MANGA'S TRT-1 ZIRVEDEKILER INTERVIEW ON FEB 17, 2013

MaNga on TRT-1: Zirvedekiler / 17 Feb 2013

MaNga was on TRT-1's Sunday morning program "Zirvedekiler" (Those on the Top) on Feb.17th, 2013. This program is not live. It was taken around the end of January. Efe was not there again with the rest of the band. No comment about that. The host is pretty Ece İncedursun.

Ece: Good morning! We're having maNga today. Welcome, guys. How did you come together?

Ozgur: We had some common friends. Then I invited Ferman to the band, I was like "There is this band. Would you join us?". The rehearsals were very fun. And thanks to Ferman, we met Cem.

Ferman: This is a typical Ankara story actually.

Ece: So you knew one another indirectly.

Cem: In fact, we didn't know one another before that.

Ece: Wasn't that hard?

Ozgur: It wasn't hard, because the music we were making together was so much fun and magical that it gave us power to overcome all the hardships.

Cem: Maybe this was an advantage for us in the first place. I mean we came together just to make music without a previous acquaintanceship.

Ferman: I still remember it very well. When we first came together in Bahçelievler...

Ece: When you first came together, or when you first did your recording?

Ferman: When we first came together at the studio,...OK, I've known Cem and Ozgur before, but I and Cem haven't known Yagmur before. We first met him at the studio. When Yagmur started playing the first notes, it was a very beautiful feeling, because we were after that kind of music all along.

Yagmur: That day, it was something like a vocalist audition for you. (Ferman starts to laugh) We didn't tell you anything about this, but we wanted to see if you're OK or not.

Ece: Wait a minute...An audition without a notice, huh?

Yagmur: It was not anything official of course. We just hung out a little together. And then I don't know what you call it, an attraction maybe, and somehow that was it.

Cem: Our fate lines have crossed...:)

Ece: The Fates were spinning the threads...:) (to Yagmur) But you played a big part on this, because you laid the foundation of everything.

Yagmur: Well, we can say that I made a spark with a flint at first, and then...

Ece: I heard that you particiated in a contest, Sing Your Song. Alone (to Yagmur) or together?

The boys: Together...

Ece: So that was your first job together?

Ferman: That was our first public appearance together on TV and our first recording for the TV.

Cem: When we came to Istanbul for the shootings of the contest, I still couldn't memorize the names of the boys, calling them wrong names. I knew only Ferman.

Ece: Didn't you cheat writing names on your palm?

Ferman: He was still asking their names...:)

Ece: ...like I did now? (showing them her palm)

Ferman: No, we haven't tried it. But I can try it for the lyrics on stage. :)

Ece: Really? Do you forget lyrics on stage?

Ferman: Yes, we all forget things from time to time. Is it not natural?

Ece: Of course it's natural to forget things out of excitement, energy of the audience, but if it's a singer who forget the lyrics, it's something to get the attention.

Ferman: I often forget the lyrics. But most bands' lead singers have a small monitor in front of them projecting the lyrics and their speeches between the songs. The audience doesn't know it. Because you can easily forget out of excitement caused by the adrenalin. Then the interaction with the audience helps a lot, extenting the microphone to them...

Cem: He makes them sing...:)

Ferman: You make them sing instead. :)

Ece: Hmm...We're getting some tips and tricks. When you forget, "Come on! Let's sing together!", huh?

Yagmur: (to Ferman) You're letting out all the secrets of the singers now, you know that? The magicians have an agreement among them and they don't share their tricks with anyone. This is something like that.

Ece: Did maNga manage to make some things be accepted more quickly in Turkey? Let's get to the point.

Ferman: Good question. We think we managed to cross some lines that can't be accepted with our fans. Because there were other bands making similar music like us when we first came out, but they somehow couldn't emerge into the spotlight. I think we became a pioneer band.

Ece: It seems that you made greater strides...

Ferman: But we still try to go beyond ourselves and cross the barriers of rock music in Turkey one way or another. Because the alternative music in Turkey has some tides, high and low. We're fighting against this with our music.

Ece: I wonder why Yagmur has a nickname like "Yamyam" (cannibal).

Yagmur: When I was a baby, I had a habit of biting people I didn't like. When the boys heard about that, they kept on calling it and we got used to it. But generally my very close friends and family of the first degree call me that name.

Ferman: He's trying to say "don't call me that!". :)

Ece: I noticed that. I don't wanna irritate him, because I'm sitting next to him, so...:)

Yagmur: Don't worry. Because I am pretty domesticated now. :)

Ece: Is it hard to be together as five men all the time? Maybe it's easier for a group of men to get along well, isn't it?

Ferman: Definitely. I haven't seen five women getting along well before.

Ece: Me, neither. I think every three months a new member would join...

Ferman: I haven't seen two of them getting along, either.

Ece: So you came together, participated in Sing Your Song. Did you get the first place?

Ferman: Second place.

Ece: You didn't make the album right after that, did you?

The boys: Two years later.

Ferman: About two years have passed.

Ece: How did you spend this period of two years, dreaming about an album, or getting ready for an album?

Cem: The first 6 months, yes. There were some promises given to us. We got pumped up so much. We went back to Ankara very enthusiastically and started writing songs, recording our demo. At the same time we were waiting for the call from İstanbul. And we got the bad news. Of course that news made us very disappointed. We thought, "Again?". Because we had some other disbandments before. But we picked it up quickly. We clung to one another, continued to write songs, recorded our demo, came to İstanbul and started to knock the doors.

Ece: The album was released in 2004. What kind of excitement was it?

Ferman: Were we at home when we first have seen the music video on TV? We were living at the same house at Besiktas. One day we turned on the TV and our video was on every music channel. We were eating our meal.

Cem: It was a weird feeling.

Ece: Were you shocked?

Yagmur: A little, I guess. It was not a "Woow!" feeling. But when we've seen the video on 3-4 channels at the same time, we began to feel that it's no longer going to be the way it used to be. But we still ate simit and drank tea at the quay of Besiktas.

Ece: What were you dreaming when you first saw your video on TV?

Ferman: Making a tour of Turkey and giving concerts. That was our only dream then. We didn't dream about getting recognized and making money. We wanted a tour van and to crowd into it like in the movies and go play, play and play everywhere. We did that. Of course we got recognized naturally and started making money. But it was not our default (initial) settings.

Ece: I think this is important. Maybe just because you haven't set your first goal to make money, you have reached where you are now.

Ferman: We have still this kind of dreams now. We've been planning some projects for abroad for 2 years.

Yagmur: We've built our own studio.

Ferman: Yes, we did. Most bands don't do it. Because it costs too much. We invested so much for our studio and our own equipments.

Ece: So does this make it possible for you to make higher-quality music when you do everything yourselves?

Ozgur: It makes it possible for us to create more sincere music.

Yagmur: It is arguable that it's higher-quality or not.

Ferman: Yes, it's arguable.

Yagmur: We haven't reached the time that we can compare our new songs with the old ones yet. It's an advantage to have a place you own that you can use 24 hours in terms of productivity. Most people believe in deadlines. If you don't set deadlines, you can never finish an album.

Ece: So do you have to set a date?

Yagmur: Because it motivates you, but I don't think it's right for art to set a deadline. Or this is not our job. And if we look back, this is when we...

Ferman: ...are the fastest to write music.

Yagmur: Yes, we produce very fast. And this refutes this thesis. I mean our studio is very good for us.

Ferman: It's an utterly different feeling to have the studio's key in your hands.

Ece: It gives you a feeling of comfort?

Ferman: Yes, because you know that nobody can get in but you. It is our sanctuary.

Ece: How did you come up with the name "maNga"?

Yagmur: As the band is forming, I was thinking that we need a band name. I had a notebook that I have lost. I wish I could find it. I had written in it 20-30 names that I came up with, no matter if they were silly or not.

Ferman: Did you show it to us then?

Yagmur: I probably didn't show it to you. I only told you the "maNga". Maybe there were better names, but you've never seen them. :)

Ece: He eliminated them first, guys. :)

Cem: But nobody objected the name "maNga". We all thought it was a fitting name. We believed in that.

Ece: And you used that animated character on the album cover.

Ferman: We developed that character later on. We created a character named "Spa" and it was on the posters and covers with us.

Ece: And it played in the video instead of you.

Ferman: Yes, it appeared also in the video, we didn't.

Ece: You came from Ankara, released the first album. It all went well. Everybody loved it so much. What happened then?

Yagmur: Actually we haven't experienced that state of being a "celebrity" so much.

Ferman: We were not so well-known yet.

Yagmur: Yes, because we didn't appear in the video so much. We ended up on the road and concerts. We constantly gave concerts. Maybe 200 concerts in a year.

Ece: Your second album is Sehr-i Hüzün (City of Sorrows). Did you work with the same people on this album, too?

Ferman: The same.

Yagmur: In fact, we relieved our conscience after we made that album. Because we think that we brought out everything one level up with that album. Also, İstanbul had a huge impact on it. In fact, Sehr-i Hüzün is an album about İstanbul.

Ece: Is that city İstanbul?

Ferman: Of course. It was a kind of response to what we've experienced and felt here in this city.

Ece: Did you have any disappointment? Because there is a feeling of sadness all over the album.

Ferman: No, it was not a disappointment.

Ece: The songs are slower on the second album.

Ferman: But the melancholy and the sadness of this city affected us. Ankara is not like that. There is a gloom over Ankara. There is something else in here.

Ece: Do you think that you got the Eurovision offer thanks to the second album where you reflected that feeling? Because you caught an upswing with this album.

Cem: It was a chain reaction. After Sehr-i Hüzün, maNga gained momentum. We got MTV's Best European Act award in 2009. We started thinking about abroad. After that, came the Eurovision offer.

Ece: Just what you desired. I think you accepted it without thinking.

Cem: In fact, we thought about it.

Ferman: We thought about it a little.

Ece: What is the contradiction between them? On one hand, you want to go, but on the other hand you don't.

Cem: It's a big responsibility.

Ozgur: You're in the middle of recording an album....

Ferman: The album was just released.

Ozgur: Or you've just released an album. You think yourself at the beginning of your career. Ferman was so enthusiastic about Eurovision and he fired us up so much. It was a good thing that he fired us.

Ece: Definitely.

Ozgur: You have 3 minutes and you can't be more than 6 people on stage, etc. These are some of Eurovision rules. You have to convey your simplest feelings to the spectators in 3 minutes. Not a very progressive song, not a very melodic sound...You have to express yourselves in a minimum possible way. You can communicate with 40-50% of the European population in English, so we thought it's the best way to use English.

Ece: It was very good thing that you went. Because you brought the second best result to Turkey after Sertab Erener.

Ozgur: In some online user dictionaries like sourtimes, there were 400 or 500 posts about our Eurovision song. After the final, the half of it were deleted...

Ferman: ...or revised comments...

Ece: Very good. Did you follow everything online? You present something. Even though you worked so hard, it's inevitable to get scathing criticism. Did you follow that online?

Ozgur: The social media is widely used in the last 3-4 years. We are also on that, too. It's not significant enough to affect what we do. We get as much as we need. Yet, good or bad, it ignites you in some way. It's essential to get that.
So we follow that.

Ece: Did this award as a new band open the doors for you to abroad?

Ferman: We met so many people thanks to MTV and ESC. We're still in touch with those people. The Balkans, Northern Europe. We released a single and gave concerts over there. This opportunity opened interesting doors to us.

Ece: Will you have any projects?

Ferman: Yes, we will.

Ece: Soon?

Ferman: Now we are getting ready for a festival in America. We've started to make the English album in the meantime.

Ece: Will you release this album only in Turkey?

Ferman: No, we don't think the English album will be released in Turkey. We'll be releasing the English album for this reason: We have released a single in Denmark before. We've sent a single to MTV and MTV carried our song to the charts. But it was always on the basis of a single. Now we want a whole album and plan to do things over there, without sending music from here. If necessary, we plan to spend 3-4 months abroad.

Yagmur: This is something we've never done before.

Ferman: Now we want to give it a try.

Yagmur: Because it's difficult to do things from here. You have to take up what you do; to interview.

Ferman: It's a big problem to miss them, for instance.

Yagmur: But we don't slack off our efforts on the Turkish album. We're working on them at the same time. Some songs will be probably bilingual, in Turkish and in English.

Ece: Interesting. We listen to the Turkish version here, but abroad English version will be released.

Ferman: This is something that had been done before. Some of the known bands did this. Maybe we're going to do it for the first time in Turkey. It's not that important to be the first to do it, but we're going to do it. Maybe we'll be a topic of thesis some day.

Ece: But every major step that you took got back to you positively. I think this will be good, too.

Ferman: The courageous steps get back to you in some way.

Ece: The festivals would not be without maNga. Do you still plan to take stage at the festivals?

Ferman: We do. We'll be busy with festivals in the spring.

Ece: Both the albums, and the foreign projects, so...

Ferman: The forthcoming festival in the USA is important for us. We're working for that now.

Cem: We totally focused on that one.

Ferman: Then the festivals in Turkey begin in the spring as usual. The municipal festivals begin. That means we'll have lots of festivals.

Ece: You're gonna work without a break, huh? So what do you do outside of work? Are you still together?

Cem: In the last 3-4 months, we often see one another, to tell the truth. We're in the process of producing, so...

Yagmur: Since we have a jointly-owned studio, so...

Ferman: We meet every day except for 1-2 days.

Cem: We meet 5-6 days a week.

Ferman: Even if we do nothing, we get together at the studio.

Cem: We're always at the studio. Even just to have a chat, we go to the studio. There are days we don't get down to the recording room at all.

Ozgur: We watch movies, play games together...

Ece: So you don't necessarily have to work.

Ozgur: It stimulates productivity to spend time together. It's not only movies or games. We talk about a lot of things such as books, movies, music. It's fun.

Ece: And you don't know when you get inspiration.

Ozgur: When we drink our coffee...:)

Ferman: From the books...:)

Ece: How about we show what you're actually doing at the studio, playing games? :)

Ferman: Flash...flash...flash! :)

Yagmur: Our studio is a place to escape from the madness of İstanbul for us.

Cem: We isolate ourselves in there.

Yagmur: It's like a meditation to be there.

Ece: I understand that you're not involved in that chaos that much.

Cem: That's right. We're not in the daily hustle and bustle, to tell the truth.

Ferman: We don't have extreme outings, I think.

Cem: We have the luxury of determining our working hours.

Ece: That is one of the best things about this job, I think. Well, does each of you have a specific task to do? For example, you sing, you write music, you play guitar, etc...

Cem: Of course we have small task distributions among us.

Ferman: But that's spontaneous.

Cem: Yes, it's spontaneous. When we first found the band, we didn't distribute the tasks, like you do this, you do that. There are things some of us can do better than the other naturally in different areas. We see this and he become the incharge of that task, but this is not a rule.

Yagmur: We reach that maturity much more after each album. Every one of us lets the other do more and this makes things easier. In the beginning, all of us were more conservative about some things. But we've learned how to go with the flow. This is a good thing, because it affects our music in a good way.

Ece: maNga had younger fans when you first came out. But the average age of your fans has increased now, right?

Yagmur: With our latest "e-akustik" album, we have targeted the people who don't normally listen to rock music. We would be happy if we could achieve that.

Ece: Which one of you has more fans? I have read something like that in an interview and I liked it.

Cem: Of course Ferman has.

Ferman: Of course the lead singer naturally has more fans.

Ozgur: Who is the lead singer? :)

Ece: Can this be a problem? When the fans' attention focuses on one of you, do the others think "Hmmm..."?

Cem: No, mostly we even like it. We run away with nothing in our minds , Ferman remains there with them. :)

Ece: Wow! This is a different point of view.

Ozgur: When they see Ferman coming out, they leave us alone.

Yagmur: We sometimes send Ferman out as a bait. :) When he moves with a group of fans, we sneak away.

Ece: This is interesting. I haven't expected to hear that. :)

Yagmur: But Ferman looked a little surprised. He was like "Really? Are you serious?"

Ece: We kept saying that you're getting along very well, but after this shooting we'll be stirred up bad blood among you, I guess.

Ozgur: There is this thing: since Ferman is the front man, so he is better known. For instance, I can go wherever I like with a beanie on my head, unless the very attentive people who really love me recognize me on the street. But this kind of thing happened only 4-5 times in my whole music career.

Ferman: After I had my hair cut, Yagmur and Cem are more recognizable than me now. The people don't recognize me much now.

Cem: We became more eye-catching because of the color.

Yagmur: Cem and I are like chewing gum. :) When we get on the subway, we're getting attention not because we're well-known, but...

Ferman: "What the hell is this look, man?"

Ece: "What's this hair, my boy?", right? Are you getting this kind of reactions?

Yagmur: No, we're not. But normally you look at someone once, but in our case they look once, twice, 3 times, 4 times, 5, 6...

Cem: They lock on you.

Yagmur: It's no problem at all. I'm having fun with myself. I like getting on the subway. Especially subway in the traffic of İstanbul is a life-saver. We all sometimes take the subway.

Ozgur: I have seen some tweet on Twitter the other day, saying "I've seen maNga on the subway. They were using monthly ticket (AKBİL)". :)

Ferman: I had an AKBIL, too. :)

Ozgur: I have a statement to make, everybody! Of course we use public transport, too. Let's use public transport system so that we have no traffic problem.

Ferman: This is so interesting.

Ece: What kind of point of view is this now?

Ferman: We can't overcome our ego in Turkey. There is nothing more normal than a rock singer taking the subway abroad.

Yagmur: I've seen Kate Moss on the subway in New York.

Ferman: You see?

Yagmur: She was talking to the people and nobody was disturbing her.

Ferman: Here they say "What's your business on subway?!" What does this mean? This is actually an insult.

Ozgur: You should say, "I'm in a hurry!"

Yagmur: I have an İstanbulKart and I'm proud of having it. It's very convenient.

Ece: That tweet is really funny. :)

Ferman: We had to be in time for a wedding some time ago. Yagmur and I decided we can't make it by car. Just a helicopter will do. We had a very little time.

Ece: You must have a helicopter.

Ferman: No, we don't have. I said, "let's take metrobus. We got on a metrobus. Something interesting happened.

Yagmur: It was very crowded.

Ferman: There was a sleeping man with his head banging on the window. He recognized us sleepily, but he wasn't sure if we really are. Someone else took his smartphone out and checked our...

Cem: ...pictures online.

Ferman: But we reached there in 17 minutes. This was a miracle. Why mustn't we take public transport?

Ece: I think you have fun when you see people's reactions to you, right?

Ferman: Yeah, it's fun. We like it when people talk to us.

Ece: It was funny that the man checked your pictures on his cell phone.

Yagmur: I had pictures taken that day on the metrobus. When we separated by the crowd, you squeezed into a corner, remember?

Ferman: Yes, you had pics taken.

Ece: You are still very young, but what would you advise to newcomer bands who want to exist in this business?

Ferman: Take the subway. :)

Ece: It's the essence of the matter, huh?

Ferman: We don't advise anything. We don't do that. Everybody must find their way on their own. The only thing we can say that we were always unprejudiced and we've always seen the benefit of it. I'm sure that it'll open lots of doors to break down the prejudices. We never forgot the streets and the communication with the people. We benefited from all that so much. If they ask us, we advise these things, but everybody finds their own ways.

Cem: One more thing: Education is a must!

Ece: We put an end with this. Thank you very much for coming today. It was great fun to have you.


You can watch the full interview on the YouTube link below:

 

MY IMPRESSIONS ON MANGA'S IS SANAT CONCERT ON FEB.7TH, 2013

MaNga Is Sanat Concert / 7 Feb 2013

 Finally I have watched the maNga's half acoustic half electronic concert at Is Sanat on Feb. 7th. I was accompanied by my cousin at this concert.

The concert has started just on time at 20:00. The audience generally consists of young children, accompanied by their parents. At first glance, it seems like a school's theater hall. :) I didn't think that they have still so many young fans. This concert was as if it were a holiday gift for them. There were also elderly spectators. Their music also appeals to the older listeners now probably thanks to their 2012 "e-akustik" album.

They will perform "e-akustik" album in the first half of the concert and in the second half they'll go back to their usual electronic setup. It will be a little weird to watch a maNga concert sitting down in our comfortable seats.

I look forward to 2 songs in this concert: the one of them is their brand-new song "Today" and the other song is that fabulous Greek song everybody loves and wants it to be included in the new album. I'll listen to this song for the first time on stage.

MaNga performed the new song "Today" at Feb 1's Roxy Bar concert for the first time. We don't know anything about the song, except that it's fast and hard. It wasn't allowed to take pictures in Roxy Bar, so we couldn't find even a secretly taken video of the song on YouTube. So everybody was very curious about the new song and they think that the song could provide us with some tips about the new album.

The day before the concert, they put a video to the official Facebook of maNga. It was taken during the rehearsals and the musicians and maNga were playing that Greek song very beautifully in allaturca style. So all the fans on Twitter asked those who will go to the concert to record this song if they can.

The problem is that, it is not allowed to take pictures in this concert, either. The fans will have to wait for the next regular concert, I guess.

We settled in our seats! We're comfortable. But what's that?! The person who sat right next to me is no other than Nathalie Marrable, Yagmur's dancer wife and unforgettable robot girl of "We Could Be The Same"! I can't believe this is just a coincidence! I have to say something! I lean over my cousin and say to her "Nathalie, I'm a big fan of you!". I can't think of anything else! She thanks very prettily. I ask for a picture of her. She says OK, but she doesn't want to be taken alone, so we take a picture together. She looks fantastically beautiful in the picture. Inci looks so-so.

Nathalie and Inci

I lean to her and say that I'm the one who translated Kulaktan Kulaga episodes. I expect her to understand what I'm talking about. Because Yagmur is following me on Twitter and he sometimes retweets my blog links. And at one time Nathalie favorited a KK episode link. She doesn't understand KK in Turkish, so I say "Ferman's TV program". Then she understands what I meant and says "Oh, that blog, I know that! We're fans of your blog and we read all of them!". I can't believe this! She asks me the title of my blog and I say it. And she says, "Oh, I just tweeted you!" and she shows me the said tweet! I don't understand what it is but I thank her anyway.

Well, the stage darkens and the acoustic musicians come onto stage. MaNga will be accompanied by 7 musicians during the acoustic part of the concert. After them, maNga boys are on stage. Yagmur is very stylish tonight and he looks great on Is Sanat stage in his white suit and black shirt. He combed his prolonged hair down. This hair looks perfect on him. Ferman is wearing his new beige coat. It's the same coat that he wore on NTV's GeceGunduz interview on Jan 31. He has a gray tshirt inside. Efe is wearing a black tshirt and Cem a bordeaux tshirt. Ozgur is wearing his usual vest.

 

The opening song is "Hosgeldin" of "e-akustik", as in every acoustic concert. After that, they continue with "Rezalet Cikarasim Var". Tonight the powerful intro with Ozgur's drums is a little different, but still attractive. I love them retouching their songs. That's why their concerts aren't boring at all. They have always little musical surprises on stage for us. In fact this is not a song to listen in a seated position. It's a kind of song that make you feel like dancing and swaying to the rhythm of the music. Especially it's not possible to resist the rhythm of the drums and the darbuka. A girl two rows in front of us, is practically dancing in her seat and makes us smile! :)

After "Rezalet Cikarasim Var", Ferman announces the Greek song "Ti Einai Auto Pou Mas Enwnei" by Greek rock band Pyx Lax. He says, "if you listen carefully, there are some parts in the lyrics that concerns us". That's it. He doesn't say what they are. Does he think that everybody in the hall understands Greek? :) Well, let me give you some ideas about the lyrics. We can translate the song's title as "What's that unites us?". The lyrics are quite sentimental and very poetic. It contains the words "Aegean Sea" and "Izmir". The song is likely about an impossible love story of a Greek and a Turk. With some allaturca touches, the song has become very "from us", and the Greek lyrics go very well with this song "from us". :) I want to thank you to all who wrote it, played it and sang it.

Maestro Yagmur

And we hear Yagmur's voice after the song ends. What?!!! A talking Yagmur on stage?? Now this is a real surprise! And he says, "Dear Ferman, can we play "Beni Benimle Birak", too?". Ferman who seems puzzled for a moment looks at the paper and says "Oh, I just skipped it, sorry!". Yagmur prettily says, "No problem!". I love them! Ferman apparently mixed the order of the songs, but the orchestra kept pace with him cold-bloodedly! Good for them!

Beni Benimle Birak was a clean studio-quality performance.

When the first notes of the next song was heard, Ferman said that it was one of their oldest songs. He doesn't need to say the title of the song. The audience knows which one it is and started whispering "Yalan!". It's enough to hear the first notes to recognize the maNga songs. Both the beginning and the end of acoustic "Yalan" taste completely different and it's about complains of love. The song contains one of the wisest sayings: "To be loved and for love, it wasn't enough to be good".

Our disguised ESC 2010 Song "We Could Be The Same" is album-quality. It's totally different song now, but it gives a weird sense of peace.

The next song is one of the most fascinating songs ever written about İstanbul: "Hayat Bu İste" that I heard for the first time in "e-akustik" and fell in love. The song's chorus is like a free fall for the listener. I like the "e-akustik" version of it the most. But I haven't thought that Ferman would leave the most striking part of the song to the audience: the chorus! I thought, "Oh, you can't do this!", but Ferman stated afterwards that since he was very excited he often forgot the lyrics and the audience saved him! Fortunately, the young audience's accompaniment is very good tonight, more than I've ever expected.

Next we have "Hani Biz". It was named "Duet of the Year" in 2012 by Blue Jean Magazine. Yıldız Tilbe is not here tonight, but we don't feel the absence of her, unlike Göksel. I don't understand why Ferman is now skipping "çırılçıplak" (stark naked) part in the second half of the song. Is it a kind of self-censorship? I love the song's drum parts.

I love acoustic "Fly to Stay Alive" very much. I had fallen in love with the electronic version at first. This is my second listening to the acoustic version on stage after Soundclash, but I like tonight's performance better. Because we hadn't heard the violin and the cello at Soundclash! But tonight the sound system is really good, we can perfectly hear every instrument and Ferman on stage.

The next song is the legendary song of maNga, "Dursun Zaman". No Göksel again, but the amazing audience is filling the gap perfectly left by Goksel's absence. An accompaniment could only have been this beautiful without rehearsing.

When the song ends, a boy sitting on the left side of the hall shouts, "Yagmur Abi, let us see your face!". Ferman doesn't understand and asks, "What?". The boy repeats his request. A woman on the front seat repeats it for Ferman. And Yagmur does what the boy asks for and turns a little to the left side, "Like this?". The audience is thrilled to see Yagmur talking to the audience. In the meantime, Ferman is busy sorting the papers in front of him.

After that, Ferman starts whistling the touching intro of "Ben Bir Palyaçoyum". They usually perform this song with just one guitar, but tonight they prefer to perform its full "e-akustik" version. A great song all along! I love the violins at the background.

Ferman and Yagmur on "Cevapsız Sorular"

The next song is maNga's classic break-up song, "Cevapsiz Sorular". The spotlights go out above the musicians. Tonight, we're going to hear this song from Yagmur, his guitar and Ferman again. Last time we heard it, it was at the Soundclash and it was "Sehr-i Huzun" version and Athena turned the song into an unexpected reggae! I prefer the original version, of course. Ferman stands up and goes to the keyboard where Yagmur is sitting to stand by him.

But what is it? Ferman is making a mistake and sings the wrong verse of the lyrics! Oh my God! And the audience have to sing in accordance with his wrong lyrics! Funny! The audience is doing incredible job tonight. Tonight's audience accompaniment is arguably the best at the concerts that I went to. Ferman's performance is superb again in spite of his mistake at the beginning.

maNga Acoustic Orchestra

With the presentation of the acoustic musicians, the acoustic part of the concert is concluded. Ferman presents them looking at their names on the paper. But first he apologizes for this. "I know it's a shame to look at the paper, but tonight I even forget the lyrics, because I'm so excited. I don't wanna say the names wrong". Then he presents the musicians in order. When it's Cagatay's turn, he presents him to us as "And our very close friend, our comrade from 100 years ago, Cagatay Sen!". :) We know and love Cagatay very much. He is an inseparable part of maNga and Kulaktan Kulaga. And why is Ferman so excited tonight? Just because they are performing on İş Sanat stage? They were once on Eurovision stage for God's sake!

An "intermission" sounds so weird in a maNga concert. :) Since I don't get a 3G signal in the concert hall, I get out to the foyer to tweet about the acoustic part of the concert to my friends. My first tweet is about Nathalie sitting next to me. :)

###

The electronic part of the concert starts with "Her Aşk Ölümü Tadacak". This song is also in the "e-akustik" album, but tonight they perform its "Sehr-i Hüzün" version. The lyrics of the song is like an enlightment for me. :) What the songwriter says is very true. "Every love fed with tears will taste death!"

Ferman gets back to his usual black sleeveless undershirt. Yagmur is now in black leather pants/black shirt and he looks more like a "rocker" now! :) The others are the same.

Ferman doesn't like this kind of concert with sitting people. So he orders us "let's stand up now!". With his order, the young fans leap up to their feet from their seats and run to the front screaming! The security people are shocked and scratching their heads! Apparently they are not used to rock concerts and their fans at İş Sanat! :) Now it's more like a maNga concert with all the rocking and jumping fans in front of the stage. My cousin is also among them. The parents and the older spectators are still sitting of course.

The next song is the brand-new song "Today" which will probably be in the new album. They performed this song for the first time at Roxy Bar concert on Feb.1st. According to the tweets from Roxy that night, the song is hard and fast old-maNga style, as expected. Ferman says that they'll perform a new song now and there will be a Turkish version of this song. He doesn't say the name of the song, but the audience know, await and whisper "Today" in the hall.

Yes, it's really hard. But in a pleasant way. The old maNga did it again! An attractive and catchy chorus!

"Today, I feel so lazy;
Don't know what to do with you;
Today, I feel so dirty;
Don't wanna make love with you".

The remaining lyrics can't be understood precisely because of the fans' screams, but I'm sure we'll try to hear better the rest of the lyrics at future concerts. I liked the song. I am not disappointed. This song is pure maNga! I'm sure this will be #1 song of this summer. Well done, guys!

Again, I'm sure all the maNga fans around the globe are dying to listen to this song now. They have to wait for the next concert where it's allowed to take videos.

After "Today", the concert continues with all the classic maNga songs: Dunyanin Sonuna Dogmusum, Evdeki Ses, Gangsta's Paradise, All We Need is Everyone, Bir Kadin Cizeceksin, and the usual closing song: Alisirim Gozlerimi Kapamaya.

My first note about the second part of the concert is why Efe didn't accompany Ferman on "Evdeki Ses". It's rather curious that he doesn't appear on recent TV interviews with the rest of the band , in group photos from maNga's studio. So definitely there is something wrong with Efe! Maybe he's just sick.

One more thing that I don't understand is why Ferman always has to fight with his in-ears and earphone cables at almost every concert. He fought with them again and this time a staff has to help him. :)

Ferman performing "All We Need is Everyone"

(photo by Asena Sonbay - Thanks so much, Asena!)

"All We Need is Everyone" is superb again. The drums are wonderful! It will be one of the most expected songs of the new album.

The closing song is the magnificent "Alisirim Gozlerimi Kapamaya" with fantastic drum show again. The maNga staff bring the side drums with lights inside. Just then a security staff jumps on the stage! Apparently he attempts to protect Yagmur who crouched down towards the fans. Ferman cracks jokes with him. "What's wrong?" And he extends the microphone to him and says "Wanna say something? Everything's fine up here!". Then the staff gets off the stage. Ferman needs to make a speech again: "It was very important to play at İş Sanat. Thanks so much for sharing our excitement tonight. We didn't play much at concert halls with seating order before. When we played, I always forced all the audience to stand up, jump up and down with us. But you give us a very nice energy from back there so much that you don't even have to stand up. Thanks very much for your smiling faces!" Yes, he's talking to us, the people who didn't stand up. :)

When we waited for the concert to start at the foyer, the Wildcard of maNga at Soundclash, drummer Cem Bergamali and his company walked past us to the backstage, so I understood what the big surprise is they were talking about on NTV interview. The young fans who couldn't go the Soundclash because of the age limit, will witness that spectacular drum show for the first time. The drummers make the crowd frenzied again. Everybody watch the show fascinatedly. The harmony among the drums and the side drums of maNga boys are wonderful. Ozgur does a solo in the meantime. Ferman sings the rap part tonight. The audience accompanies again beautifully. The duet song with children of İzmir MEV College that maNga announced at MEV College concert will be magnificent, because the kids are very good at accompaniment, better than the elders. When they finish, a thunderous applause immediately arises.

At the end, to my surprise, there is no maNga Bow! They forget to bow! I don't understand why! Big disappointment for me!

Setlist of İş Sanat Concert

After the concert, we attempt to go backstage, but we can't go inside because of the big fight among the kids, the parents and the bodyguards! Apparently they are under the orders of the management of maNga and they don't let anybody inside. This causes a big quarrel among them. But they don't leave. They want to take pictures with maNga boys. The bodyguards don't let them inside no matter what. This is so boring. I had thought that this was not a piece of cake. We give up and leave. And I wish a silent good luck to the maNga boys. This is not a easy job.

When we go outside, there are still some fans waiting who don't give up. After a while Efe gets out. He is leaving with his pretty wife. But he gets caught and had to take some pics with the young fans. After a couple of shots, the fans leave Efe alone and they walk to the parking lot.

We grab a taxi to Uskudar. After a rock concert, we're too tired to take subway to Taksim and then bus to Besiktas, and ferry to Uskudar. :) In the taxi, I tweet little reports of the second part. I review "Today". I tell about the meaningless big fight in front of the backstage door. :)

This time I'll share some pictures with my impressions of the concert. If it would have been recorded, it could be easily a concert album. Acoustic music went very well with maNga. Some fans don't think this way and they want the hard maNga back, but acoustic albums, songs and concerts are always prestigious for every band. The fans have to understand this. MaNga will be back again. Patience, guys, patience a little more!

The next maNga concert will be at Santral İstanbul on Feb.24. I'll take my 12 year old niece to this concert if I can, as a birthday gift to her. She's been singing "Bir Kadin Cizeceksin" since she was 4! This will be her second maNga concert and I'm sure she'll jump up and down like she did at Caddebostan concert.

I apologize for being late in translating. But I appreciate your comments, guys! Thanks in advance...:)

MANGA İŞ SANAT KONSERI / 7 ŞUBAT 2013

My impressions on this concert in English is on the following link:

http://pearlsquiltedcrafts.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-impressions-on-mangas-is-sanat.html

 

MaNga Is Sanat Konseri / 7 Feb 2013

Evet, sonunda merakla bekledigim MaNga'nin Is Sanat konserini izledik dun aksam. Bu konserde bana kuzenim arkadaslik etti, sagolsun.

İlk yarisinda, maNga'nin asigi oldugum "e-akustik" albumundeki parcalari yorumlayacaklari konser tam zamaninda 20:00'de basladi. Seyirci geneli cocuklar ve genclerden olusuyordu. Ilk bakista bir okulun musamere salonu gibi gorunuyordu salon. :) maNga'nin kucuk hayranlarinin hala bu kadar fazla olabilecegi aklima gelmemisti. Anne babalar sanki bir Subat tatili hediyesi olarak getirmislerdi ufakliklari. Aralarda yaslari yuksek izleyiciler de vardi. Bu maNga'nin yaslari daha yuksek bir kitleye de hitap etmeye basladiginin gostergesi belki de. Bu da herhalde prestij albumleri "e-akustik"in sayesinde diye dusunuyorum.

Bu konserin ilk yarisinda "e-akustik" albumunun genis bir kismini seslendirecek ve daha sonra 2.yarida ise klasik elektrikli setuplarina donecekler. Oturarak bir maNga konseri izlemek, biraz farkli olacak.

Bu geceki konserde merakla bekledigim 2 sarki var. Soylemelerini umdugum yeni sarkilari "Today" ve su herkesin hayran oldugu ve yeni albumde de gormek istedikleri Yunanca parca "Ti Einai Auto Pou Mas Enwnei". Bu parcayı sahnede ilk dinleyişim olacak.

Yeni sarki Today'i ilk defa gecen hafta 1 Subat'ta Roxy Bar'da seslendirmislerdi, ancak parcanin hizli ve sert olmasi disinda hakkinda hic bir ipucu alamamistik. Roxy'de cekim yapma yasagi vardi ve nete sarkinin gizli cekilmis de olsa hic bir videosu da dusmedigi icin daha da esrarengiz bir sarki haline gelmisti. Herkes cok merak ediyor ve bu sarkiyla yeni albume dair bazi ipuclari alabilecegimizi dusunuyordu.

Konserden bir gun once resmi maNga sayfasina konan bir video, grubu studyodaki provalarda Yunanca parcayi calarken gosteriyordu ve videoda sarki alaturka duzenlemesiyle kulaga oldukca guzel geliyordu. O yuzden Twitter'da herkes konsere gideceklerden yapabilirlerse bu parcayi da kayit etmelerini rica ediyordu.

Sorun su ki, bu konserde de cekim yasagi var. Sadece dinlemekle yetinecegiz yani.

İŞ Kuleleri - İş Sanat Kultur Merkezi bu kulenin 2.katında yer alıyor.

Is Sanat Kultur Merkezi bana Ataturk Kultur Merkezi'ni hatirlatti. Salon buyukluk acisindan kiyaslanmaz, ama boyle bir salonda bir konser izlemeyeli yillar var. :) Biraz nostalji yapıyorum fuayede beklerken. :)

Yerimize yerlesiyoruz ve sahnenin kararmasını bekliyoruz.

O da ne? Yanimiza oturan kisi, Yagmur'un dansci esi, "We Could Be The Same"in unutulmaz robot kizi Nathalie Marrable degil mi?! Bu kadar da tesaduf olmaz diyoruz artik! Bir sey soylemezsem olmaz! Kuzenimin ustunden egilip, "Nathalie, senin buyuk hayraninim!" diyorum. Soyleyecek baska laf gelmiyor aklima! :) O, sevimli bir sekilde tesekkur ediyor. Resmini cekip cekemeyecegimizi soruyorum, yine ayni sevimlilikle yarim Turkceyle "tabii" diyor, ama tek basina resim cektirmeyi sevmezmis, "birlikte cekilelim" diyor. Telefonumu yanindaki arkadasina veriyorum. Bu arada Nathalie beni sasirtarak kalkiyor, benim obur tarafima geciyor ve kamera acisina giriyor. Arkadasi bir kac resim cekiyor ve telefonumu iade ediyor. Nathalie, "bak bakalim, guzel cikmis mi?" diyor. Kontrol ediyoruz, o elbette butun resimlerindeki gibi sahane cikmis, Inci de eh iste.

Nathalie ve Inci

Biraz daha kendimi tanitmak icin, ona egilip yine Kulaktan Kulaga cevirilerini benim yaptigimi, soyluyorum. KK deyince tam anlayamayinca, "Ferman'in TV programi" diyorum, o zaman anliyor ve "oh, blogunun hayraniyiz, hep birlikte okuyoruz" diyor. Blogumun adini tekrar soruyor, soyluyorum. "aa, ben sana tweet attim az once" demez mi? Allah Allah! Ne tweetiymis o? Cikariyor telefonunu ve gosteriyor tweeti. Tam anlayamiyorum ne oldugunu, ama tesekkur ediyorum.

Bu konserde kulise gitme tesebbusunde bulunacaktim konser sonrasi, ama Nathalie'yle salonda "dakka bir gol bir" tarzinda tanisacagimi hic ummuyordum. :)

Neyse, Nathalie'nin heyecanindan sonra, sahne karariyor ve akustik muzisyenler sahneye geliyor. Bu gece maNga'ya sahnede 7 kisi eslik edecek. En son maNga elemanlari geliyorlar. Yagmur bu gece cok sik gorunuyor. Is Sanat sahnesine yakisacak bir beyaz takim, siyah gomlek giymis. Epeyce uzamis saclarini asagiya taramis. Bu yeni saclar ona pek yakismis. Ferman NTV roportajindaki yeni bej montu icinde basliyor. Icinde daha once gordugumu sandigim bir grili tisort var. Efe siyah ve Cem bordo tisortler giymisler, Ozgur ise yine klasik yelegiyle.

Maestro Yagmur

Acilis parcasi her akustik konserde oldugu gibi "e-akustik"in de acilis parcasi olan "Hos geldin". Sonra hemen "Rezalet Cikarasim Var" ile devam ediyorlar. Parcanin acilisindaki Ozgur'un guclu davul introsu bu sefer biraz farkli ama yine de cekici. MaNga'nin her zaman kendi parcalariyle oynamalarini seviyorum. Hic bir zaman sikici degiller bu yuzden. Her zaman ufak tefek surprizleri oluyor sahnede. Aslında bu parca oturarak izlemeye pek musait degil. Cunku insani costuran bir parca bu. Ozellikle davul ve darbukaya dayanmak mumkun degil. :) Zaten iki sıra onumuzdeki bir genc kız hayran, ayakta izlerken yapacagı hareketleri oturdugu yerden yapıyor ve bizi gulumsetiyor. :)

"Rezalet Cikarasim Var"dan sonra Ferman, merakla bekledigimiz, Yunanlı rock grubu Pyx Lax'in Yunanca parcası "Ti Einai Auto Pou Mas Enwnei"i anons ediyor. "Dikkat edilirse bizi de ilgilendiren bazi sozleri var" diyor ama ne oldugunu soylemiyor. Herkesin Yunanca bildigini mi saniyor acaba? :) Neyse, burda yazayim da biraz fikir vereyim sarki hakkinda bu vesileyle. Sarkinin adi, Turkceye "Bizi Birlestiren Nedir?" olarak cevriliyor. Sozleri oldukca duygusal ve siirsel bir akisi var. İcinde Ege Denizi ve Izmir sozcukleri de geciyor. Sanki bir Yunanli ve bir Turk'un imkansiz asklari hakkinda oldugunu dusunuyor insan Ingilizce cevirisini okuyunca.

Sarki alaturka dokunuslarla oldukca bizden olmus ve bu "bizden" parcaya Yunanca sozler son derece yakisiyor. :) Yazanin, soyleyenin ve calanin ellerine saglik diyorum!

Sarkinin bitiminde klavyede oturan Yagmur'un sesi duyulmaz mi? Sahnede konusan bir Yagmur oyle sasirtici bir sey ki! :) Ve diyor ki, "Ferman'cim, Beni Benimle Birak'i da calalim mi?" Bir an saskin bakan Ferman onundeki kagida bakiyor ve "atlamisim ya, ozur dilerim" diyor. :) Yagmur, her zamanki kibarligiyla, "Canin sagolsun" diyor gulerek. Seviyorum onlari! Bu arada zaman zaman Yagmur'un konusmasi da fena olmazdi dogrusu! :) Bu arada orkestranın, Ferman'ın sırayı şaşırmasına anında karşılık verebilmesini de cok takdir ediyorum! Bravo! Hiç belli etmediler, çok sogukkanlıydılar.

"Beni Benimle Birak", album kalitesinde temiz bir yorumla tamamlaniyor.

Sonraki parcanin ilk notalari duyuldugunda, Ferman, "Bu en eski parcalarimizdan biri" diyor; ama parcanin adini soylemesine gerek kalmiyor. Salondan, "Yalan!" sesleri duyuluyor! Artik maNga parcalarini tanimak icin 2-3 nota yetiyor. Hem basi, hem sonu ayri guzel olan ender parcalardan "Yalan". Akustik versiyonu da bambaska bir tadda ve sarki soylenmis en dogru sozlerden birini de barindiriyor icinde: "Sevilmek icin, ask icin iyi olmak yetmiyormus!". Bu sozun dogrulugunu ilk elden anlamis biri olarak bu sozu cerceveletip duvarima asmak istiyorum.

Kilik degistirmis 2010 Eurovision parcamiz "We Could Be The Same" de album kalitesinde seslendiriliyor. Bize 2.ligi getiren, o Eurovision gecesinin en zimba sarkisi bambaska bir yapida su an ama insani dinlendiren huzur veren bir havasi var.

Sonra maNga'nin en sevdigim, en can alici sarkilarindan biri, e-akustik'te ilk kez dinledigim ve Istanbul icin yazilmis en guzel sarkilardan biri oldugunu dusundugum "Hayat Bu Iste" geliyor. Nakaratiyla insana serbest dusus yasatan sarki. "Sehr-i Huzun" albumunun "Dursun Zaman"i bence, ama e-akustik yorumunu tercih ediyorum. Ama Ferman'in bu gece parcanin en vurucu yeri olan nakaratini seyircilere birakacagini asla ummuyordum. Bunda da bu yapilmaz diye aklimdan geciriyorum, ama sonradan Ferman'dan ogrendigimize gore, kendisi bu gece cok heyecanli oldugu icin sarkinin sozlerini unutmus ve seyirciler onu bu parcada kurtarmis! :) Neyse ki bu geceki genc seyirciler eslikte hic ummadigim kadar iyiler!

Sirada Blue Jean dergisi tarafindan 2012 yilinda "Yilin Dueti" secilen "Hani Biz" var. Bu gece Yildiz Tilbe burda degil, ama eksikligini duyacagimizi sanmiyorum. Yildiz Tilbe'nin yoklugu hissedilmiyor parcada. Goksel'in yoklugu gibi degil. Yalniz Ferman'in parcanin 2.yarisinda neden artik "cirilciplak" kismini soylemiyor anlamiyorum. Oto sansur mu uyguluyor acaba? Bu parcadaki davul bolumlerini de cok seviyorum.

Sonraki sarki, akustigine ayri bayildigim "Fly To Stay Alive". Akustik versiyonun en sevdigim kisimlari keman ve davullu kisimlar. Bu aksam, Soundclash'den sonra bu sarkiyi akustik olarak 2. dinleyisim, ama bu aksamki yorumu daha cok sevdigimi belirtmeliyim. Soundclash'deki kemanci ve cellist hanimlarin enstrumanlarinin sesleri nedense hic duyulmamisti bile.

Sira efsane sarkimiz "Dursun Zaman"da. Goksel yine yok, ama onun boslugunu bu aksamki inanilmaz seyirci harika dolduruyor super esligiyle. Bir eslik, provasiz ancak bu kadar guzel olabilir!

Sarki bitince yan siralardan bir cocuk sesi duyuluyor: "Yagmur Abi, bi suratini gorelim ya!" Ferman anlamiyor ve "Ne?" diye soruyor. Cocuk yine ayni seyi tekrarliyor: "Suratini gorelim Yagmur Abi ya azicik!". En onde oturan seyirci bayan, Ferman'in duymadigini sanarak, yine tekrarliyor: "Suratini gorelim diyor ya!". Yagmur utangac bir tavirla birazcik one donerek "Boyle mi?" diyor, seyirci bir anda cosuyor. Yagmur, cocuga "Nerdesin?" diye soruyor; herkes Yagmur'a cocugun yerini isaret etmeye calisiyor ve Yagmur o yone donmeden arkasina dogru el salliyor! Yagmur'un bu sirinligi salonu costuruyor. Ferman onundeki kagitlarla mesgul, galiba sarki sozlerini siraya sokuyor. Onden bir kizin "Ferman Abi, seni seviyorum ya!"sini duymuyor bile. :) "Yagmur'cum, bi saniye" diyerek, Yagmur'un hemen diger sarkiya gecmesini geciktirmeye calisiyor.

Ve e-akustik'in zirve sarkisi "Ben Bir Palyacoyum"un dokunakli isligina basliyor Ferman. En son Avcilar konserinde tek gitarli akustik olarak dinlemistim bu sarkiyi, ama burda e-akustik olarak album versiyonunu caliyor grup. Ve sunu bir kez daha anliyoruz ki, bir sarki tek gitarla bile kendisini dinletip seyirciyi yine de etkileyebiliyorsa, onun her turlu dinlenir bir parca oldugu kesindir. Parcanin hem tek gitarli versiyonu, hem de album versiyonu ayri guzel.

Sirada klasiklesmis ayrilik sarkisi "Cevapsiz Sorular" var. Muzisyenler ustlerindeki isiklarin sonmesiyle karanlikta kaliyorlar. Bu gece de bu sarki Yagmur, gitari ve Ferman'dan gelecek. Ferman, "Ben Yagmur'un yanina gidiyorum" diyor ve sandalyesinden kalkarak Yagmur'un klavyesinin basina gidiyor.

Cevapsiz Sorular'da Yagmur ve Ferman

Ama o da ne? Ferman sarkinin dizelerini sasirip 2.dizeyi atliyor! Seyirciler dogru dizeyle devam edecekken, ona yanlis dizede uymak zorunda kaliyorlar. :):) Ferman seyircileri de sasirtiyor yani. Bu geceki seyirci eslikte gercekten inanilmaz is cikariyor. Ferman onlara tesekkur etmek zorunda! Simdiye kadarki konserlerde dinledigim en iyi seyirci esligi bu gece diyebilirim rahatlikla! Cocuklar cok iyi! Metronom gibiler masallah! Ferman'in nagmeleri bu gece zirve yapiyor ve Ferman sarkiyi muhtesem bir sekilde toparliyor! Ve sarkinin basindaki sozleri unutmasini affettiriyor.

MaNga Akustik Ekip

Akustik bolumde eslik eden muzisyenlerin takdimi ile, ilk bolum bitiyor. Ferman, "Kanunda..."diye soze basliyor ama kagida bakmak zorunda kaliyor once ve sonra bize donerek, "Bi sey diycem. Simdi bakmak biraz ayip aslinda, ama bugun sozleri bile unutuyorum; cok heyecanliyim. O yuzden bakicam, cunku isimleri yanlis soylemek istemiyorum!" diyor. Sonra sirayla muzisyenleri sunuyor. Sira Cagatay'a geldiginde ise, onu "Gitar ve back vokallerde 100 senedir arkadasimiz, dostumuz Cagatay Sen!" seklinde sunuyor. Ferman niye heyecanli acaba? İs Sanat sahnesindeler diye mi?

MaNga konserlerinde "ara" fikri garip geliyor. Ben salonda telefonumun 3G cekmemesi nedeniyle tweet atamadigim icin buraya kadar olan bolumleri Twitter arkadaslarima rapor etmek uzere, fuayeye cikiyorum. Nathalie coktan ayaga kalkmis civardakilerle resim cektirmeye baslamis bile! :)

Arkadaslarima ilk haberim, Nathalie'nin yanimda oturuyor olması. :) Ve ilk bölümün kısa bir özetini geçiyorum..:)

###

2.bolumun ilk sarkisi "Her Ask Olumu Tadacak". Soz yazarinin yine hakli oldugu bir icerigi olan sarki, e-akustik'te yer almasina ragmen bu gece "Sehr-i Huzun" versiyonuyla karsimizda.

2.Bölüm başlıyor!

Ferman, klasik siyah atletine geri donmuş. Yagmur ceketini cıkarıp, siyah pantalon giymiş. Daha "rocker" bir havaya burunmuş. Diğerleri aynı kostumlerle devam ediyorlar.

Ferman boyle bir resmi konser salonunda duragan bir konser vermeye aliskin olmasa gerek ki, seyircilere "simdi yavastan kalkalim" talimatini gonderiyor! Ve onun bu sozuyle ciglik cigliga kimseyi umursamadan yerlerinden firlayarak sahne onune kosturan gencler gorevlileri korkutuyor! Gorevliler neye ugradiklarini sasiriyorlar. İste simdi ortam daha normal bir maNga konserine donuyor. Sahne onunde bagris cigris eslik eden genclerle! Kuzenim de dayanamayip o da firliyor sahne onune! Yaslari daha yuksek olan seyirciler kalkmiyorlar elbette.

Siradaki parca, herkesin merakla bekledigi, yeni albumde yer almasi planlanan "Today". Roxy Bar'dan tweet atanlarin paylasimlarina gore, oldukca sert ve hizli bir parca bu "Today". Bakalim nasilmis? Ferman, "Simdi yeni sarki" diyor. "Buyuk olasilikla bunun Turkcesini de yapicaz". Adini soylemiyor ama salon biliyor, bekliyor ve seyircilerden fisiltilar halinde "Today" adi duyuluyor.

Evet, parca sahiden sert. Ama tatli sert. MaNga yine yapacagini yapmis. Son derece cekici bir nakarat melodisi yakalamis. Yine akilda kalici, dile hemen dolaniyor: "Today, I feel so lazy! Don't know what to do with you! Today, I feel so...?..., Don't wanna make love with you!". Geri kalan sozler seyircilerin cigliklari arasinda anlasilmiyor, ama bundan sonraki konserlerde oralari da tamamlariz saniyorum. Ferman'in "la-zy" derkenki sesinin bu kadar yirtik ciktigi baska sarkilarini hatirlamiyorum. Cok begendim. Hayal kirikligina ugramadim. Bu saf, dort dortluk bir maNga parcasi. Eminim bu yaz dillere dolanacak bu nakarat! :) Elinize saglik, cocuklar!

Simdi butun fan dunyasinin bu parcayi dinlemek icin nasil öldüğünü tahmin edebiliyorum. Ama yapacak bir sey yok. Çekim yasağının olmadıgı ilk konsere kadar beklemek zorundalar.

"Today"den sonra klasik maNga konserlerinin olmazsa olmazlari geliyor sirayla: Dunyanin Sonuna Dogmusum, Evdeki Ses, Gangsta's Paradise, All We Need is Everyone, Bir Kadın Çizeceksin ve kapanis parcasi Alisirim Gozlerimi Kapamaya.

Ferman performing All We Need is Everyone

(photo by Asena Sonbay - Çok Teşekkürler, Asena!)

Bunlar hakkindaki ilk notum, neden Evdeki Ses'de Efe'nin bu sefer vokale cikmadigi. Son TV roportajlarinda Efe'nin olmamasi da garip karsilanmisti. Cekimleri NTV roportaji siralarinda yapilan, TRT'de 17 Subat'ta yayinlanacak olan Zirvedekiler programinda da Efe olmayacak. Efe acaba hasta falan miydi?

Bir anlayamadıgım sey de, neden hemen hemen her konserde, Ferman'in kulaklıkları ve kordonlarıyla savaştıgı! Bu gece de yine kordonlarıyla mücadele etti, hatta teknik ekipten biri de ona yardım etmek zorunda kaldı.:) Ama bu gece sahnede ses düzeni cok iyi; herkesin ve her enstrumanın sesi cok rahat duyuluyor.

All We Need is Everyone yine super duyuluyor konser sahnesinden! Can alici davullar yine yakiyor! Ferman, Avcılar'da sarkının 2.yarısındaki dizelerden birini unutup yuvarlamıştı ama sozleri unutmuyor bu kez! :) Yeni albumun en dinlenesi parcalarindan biri olacagi kesin!

Bu konserin de kapanis parcasi unlu trampet show'lu Alisirim Gozlerimi Kapamaya. Isikli trampetler geldi, yerlestirilmeye baslaniyor. O sirada fanlarin cigliklari arasinda bir gorevli sahneye firliyor. Herhalde sahne altindaki fanlara dogru egilmis Yagmur'u kizlardan korumak istiyor! :) Ferman onunla biraz sakalasiyor. "Hayirdir abi? Birseyler soylemek ister misin? Burda hersey yolunda!" Gorevli sahneden kosarak ayriliyor. Ferman devam etmek istiyor konusmasina, "Simdi burda calmak...". Yagmur hala egilmis birseyler konusuyor fanlarla. Ferman, "Yagmur, abi, biraz geri dur da bi konusayim!" diyor. Yagmur geri gidiyor. Ferman devam ediyor sonunda: "Simdi İs Sanat'ta calmak bizim icin gercekten onemliydi. Bu heyecanimizi bizimle paylastiginiz icin her seyden once cok tesekkur ederim. Biz boyle oturmali duzenli sahnelerde cok calmadik. Caldigimiz zaman da seyircilerin hepsi de ayaga kalkana kadar cok zorlardim. Kalkmayan olursa da not ederdim. Ama siz o kadar guzel bir enerji veriyorsunuz ki ordan, hic kalkmaniza bile gerek kalmadi. O guler yuzunuz icin de cok tesekkur ederiz." Arkadaki oturan seyircilerle konustugu anlasiliyor. :)

http://www.facebook.com/inci.turegun#!/photo.php?v=10152503349225456&set=vb.50741735729&type=2&theater

Yukardaki maNga resmi Facebook linkinde davul+trampet showunun 3:35 dakikalık bir bolumunu izleyebilirsiniz.

Konserden once fuayede beklerken, Soundclash'de maNga'nin surpriz Joker'i olarak showa katilan Cem Bergamali ve ekibi gecmisti yanimizdan. NTV roportajinda bahsettikleri, surpriz bu olacak, belli. Yas sinirlamasi yuzunden Soundclash'e gidemeyen ufak fanlar, bu aksam ayni muhtesem davul showa ilk kez taniklik edecekler. Gercekten de yakindan daha muhtesem bu trampet+davul show. Trampet ve davullarin uyumu super. Ozgur de bir solo yapiyor bu arada. Ve bu kez rap'li kisimlar da dahil olmus sarkiya. Yine guzel bir seyirci esligi var sarkida. MaNga'nin yeni albumde İzmir MEV Koleji ogrencileriyle yapacaklarini soyledikleri duet parca eminim super olacak, cunku kucukler bu isi buyuklerinden daha iyi kiviriyorlar. :)

Bir hayal kirikligim, maNga Selami'nin olmamasi. Bu sefer bunu neden unuttular, anlamıyorum.

Konser sonrasi kulise girme cabalarimiz, ufak fanlarin ve ebeveynlerinin girmek icin gosterdikleri israrci davranislari ve korumalarla kavgalari yuzunden sonucsuz kaliyor. Ana babalar, korumalarin uzerlerine yuruyor ve onlarin "Grup kimseyi gormeyecekmis" duyurularini duymazdan geliyorlardi. "Bizi sokmak zorundasiniz, o kadar bilet aldik!" diye bagiriyorlardi. Birisi, bu konser icin taa Usak'tan geldiklerini, onlari gormeden gitmeyeceklerini soyluyordu. Bunlar artik rica olmaktan cikmis, is hakarete varmaya baslamisti. Ben bile korktum dogrusu. Ama dayanamayip, "o kadar bilet aldik" diyen bayana, "Ama imza ve resim, bilete dahil degildi ki hanfendi!" demek zorunda kaldim.

Kulis önünün boyle olabilecegini, bu isin o kadar da kolay olmayacagini tahmin etmistim, ama insanlarin sirf bir imza icin bu derece kavgaci ve israrci olabileceklerini dusunmemistim. "Acaba fanlik bu mu?" diye dusunmeden edemedim. Konser sonrasi illa imza vermek zorunda mi grup uyeleri? Her konser sonrasi kulis önü boyle oluyorsa isleri gercekten zor diye dusunuyorum.

Biz vazgecip kendimizi disari attigimizda, bir grup fanin dis kapida beklestiklerini goruyoruz. Yola dogru segirtmeye basladigimizda, bir bagris cigris oluyor. Bakiyoruz ki, Efe cikmis, bir kac fanla resim cektiriyor. Sanirim bu geceki nobetci maNga uyesi Efe. :) Birkac resimle tatmin olan fanlar onu rahat birakiyorlar ve o da park yerine dogru yoluna devam ediyor.

Biz de atiyoruz kendimizi bir taksiye, "cek kardes, Uskudar'a!" diyoruz. Bu kafa yorgunluguyla metro ile Taksim ve Besiktas ustunden Uskudar'a gitmeye calisamayacak haldeyiz. Takside arkadaslarima 2.bolumu, Today hakkindaki yorumumu tweetleyerek rapor veriyorum ve kulis onundeki korkunc durumu anlatiyorum.

Bu sefer elimdeki birkaç fotoyu paylaşacağım blogumda izlenimlerimle birlikte.

Siradaki maNga konseri 24 Subat'ta Santral İstanbul'da. Saniyorum ucretsiz bir etkinlik. Bir aksilik olmazsa, bu sefer 11 yasindaki yegenimi dogum gunu hediyesi niyetine goturmek istiyorum. :) 4 yasindan beri "Biy Kadin Cizeceksiiin!" diye bagiran cocuk, 2.maNga konserinde eminim Caddebostan'da da yaptigi gibi, ritmle birlikte bale sicrayislari yapacak yine!

Bir maNga konseri daha sona erdi. İzlenimlerim bunlar. Bu gece bir kayıt yapılmış olsa, kesinlikle bir konser albumu olabilirdi bu konser. Onumuzdeki konserlere bakacagız artık. Okuyan arkadaslarıma cok tesekkur ediyorum ve yorumlarınızı bekliyorum. :) Simdiden tesekkurler!

AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MY FELLOW MANGA FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD!

My Dear Fellow maNga fans all over the world,

You know, I'll go to maNga's concert at İş Sanat on Feb 7th. I intend to go backstage to meet the maNga members. I think they already know me because of the Kulaktan Kulaga translations. And after I introduce myself, I intend to hand over to them your good wishes I collected on this blog before and your questions (if you have any).

So PLEASE PLEASE write to me if you have any questions to maNga guys or any wishes you'd like to convey to them. And you'll see their answers here on this blog after a while! I promise you to do my best!

Please leave your questions as a comment to this blogpost or email me at incigungor3@yahoo.com please. The deadline will be 09:00 am local TR time, Feb 7th. You have 5 days! And friends, I'd like to remind you that you don't need a blogger account to leave a comment. You can leave your comment as anonymous, but please write your name and country in your comment.

Thanks so much in advance.