I should probably mention that a lot of the things I want to do while I'm here are going to be made a lot easier with the help of a  UChicago Music grad student, Melissa.  This woman, an ethnic Armenian who grew up in Istanbul, knows pretty much everyone in this city.  I got an email from her today, asking if I was going to the Kardeş Türküker concert tonight.  I had no idea what it was, but I decided to tag along.

Kardeş Türküler started out as a folk ensemble here at Boğazici University (and yes, Melissa knows the members).  The group has grown tremendously in popularity, especially as a folk/indie rock group (don't ask me for the accurate classification), and for their fifteen year anniversary concert tonight, they played at the Turkcell Kuruçeşme Arena.  Turkcell is the leading mobile phone operator in Turkey.  They're these guys:

 

Anyway, this was a big theater, with acts like Sezen Aksu, Judas Priest, and Björk coming through.  It was outdoors, right on the Bosphorus.  Melissa was shocked that they were playing here: "This is not them...They're socialists...A lot of fans probably aren't coming..."  The most disturbing thing to me were the many stands selling packs of cigarettes.  In each stand was a woman, who appeared to have been instructed to stand perfectly still while a light shown on her through the entire concert.  These women wore high heels and short denim skirts, but those articles of clothing were hidden behind the counter.  What you saw when looking at the stand head on was an incredibly skinny woman wearing a tight white tank top with a thin red ribbon just below the bust so she resembled a cigarette.  

But the concert was fantastic.  Mike and I were both blown away, while Melissa and her girlfriend still seemed unnerved by the setting.  There were famous guest artists from all over the country and beyond.  A lot of the songs were Kurdish, and a few were Armenian.  (Melissa would poke me every time an Armenian one came up.)  The band's violinist was amazing-- I don't know how she was able to get so many different kinds of sounds out of it.  There were also dancers, doing a mix of traditional and hip-hop.  I can only assume that there were political messages in the mix of styles, as the screen above the stage showed pictures of famous socialists and musicians (usually socialist musicians) and workers movements, as well as more recent images like the Hrant Dink funeral (did I mention Melissa knows his family?) and gay rights protests.  Unfortunately, a lot of the messages were lost on me, because I'm just beginning to learn the language and don't know a lot of history.  But catching references here and there, along with the actual sound and energy of the music and the view of the Bosphorus were enough to make this an unforgettable experience.  

Oh!  And we had our first day of class!  I had so much to write about that, too, but maybe another time.  And I promise pictures are coming.