Last Lyrics
We just left behind a great Spring Festival, had a good time at the concerts, and now we are supposed to be ready for our final exams? Ok, I won’t be too hard on you and exclude the last bit of the sentence upon request, and pass directly to the concert reviews of Duman and Athena.
Most people got to know Duman, especially after their cover of the famous Sezen Aksu song “Herşeyi Yak” was released, but the publicization of the band’s hits date back to at least 2000. Duman are the only well-known representators of Seattle’s grunge-rock music, -led in the 1990’s by Nirvana, Pearl Jam-, in our country, however with an alla-turca guitars and vocals combination. No need to say that their concert in the festival was one of a kind, just like the band itself. From the first appearance of Kaan Tangöze, the leading vocalist of the band on the stage, you could say that he was too “high” to make the audience have a normal music night in the first place. His extraordinary style and energy was diffused to everyone watching the show, making them ignore the minor technical sound problems. Few bands’ live performances can make you feel taken somewhere else, and Duman’s is surely one of those.
The group Athena, as everyone knows, is one of the most significant rock bands in Turkey, having a more punk approach in their music. After splitting last year, but preserving their Ancient-Greek name and the twin brothers, the band seems to have lost nothing of their overall performance. Besides, most people agreed on the idea that their latest album lacked nothing compared to the previous ones, and the crowd at the Bilkent concert seemed to prove that. Athena’s music is rather pop-based, softer, and their songs are more widely known, which attracted music lovers from a larger listening audience. This could be why people found themselves singing together with Gökhan Özoğuz during the second night of the festival.
Well, it’s not easy to say, but this is the last edition of the Bilkent News this year, signifying the end of another semester and academic year. The difficult thing is to believe how time passed so quickly, but something tells me not to mind that very much, since it brings summer along.
I wish everyone success in the finals, and during the summer. You know, success can be identified in different terms.

Efe Peker (POLS/III)