The Grey Area: Live Ones

Now then folks. Here's the second installment of Live Ones, where I share 3 live performances I think are worthy of your time. I think I'll be sticking with the unintended format of the first one, whereby 1 of the 3 picks is contemporary whilst the other 2 are older. Let's get into it.

Barış is an absolute icon of not only Turkish music, but he crossed over into TV in the 80s and 90s. He always strived to be a successful artist outside the confines of his own country, seen here in gorgeous attire on German television. Sadly even with his media appearances and European tours he never found the same passionate fanbase abroad (except Japan, where 20,000 flag waving fans attended his 1995 concert!). Here he is with one of his numerous backing bands Kurtalan Ekspres performing Hal Hal (Hal meaning bangle). The link here starts when the live performance does but, if you're interested, do start at the beginning for a pretty amusing interview.

Sticking with jaw dropping outfits we've now got the unbelievable talent of Sheila E. Percussion, vocals, dance moves, the look. She's got it all! This performance is taken from the period in which she was linked to Prince, both as a musician (opening for him on the Purple Rain tour) and as a romantic partner. Prince actually wrote Glamorous Life, but who wrote the track hardly matters when it's performed with this much sizzle. Absolutely awful crowd though, who for whatever reason are sat on their hands throughout?! You deserve better Sheila!

The perfect round off to this trio now. Turkish/Irish/Barbadian singer songwriter Nilüfer Yanya in yet another stunner of a fit, performing live for the Tonight Show last year. Smoky vocals and a great guitar tone, Nilüfer's star seems to be very much on the rise. I've managed to miss out on 2 sold out Bristol shows so far. Totally late to the party, but happy to be here now!

You can check out more from Ed through his radio show, The Grey Area here.