Hey Dad!

You're gonna be so proud of me.  I went to see some Turkish* music the other night, and it was awesome!  Sorry about the quality of the pictures.  My camera is good, but point and shoots only do so well in low light...

(*It was actually Greek music, which I can't really make any clever jokes about: Greeks and Turks historically don't get a long at all.  However, this band was well received, and they even played a few Turkish classics, or so I've been told.)

The band played in this tiny bar up three flights of stairs in the back of a building off of one of Istiklal Caddesi (pronounced ees-teek-lahl ja-des-sea). I'm not sure what the band was called, nor do I even know what the bar was called.  Such is the nature of a lot of things in Istanbul.  Most of the good places I've been to have been great, but in really out of the way, almost hidden building and courtyards.  It's a such a jam packed city that anybody who wants to set up shop has to do in any available space.  The more desirable locations are all already taken up by big retailers (The Gap, Saturn (like Best Buy), Sephora, ad infinitum).

But anyway, back to the band.  They were a five piece.

There was no percussion save for hand claps, the stomping of feet,  a tambourine, and a the occasional thump on the acoustic guitar.

Later on in the evening, and I regret not having pictures of this, there was a lot of Linking of Arms and Intricate Foot Movements while Moving Around in a Circle.  It was exactly like what you picture when I say, "I saw this great Greek band in a dive bar in Istanbul."  Exactly like that.