‘Eksen On Fair’ festival calls famous bands to Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Bombay Bicycle Club, which will take place at ‘Eksen On Fair’ festival, has previously shared the stage with Blur. ABACAPRESS Photo

One of Turkey’s most popular radio stations is saying goodbye to summer next month with a massive concert featuring bands chosen to perform based on listeners’ preferences.

The one-day “Eksen on Fair” festival, which is set for Sept. 15, is being organized by Radyo Eksen and will feature bands such as the Bombay Bicycle Club, the Stranglers and the Space, as well as a number of other activities at Istanbul’s Küçükçiftlik Park.

Since 2007, the radio station has organized concerts featuring bands such as Helldorado, Kultur Shock, Devotchka and the Gutter Twins.

The groups set to delight Istanbul music fans this year at Eksen On Fair were all chosen based on listener demand.

The Bombay Bicycle Club has previously shared the stage with Blur. The band was asked to play the opening performance of 2006’s V Festival after winning Channel 4’s “Road to V” competition. Following the release of two EPs and their debut single “Evening/Morning,” the band recorded their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose. The album was released on July 6, 2009. The band released their second album, Flaws, on July 9, 2010 and their third album, A Different Kind of Fix, on Aug. 26, 2011.

The band’s second EP, How We Are, was released on Oct. 22, 2007, again through Mmm... Records. The EP was produced by Jim Abbiss and was recorded and mixed by Richard Wilkinson at Konk Studios. The band headlined their first U.K. tour in support of this release and the EP debuted at number two on the U.K. Indie Singles Chart on Nov. 5, 2007.

 At the beginning of 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club appeared at the third annual Artrocker Festival, the Camden Crawl, and the Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The band also played the Shockwaves NME Awards Show at London’s KOKO where they were main support for The Hold Steady.

The Stranglers to take stage

The Stranglers, meanwhile, are set to return for another Istanbul performance. The creators of 23 U.K. top 40 singles and 17 U.K. top 40 albums to date in a career spanning close to 40 years, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving and most continuously successful bands to have originated in the U.K. punk scene of the mid-1970s.

They had major mainstream success with their single “Golden Brown.” Their other hits include “No More Heroes,” “Peaches,” “Always the Sun” and “Skin Deep.”

The band also released a new live album and DVD, recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in May 2010, and is recording further tracks for their next studio album, likely to be released early in 2011. In March 2011, the band completed another U.K. tour. In April, the band began touring Europe, with many gigs and major festivals lined up for the entire year. Another hit group of Radio Eksen listeners, The Space, who came to prominence in the mid-1990s with hit singles such as “Female of the Species,”
“Neighborhood,” “Avenging Angels” and “The Ballad of Tom Jones,” will also be on stage.