts.

A note for those planning to go next year, although expected for a festival, merchandise and food are rather expensive, so bring enough money for coupon purchases. Those who prefer not to be in mosh-pits should stay closer to the back to refrain from getting squished, and if kids are brought for the arts and crafts and children’s stalls, families might want to leave near the late afternoon because that’s when the masses of people start pouring in for headliners.

In short, this year’s Clockenflap Multimedia Arts & Music Festival is definitely an event that people in Hong Kong and Asia should visit to celebrate different forms of art and culture.. [Text: Jacqueline Wong/Photos:Kitmin Lee]

More photos here

Like numerous major international festivals such as Coachella (US), Glastonbury (UK) and Fuji Rock (Japan), Clockenflap has played a colossal role in showing off numerous groundbreaking artists of the 21^st century. Apart from presenting renowned international artists such as Klaxons, Bombay Bicycle Club, Austra, Mac Demarco, Azealia Banks and Britpop legends Primal Scream, Clockenflap has also emphasized the importance of local musicians in Hong Kong’s urban culture. Indie folk group Noughts and Exes, heavy metal duo DP and alternative rockers Chochukmo are just a few of this metropolitan’s many talented acts that have performed at this momentous event.

This year’s headliner is Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand, who are dropping by this festival, to promote their highly anticipated LP, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions” to festival goers at Clockenflap. Along with them are popular indie group Two Door Cinema Club, disco band Chic feat. Nile Rodgers and local Cantopop princess, G.E.M..

With more exciting musical acts, art instillations and contemporary films yet to be announced, Clockenflap 2013 will not just be one of the most exciting celebrations of modern culture in Hong Kong, but an internationally recognized event for the world to experience.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

ART VILLAGE: Curated by Aidan Li, in partnership with Clockenflap, the 10,000- sq.m.-sized Art Village will feature inspired and intriguing art works and multi-media installations by a talented mix of local and international artists. plus

MARC & CHANTAL DESIGN: The specialist creative/design agency presents a surreal “Cloud” installation for all to experience. VANS: Slick street style and raw creativity have inspired the VANS “OFF THE WALL” skateboard art wall and workshop, where festivalgoers can create their own VANS x CLOCKENFLAP merchandise.

ZIPPO: Look out for two giant ZIPPO lighter art pieces by popular young Hong Kong artists, Little Thunder and Telephone Fung.

FILM TENT: Curated by Janel Yau, featuring content from international film festivals, directors and animators, the Film Tent offers a cinematic escape for festivalgoers. plus BRITISH COUNCIL HONG KONG AND UK TRADE & INVESTMENT’S GREAT CAMPAIGN: Festivalgoers are treated to a very special outdoor screening of “Restored Treasures: Captivating Hitchcock Silents – Blackmail (1929),” with live music by Stephen Horne, renowned as one of the world’s leading silent-film accompanists.

EFTERKLANG: Copenhagen-based band Efterklang presents “The Ghost of Piramida,” a film project they initiated, directed by Andreas Koefoed and soundtracked by the synth-laden Apples. NELLY BEN HAYOUN: French experience designer Nelly Ben Hayoun presents “International Space Orchestra,” about her mission to assemble to world’s first orchestra of space scientists from NASA’s Ames Research Center, SETI and the International Space University.

CABARET: Curated by local men’s fashion/lifestyle brand Moustache, the “Bearded Lady Side Show” will feature a wild array of glitzy, glam and downright bizarre performances. With a house band of equal oddity providing laidback ambience throughout the weekend, this brand new addition to the festival is not to be missed! plus

NEW ERA: Working with Clockenflap for its second year, headgear specialist NEW ERA has booked dancers from hip-hop themed movie, “The Way We Dance,” to entertain all, as well as created exclusive NEW ERA x CLOCKENFLAP merchandise (beanies, caps) available for purchase.

CLOCKENCRAFT MARKET: Families and festivalgoers can take a breather — and have a look and shop at the popular Craft Market, packed with lovely locally produced and unique handmade items.

DINOSAUR ENCLOSURE: For the first time in history of Hong Kong — terrifying dinosaurs and beasts, replete with scary and spiky bits, shall roam the West Kowloon Cultural District!

FOOD & BEVERAGE STALLS: With 23 vendors and 26 outlets serving up food and beverages over three days this year, festivalgoers and families can enjoy all day (and night!) at Clockenflap, fuelled by the yummy likes of Ali Oli, Brickhouse, Little Burro, Lola’s Ice Pops and Pizza Express.

KIDS AREA: Supported by Rumple & Friends, the Clockenflap-styled bouncy castle will make an appearance, along with arts and crafts workshops, kid-friendly music & entertainment performances, face painting, stilt walkers, and much more!

SILENT DISCO: In 2012, Clockenflap unveiled the Silent Disco concept to perplexed and amused festivalgoers. This year, expect even more headphones, supplied by Clockenflap’s official sound sponsor SENNHEISER, and a few additional surprises!

Check out The AU Review interviewing with Justin Sweet – the man behind Clockenflap festival:

Tickets will be on sale from September 2 on www.ticketflap.com

Early bird prices:
HK$480 – Friday
HK$580 – Saturday or Sunday only
HK$980 – Three-day entry
(Student discounts are also available, and kids aged 12 or under will have free entry)