Precarious scenes

Abstract

This article examines how the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill protests in Hong Kong, and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, has affected the indie music scene on a local level. It also explores the many ways that artists, bands and venue owners have sustained music activities and reflects on the impact that the pandemic has had on the author’s own research as a postgraduate student. The author discusses the changes that he has had to make following gig cancellations. The article concludes by considering how the pandemic has foregrounded performances of precarity in the scene’s activities, long before any pandemic or even protest movement occurred.