Dear Readers,
It’s the first day of the month, the time our friend cizenbayan shares her live music picks with you. Be sure to listen to the featured artists on the Canım Istanbul SoundCloud. Enjoy!
Hello Canım Istanbul readers,
Let’s take a look at Istanbul’s concerts in March. I will be out of town this month so please enjoy the coming events for me too.
March is full of great concerts kicking off with Indie rock star Hozier at the VW Arena on March 3rd. Hozier’s touching ‘Take Me to Church’ became a worldwide hit in 2015, and having seen him live in Glastonbury, I am sure that he is not a one-hit wonder. This is a concert you don’t want to miss.
On March 4th, you can warm up your Friday night with melodic trip-hop tunes by Emancipator at Babylon Bomonti. By the way, if you haven’t been, the addition of the new Bomontiada complex around Babylon has livened up the area even more.
Emancipator
Or you can check out Meggy & Alexander Lorz at Cue İstiklal on the same night.
Istanbul’s most prolific independent record label, Partapart, will host the fourth IndieCity on March 5th at Salon IKSV with performances by Weval, JMII, Dataline, Gantz, Levni & Sloth Pallas, Kaan Düzarat, Men With A Plan, Mind Shifter, Boidflow, Sine&Noise, Seretan, İpek Görgün, Biblo, Z Axis, Otherman, Cüneyt Taylan and Ongun Tütüncü. IndieCity events are heralded by music fans for the range and diversity of musicians and for often debuting new talent.
If you’re more in the mood to dance instead, Indigo will host Karmon on the same night. Karmon is celebrated as one of the most successful artists on Solomun’s record label Diynamic.
Karmon
That Sunday, March 6th, let God Is An Astronaut help you recover from your hangover at Küçükçiftlik Park.
On March 9th, American electronic musician and composer Dan Deacon will be at Salon with his hipster beard and dreamy sound. Continue your evening entertainment later the same night at Galatasaray, where Carlo Ruetz invites you to party at Istanbul’s number one underground club of the time, Kloster.
Dan Beacon
You can be part of the exciting first musical event connecting Istanbul and Tel Aviv at the Sound Ports festival running from March 10-13th. The festival promises to bring diverse genres of music together such as jazz, psychedelic, cumbia, hip-hop, electronic and even surf reggae. Performances will take place in many of Istanbul’s iconic music venues including Babylon Bomonti, COOP, Arkaoda and KargART while our favorite Turkish artists will be performing simultaneously in Tel Aviv. Learn more about the event on Sound Ports Facebook page.
Save March 11th on your calendars for another event you will not want to miss. The Garanti Jazz Green series is bringing together music masterminds Bugge Wesseltoft, Erik Truffaz, İlhan Erşahin and Joe Claussell at Babylon Bomonti.
Erik Truffaz, Bugge Wesseltoft, Ilhan Ersahin, Joe Claussell
That Friday promises to be musically eventful with Amine Edge & Dance as part of the line-up performing at garajistanbul for FG DIGITAL while heavyweights Barnt, Hunter/Game and Pisetzky take over the booth at Indigo.
On March 12th, Newspeak will host the Cologne-based independent electronic music record label Kompakt and Ghostly International’s Dauwd at Indigo. Pan-Pot, Tangun and Cure Shot will be at Kloster on the same night.
Dauwd
Get ready to be swept away with Spanish love songs by Buika on March 13th at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. With followers enthusiastically waiting to hear her smoky voice live, you will not want skip this concert. And don’t forget to send out a snap for those of us who can’t attend!
Buika
On Wednesday, March 16th, celebrate getting over the week’s hump-day with Dole & Kom at Kloster or the weekly tech-house party at Flamme (located inside Klein).
On March 18, enjoy the Sleep Party People at Salon. The band known for wearing rabbit masks during performances will likely dazzle their huge fan base in Turkey.
Sleep Party People
Another event that aches me to miss is Büyük Ev Ablukada performing their latest masterpiece, Fırtınayt, at the VW Arena on March 19th.
On the same night, Menza will take the booth at Cue İstiklal to keep you dancing and inspired by the splendid view of the Golden Horn.
Menza
Building up to the following weekend, Kabale und Liebe are scheduled to perform at Kloster for a Wednesday night party on March 23.
And the wait for an eagerly awaited performance by DANdadaDAN is finally over. The band will reunite with their fans at Salon IKSV on Friday, March 25th. Their iconic album ‘sen bana birini android’ will forever have a special place in our hearts.
DANdadaDAN
Keep on dancing through March 25th and 26th: Chris Liebing and Guti, two of the most talented producers who fuse latin and jazz roots with techno music, will be at Kloster for the Around The Clock Festival.
On March 27th, Norwegian electronic music producer Finnebassen will be at Babylon Bomonti. With its great sound and lighting system, Babylon Bomonti is now the ultimate venue for after parties and spectacular DJ performances.
Finnebassen
You might want to anticipate a long night of partying hard on Wednesday, March 30th with Le Roi at Kloster or David Gtronic at Kasette.
Saving the best for last, Athena, one of Turkey’s most popular alternative bands will put on an acoustic performance at Babylon Bomonti on March 31st. This is the one concert that I’m saddest about missing and I will be keeping a close eye out for crumbs on snapchat. Please don’t let me down!
Athena
March promises to be an amazing month for music and dance lovers in Istanbul, and I’m excited to share that April will also be chalk full of superb concerts and performances. But I won’t spoil the surprise.
See you next month!
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You can listen to our March concert playlist here.
