Şakalı Akustik: Harun Tekin & Koray Candemir

Two of the most recognisable voices in Turkish rock share one stage. Harun Tekin is the frontman and songwriter of mor ve ötesi, the Istanbul band that has shaped Turkish alternative rock since the mid 1990s and carried its music to a generation of listeners, including the Eurovision stage. Koray Candemir is the voice of Kargo, the Izmir band behind some of the best loved rock anthems of the 1990s and 2000s, songs still sung word for word at every concert. Both artists have written a large part of the soundtrack of Turkish rock, and Şakalı Akustik brings those songs into a far more intimate setting.

Since it began in 2014, Şakalı Akustik has sold out every show. With only acoustic guitars and their voices, Harun and Koray play their own songs, each other’s classics and the songs they love, stripped back to their core. Between songs, the two old friends talk, tease each other and share stories from decades on the road, so the evening feels less like a concert and more like being invited into their living room. Expect an unfiltered, warm, heartfelt night that is full of jokes, just as the name promises (“şakalı” means “with jokes”).