Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan

On April 8, 2010, I attended a concert at the K Street Lounge. I have yet to hear anyone say anything nice about this D.C. night club. After my evening there, I have a mixed report. The managers that night were certainly pretentious, but the bartenders were excellent. When the day of judgment comes none of this will matter because what I heard would elevated a suburban garage to the registry of historic buildings.

That night, which should be listed as one of the great nights in D.C. arts (but I won't hold my breath) saw the legendary and incomparable Sertab Erener, Turkish singer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 perform with Demir Demirkan (who wrote the song that won the contest, "Every way that I can.")

I had arrived early and was rewarded with an opportunity to hear Sertab and Demir rehearse. It was a warm, humid evening for April and a side door at the K Street Lounge was open. Seeing the two Turkish superstars rehearsing through the huge plate glass front window, I saw the open door and walked in. At the time they were rehearsing Demir's excellent song "Kaphe." I watched them rehearse for a good half hour, as though it were a garage band. Then they departed in their limousine, returning later for the concert.

The concert itself was remarkable for such a small venue. Sertab's voice is operatic and Demir's guitar playing is unique, an effortless mixture of many styles. Combined with Sertab's range and their songs were magnificent. It was live music as it was meant to be performed; elevating listeners from time and space, taking them to another world, if only too briefly. Sertab and Demir may have left D.C., but they left behind an unbelievable evening, and brought history to a few yards on K Street.