Grouper Live in Istanbul: An Evening of Music and Discovery
November 4, 2026 | Grouper plays Fiba Salon İKSV, with Istanbul's Ekin Fil opening. Where to start with her music, when to arrive and how to get tickets.
Nate
13 October 2026 · 👁 12 views
Grouper songs take their time. A guitar line circles, Liz Harris's voice drifts in from somewhere behind it, half sung and half breathed, and the words blur before you can catch them. On Wednesday, 4 November, she brings that sound to Fiba Salon İKSV in Şişhane, with the Istanbul ambient musician Ekin Fil opening.
Where to start
Most listeners find her through Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (2008), guitar and layered vocals buried in reverb. Ruins (2014) strips things back to piano and voice. She recorded most of it in 2011 during a residency in Aljezur, Portugal, on a portable 4-track, and left it unedited: after a storm knocked the power out, you can hear a microwave beep at the end of "Labyrinth." Shade (2021) collects songs she recorded between 2006 and 2021, and it's the easiest way in.
Two songs to try before you buy: "Unclean mind" and "The way her hair falls," both from Shade on Grouper's Bandcamp.
The room
This isn't music for talking over. It works best when the whole room has come to listen, so save the catching up for drinks beforehand.
Come early for Ekin Fil
Ekin Fil is the Istanbul musician Ekin Üzeltüzenci. Her Bandcamp calls her music ethereal drone-folk: slow pieces built from effects pedals, piano and voice, close kin to Grouper's own. She plays at 20:30, half an hour after doors. Her albums are on Bandcamp if you want a preview.
Before you go
- Date: Wednesday, 4 November 2026
- Venue: Fiba Salon İKSV, Sadi Konuralp Caddesi No. 5, Şişhane, a short walk from Şişhane metro (M2)
- Doors: 20:00
- Ekin Fil: 20:30
- Grouper: 21:30
- Age: 18+
Tickets: 1,050 TL general standing, 525 TL Fiba Student, 50 TL Eczacıbaşı Youth Ticket. Student tickets are limited and need a valid student ID; overseas IDs are accepted. The 50 TL tickets usually go first.
Going? Smileys members are meeting for drinks in Şişhane at 19:00 before doors. Join the hangout in the Smileys app.
Sources
- Official Passo concert listing (date, times, prices, age limit)
- Fiba Salon İKSV (venue address and ticket information)
- Eczacıbaşı Group: Eczacıbaşı Youth Ticket
- Grouper: Shade, official Bandcamp page
- Wikipedia: Shade and Ruins
- Ekin Fil, official Bandcamp page
- Bant Mag: Changeable forms, Ekin Fil
Details checked 12 October 2026. Cover photo courtesy of the official Passo listing.
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