MUSIC FOR PAVEMENTS樂韻滿街頭
Streetside musicians have been part of city life for centuries – and many of today’s top festival acts started out busking. By TIM PRITCHARD數百年來，街頭樂手一直是城市生活的一部分。不少今天經常現身頂尖國際音樂節的常客，最初都是由街頭獻唱展開音樂生涯。撰文：
FOR SOME, ITÕS
a bit of fun on the weekend or a way to make a bit of beer money. But for other musicians, busking is a way of life – and occasionally it’s the first step on the road to recording contracts, social media stardom and playing the world’s biggest festivals. Here are some of the best cities to catch a streetside symphony – or spot The Next Big Act.
SEOUL
K-pop’s now-global popularity has inspired a new generation of musicians hoping to be the next Hyukoh or IU. In Seoul, you’ll find them busking in Hongdae, a hip district in the capital’s northwest anchored by the artsy Hongik University and surrounded by cafes, bars and trendy shops and stalls. Young hopefuls crank out choreographed K-pop routines, while soulful singer-songwriters strum guitars and street magicians and caricature artists ply their trade along Eoulmadag-ro, which runs north to south through the area.
DUBLIN
Shoppers browsing high-street brands along the Irish capital’s Grafton Street are the perfect potential audience for buskers. The street is the epicentre of the busking community, with a diversity of acts on any given day: rock guitarists, jazz bassists, Celtic folk bands, bagpipers. One recent success story is 13-year-old Allie Sherlock, a Grafton Street regular whose cover of Ed Sheeran’s Supermarket Flowers went viral on YouTube, securing her an invitation to Ellen DeGeneres’ chatshow in the US and a recording contract with Patriot, the label of One Republic’s Ryan Tedder.
LONDON
Covent Garden is one of London’s liveliest street music scenes. While both a permit and an audition are required, the charming pedestrianised area in the fashionable West End is hugely popular for musicians and showmen. Elsewhere, one-man rock’n’roll and blues act Lewis Floyd Henry (below) has made a stretch of Brick Lane his own, cranking out covers of Motörhead and Jimi Hendrix on his electric guitar via an amp squished into a pram and a miniature drum kit which he plays with his feet. You can also catch live music on the Underground, where buskers have been given pitches at several stations – including Liverpool Street – to entertain commuters.
NEW ORLEANS
The city’s French Quarter (above) is known for its bourbon bars, jazz clubs and freewheeling, spontaneous vibe – which
is of also street helped musicians. by a generous Keep an eye smattering out for regularly Doreen puts Ketchens, on Dixieland a clarinettist and more who traditional band. Other jazz sights performances include human with statues her – lap-steel nude, body-painted and neo-folk women; bands than and you more can shake a tumbler of bourbon at. MELBOURNE With an estimated 2,000 buskers thronging the city, there are plenty of chances to encounter Melbourne’s street musicians. Since last year, all public busking requires a licence, but that hasn’t dampened the musicians’ ardour. Top spots include Southbank Promenade, along the Yarra river, and Bourke Street Mall in the city centre, where you’ll find musicians young and old with instruments slung across their bodies and all manner of amps, guitar pedals and keyboards propped up on colourful milkcrates.
有人視街頭表演為周末的消遣，或賺是點啤酒錢的方法，但有也 些音樂人以街頭表演維生。不時有音樂人因此獲得灌錄唱片的合約，成為網絡紅，人並上登國際大型音樂節的舞台。以下幾個城市的街頭經常有百花齊放的音樂表演，甚至能證可 見 下一位壇星樂 巨 的誕生。首爾
韓國流行曲熱潮席捲全球，令不少新晉音樂人夢想可以成為如Hyukoh等流行樂團或IU等創作歌手首。 爾西北面的弘大區就有不少街頭音樂表演，這是個潮流集中地藝，以 術氣息濃厚的弘益大學為中心，附近一帶開設了不少咖啡館、、酒吧 潮流商舖和攤檔。在貫通弘大區南北兩端的Eoulmadag- ro路上，見可以 到有渴望一舉的人成名 年輕 隨著流行曲踏著整齊的舞步，不處抱遠 有 著結他的唱作歌手在低吟淺，唱而沿途亦有街頭魔術師和卡通人像畫在師 大顯身手。都柏林Grafton Street街是這個愛爾蘭首都的購物天堂，高級名店林升，不但吸引前來購物的人潮，也吸引不少藝在人 這裡尋覓知音，形成一個熱鬧的街頭表演社區。他們各懷絕技，有搖滾結他手、爵士樂貝斯手、傳統蓋爾特民歌樂隊，甚至風笛演奏家。一夜成名的故事時有發生，最近的一位是13歲的Allie Sherlock。她是這條街常的客憑， 翻唱Ed Sheeran的〈Supermarket Flowers〉在YouTube被人瘋而傳 走紅，更因此成為美清國 談節目主持人El l e n DeGeneres的座上客；美國隊樂 One Republic的員成 Ryan Tedder擁有的唱片公司Patriot亦與她簽了片唱 合約。倫敦倫少的Covent Garden是城中一個非常熱的鬧 街頭表演場地。這個別具氣氛的行人用專 區位於時尚的倫少西區，雖然政府規定表演者必須持牌及通過試演評核，依然吸引大批樂手和才藝表演者前來。另一邊廂，搖滾及藍調一人樂隊Lewis Floyd Henry（左下圖）將東倫少的紅磚巷化作個人表演的舞台他， 利用嬰兒車載著的擴音器，播放用電結奏他彈的Motörhead及Jimi Hendrix搖滾金曲。他腳邊還有一套迷你鼓，實行手腳並用，貫徹一人樂隊的精神。地鐵也是欣賞音樂演奏的好去處，街頭藝人可在部分地鐵站內表演，包括利物浦街車站。新奧爾良
當地的法語區（左上圖）以波本威忌士酒吧和爵士樂會所聞名，氣氛自由散漫，而一眾街頭表演藝人，營亦在 造這種獨特的氣氛上貢獻良。多 其中一位得值 留意的是單簧管好手Doreen Ketchens，她與自己的樂隊經常演奏Dixieland曲風或更傳統的爵。士樂 其他常見的表演包括人體雕塑（即全身髹上油彩裸的 體女人）、膝上鋼棒結他及新民歌樂隊等，讓你在品嚐波本威士忌時極盡視聽。之娛墨爾本
據估計墨爾本大約有2,000位街頭表演藝人，因此經常有機會在街頭遇上精采的音樂演出。自去年開始，所有於公共地方表演的人藝 均須領牌，但此舉損無演出者的熱情。熱門演出地點包括位於雅拉河岸的Southbank Promenade河畔大道和市中心的伯克街購物商場，這裡的樂手不分老幼，背身上 著器樂 ，用五顏六色的牛奶箱在路邊架起擴音器結、 他踏板和鍵琴即席演出，吸引路人駐足欣賞。DISCOVER MUSIC Cathay Pacific Holidays is selling flight and ticket packages to Hong Kong for the Clockenflap music and arts festival taking place over 9-11 November. For more, visit cathaypacific.com探索音樂
國泰假期推出前往香港參加11月9至11日舉行的Clockenflap音樂及藝術節機票加門票套票優，惠 詳情請瀏覽cathaypacific.com