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. :)

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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...:)