Clockenflap Finishes on a High

Gorgeous skies for the last day of Clockenflap that brought out the music fans

Today was a complete contrast to yesterday -- the rain finally finished overnight and this morning it was a gorgeous day, sunny and blue skies, though clouds started gathering in the evening.

Kids had a fun time with lots of activities for them to play

Last night M.I.A took to the stage, a Sri Lankan rapper who lives in the UK and burst onto the scene in 2005 and had a lot of political messages in her lyrics. She hadn't done an album in a long time and there are rumours this might be the last time people can see her.

However, she tried to warm up the crowd by mentioning China instead of Hong Kong, which got a lot of boos in the audience... she wasn't quite politically correct with the sensitive crowd.

Nevertheless, I managed to wander a bit more today and saw some funky grooves by Subcoat, a Hong Kong-born, UK-based DJ and then went towards the side closer to Admiralty to see what was going on -- Hong Kong thrash metal band CharmCharmChu was playing and many, particularly the gweilo were impressed.

Three kids hanging at Talk2Me, a sound installation

One song was related to the Umbrella Movement, when the police beat up protesters near where the band was playing. The lead singer mentioned this context before singing "F*** the police". It got a roar of approval from the audience.

Nearby kids were hanging out, playing hula hoops, making colourful three-dimensional designs with yarn, or hanging out at a sound installation called Talk2Me.

Later in the day The Sugarhill Gang got the fans going with their old school hip hop from back in the late 1970s. Their big hit at the time, "Rappers Delight" was played at the end, with a long solo rap by Master Gee about how old school rappers don't have lyrics dissing women, talking about shooting people, violence and such, but more about how the world needs more love, and too many people are disrespectful of women.

The Chemical Brothers closed out Clockenflap this evening

They warmed the crowd up for The Chemical Brothers from the UK, and they started with a bang with "Hey Boy, Hey Girl". I also wandered over to another stage to see The Turbans, a multi-ethnic band that also rocked the house.

So much music to take in, but so little time... Thank goodness today was a fantastic day to make up for yesterday. Oh yes and I had some Okinawa salt ice cream from Initial that was blue... it wasn't salty, but wasn't too sweet either.