Last Sunday one of Alanya’s bars has organized a concert of Hayko Cepkin – an acknowledged Turkish rock musician, a songwriter and a keyboard player, who studied under Timur Selçuk, one of the best piano players and composers of Turkey.
Being a great music addict myself, I was very excited to visit this concert and see Hayko Cepkin live. Actually, I am more a soft rock-jazz-blues kind of person, but Hayko Cepkin, who can be classified as a hard rock, gothic and brutal rock musician, attracted me by a great range and power of voice and very harmonious songs. He is also famous for his distinguished looks and frequently changing images. Participating in various talk shows, he looks like a very intelligent person and a good company. So, I was looking forward to see his live performance.
The concert started with an opener band, a local rock group called In Gravity, which covered Turkish and world-famous rock hits. I have listened to them before, but that night they played really great – a crowded bar and an energy flow let them bring a real drive into the place and, as the rockers say, “they nailed it”.
After the In Gravity performance, the public was ready to meet a “main course” Hayko who didn’t make us wait long. But with the first accords of the base, we’ve understood that the sound was probably tuned for a stadium, not for a concert in the bar. The sound waves literally were blowing us away. Add roaring fans, who growled just as well as Hayko, and you will probably imagine what we felt. After a while, I managed to adapt my ears to the noise and even started to recognize the songs. Hayko was brilliant as usual… us much as we could hear him.
Unfortunately, we didn’t stay long at the concert since my husband, not being a fan of Hayko Cepkin and, therefore, not being familiar with many of his songs, was just suffering there. We went out of the bar feeling like contused. Breathing a fresh air and enjoying the silence bothered just by distinct sound of the concert and local bars, we exclaimed, “What a relief!”
As you know, after noisy places it’s impossible to stay in a complete silence, also it was pretty early to go home, so we decided to go to the place where the In Gravity, Hayko Cepkin’s opener band plays every night. A new bar above Opera restaurant in Alanya center was full. Slowly we recovered from a sound shock and blend into the bar public, singing along with the band, which performed the songs on the requests of the bar customers. After a roaring concert, the atmosphere in the bar seemed especially warm and friendly to me. It looked like tourists didn’t feel out of it even when the band sang several Turkish rock hits in a raw, and enjoyed very good quality cover versions on the songs of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Marilyn Manson, The Doors etc.
I am very picky about music, but it seems like finally I have found a place where I can enjoy good music and a good company.
Wish you to find your special place to spend pleasant evenings!
See you next week. Take care.
Polina Akar
