Last night started with dinner with a friend. He suggested a place in Soho called Guru.  I don’t like going to Soho but I trust this guy 100% when it comes to restaurant recommendations so I agreed to meet him there.  This is on the stretch of Elgin Street between Hollywood Road and Staunton, a once-quiet street that is undergoing gentrification at what seems to be a quick pace.  The old shops with their old-fashioned steel gates are gradually being replaced by “trendy” bars, restaurants and boutiques.   However, the street is relatively laid back compared to what’s going on further up on Elgin or along Staunton.

Guru has a sign in front that says, “Boutique Indian dining in Soho.”  I have to confess, that phrase didn’t thrill me; it’s the kind of thing that Hemlock would rage on about for three columns.  Despite that, it turned out to be an extremely pleasant place with very friendly staff – an independently owned place, not part of some mega-chain.  I won’t say that this is the best Indian food I’ve ever had but it was very far away from the worst.  The place was comfortable, especially the two tables outside where one could enjoy the view, especially on a balmy evening like last night.  Some traditional dishes, some attempts at modernization or fusion, all of it seemed well prepared.   We had a good variety of stuff, starting with a salad that included mango, chick peas, chat (I think – some kind of small, crispy biscuit thing?), yogurt and spices.  Another plate of sliced, grilled eggplant, also nicely spiced.  Some tandoori lamb, chicken tikka marsala (well, my friend is British), raita (is that the name? very cool refreshing mixture?) and garlic naan.  Yes, a lot of food for two people and we finished almost all of it which, yes, means we enjoyed it all.  I bumped into music exec Hans Ebert in the toilet (not in that way!) and he commented, “Tasty food but small portions.”

One door up is a place called Culture Club.  It was dark and at first I thought it was closed, but it turns out they were doing a screening of Cinema Paradiso ($30 cover charge).  I looked to see if they had a schedule of future screenings but didn’t see one.  One door down is Sahara – I think the sign said something along the lines of “the only authentic Moroccan food in Soho.”  Also busy and I’m told this place is popular with Cathay Pacific crews on the weekends.  One door further down was Bentley – a seafood restaurant that was devoid of customers at 8:30.   Across the street, another Indian place called Bhatti Bar.  (I was told that when this place came up for rent several months back, one could get the lease and all furnishings from the previous tenant for just $100k and the rent is a very reasonable $30k per month.  Jeez, even I would have taken it at that price and tried something there.  Other store fronts coming vacant on the block are for sale only, average price around $5 mil.)

Then we walked over to Solas.  It was “Pole Paradise” night, featuring an hour or so of pole dancing staged by a local pole dancing school – a friend of mine was one of the dancers.  Another dancer was apparently voted “best pole dancer in Hong Kong” by whatever organization certifies this kind of thing and yes, she was very fit and very good on the pole.  But the place was packed tight, even the sidewalk in front was jammed with people, so we could barely see anything, and that’s why there’s no photos.  Actually almost every place along Wyndham Street was jammed with crowds overflowing onto the sidewalk – a Thursday night, a good sign for the economy I suppose, or at least the economic status of the people who habitually go there.

In Hong Kong, pole dancing to a pre-recorded soundtrack attracts hundreds of people to a bar.  Original live music attracts at best a few dozen and I’m one of them so that’s where we went next, off to The Wanch for BC Magazine’s monthly Unplugged show.   The first group was called Gilder, an acoustic trio that included Tony Tyler, the CEO of Cathay Pacific.  And the band was not horrible, doing nice harmonies on Crowded House songs and others.  Okay, some of you might make some jokes about how he should have been keeping a better eye on oil futures rather than rehearsing with a band and I have no comment on that but I’ll say these guys were not bad and every CEO needs some way to unwind.

I’ve already forgotten the name of the next group, which is a shame because they weren’t bad.  A young local band, four guys (including a talented keyboardist) and a female singer, all the songs were sung in Cantonese but musically they ran a wide gamut from arty-rock to jazz to bossa nova.  The thing is, this group points to why it’s next to impossible to make any money from these kinds of shows in Hong Kong.

What do I mean by that?  The Wanch doesn’t have a cover charge and they don’t require you to purchase a minimum number of drinks or even any drinks at all.  (They now have a bonus card!  Buy 10 drinks, get the next one free.  I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who could fill that up in one evening.)  This band had at least 15 or 20 friends show up to see them, which is great.  The friends all brought cameras – there was one guy there with a professional sized video camera and several others had DSLRs and were shooting video.  The Wanch is a small bar and these people crowded the stage area, surrounding the band with their cameras during their brief set.  I don’t think I noticed more than 2 drinks among those 15 people.  And as soon as the set was over, they all packed up and left.  Hell, even Tony Tyler was gracious enough to stick around, buy a few drinks and check out the other bands.

These people have got to learn a lesson. If they want Hong Kong to continue to have venues where they can play live, learn their craft and build an audience, their friends have to start supporting the venues and not just the bands.  The bar is not just there to provide a stage for a band to play – they are in business and need to earn a profit or at least break even in order to survive.   I doubt any of those people read this blog but just in case – support the freaking venue!  I realize they may not have a lot of cash in their pockets (but jeez, most of you had some really choice camera equipment in your hands) – get a few drinks for crying out loud, even if it’s just a few cokes or a few bottles of water.  Show your appreciation because, let’s face it, there aren’t too many places in town like The Wanch and we not only need this place to survive, we need it to thrive to not only stay in business but also to encourage other people to open more places like this.

Okay, rant over.   As was my night, I was pretty tired after the second band and headed home and in bed early.

Just want to mention that Saturday will be an unusually busy indie music night in Hong Kong.  Underground will be having the second of two parties celebrating the release of their third compilation CD set of independent Hong Kong bands at Rockschool.   HK$150 gets you admission, the CD and a beer as well as performances from seven bands!

Meanwhile, over at Grappa’s, it’s Time Out Magazine’s Big Night Out, featuring eleven bands live at the ridiculously low price of just HK$200 (with beer & wine going for just $30 a glass).

So check out one.  Or both!