Suede in Istanbul: Disconnected / Connected

Istanbul 17th July 2026

Words by Alison Raymond-Baines

Istanbul is known at the City of Cats and on Friday five cool cats arrived in town for the first time since 2011.

Designer shopping mall

The venue, Zorlu Centre, in a designer shopping mall, seemed like a strange choice to play for a bunch of Outsiders but it was a lovely venue with full amenities to enjoy and much needed air conditioning. Five minutes to doors and only a handful of people queuing I was worried no one would turn up!

Expensive VIP section

A rare gig where there was a VIP section for double the price of a standard ticket. I think people have been fed up hearing me moan about this and I know the band will probably be oblivious to it even being a thing but it’s something I feel quite strongly about. We had standard tickets and were very disappointed when we got in the venue to find HALF the standing area sectioned off with a metal barrier.

We took position on the 2nd barrier and waved to our friends at the front across a cavernous gap! I spent the whole time worrying how Brett would deal with this. I shouldn’t have!

Mind the gap

The support was a local group called Sren with a female singer. The band are described as ‘Driven by the melancholic blend of shoegaze, post-punk, and indie rock’. They went down ok. I found them to be a bit repetitive but I’m hard to please.

Five minutes before the band came on and still a big gap between the two sections. Why was this causing me so much anxiety! There seemed to be a lot of first timers at the gig, people who were curious. Lots of people around us asking us about the band and our experiences of having seen them before! Very few Suede t-shirts in the crowd. I had been approached a few times about mine and was surprised there was no merch desk. A fair few Russians in the crowd and Turkish first time fans were desperate to buy merch.

Blissfully unaware

A late start at 10.30 pm and finally the opening chords to Disintigrate filled the air and I felt very ‘disconnected’. Brett prowled onto the stage and within 2/3 songs my worries subsided. He seemed blissfully unaware of the gap and did what Brett does best - he worked the crowd. Brett knows how to fill the gap and get a crowd connected.

Disintigrate, Trash, Nitrate and Pigs. There’s barely time to come up for air. One of the many things I love about Suede is the continuity of the set, hardly any gaps and if there are any Brett fills them with words. Thank you 🙏 I can’t stand it when bands have dead space inbetween songs, no excuses for it.

A double Rossetti

Then the opening notes of The 2 of Us and yes I get to hear Brett recite the Christina Rossetti poem live for the first time. Such a great addition and I hadn’t realised he also ended the song with it. Very emotional. Then straight into Filmstar and Can't get enough, a few tech issues for Neil at the start but soon sorted.

Next June Rain and an exciting time when Brett disappears into the crowd and I was happy for the people who were connected. But hold on: he was reciting the Rossetti poem again! Was it a mistake or a different verse !? I’m really curious to know. Either way I was very happy to hear it again.

Brett lets the others shine ❤️

Next Turn off your Brain. Glad to hear it back in the set as it was always a fave opener even though it’s a toss up now with Disintigrate and Brett walks off stage for a few minutes for the others to shine. Despite the heat Neil always looks cool in his leather jacket with a white t shirt from the summer wardrobe 🙌

Next came Flow followed by a few songs from Autofiction and then Brett took it down a notch with a beautiful version of Life is Golden accompanied by Richard on acoustic guitar. The lighting was sublime, one of the bonuses from the back was seeing the lighting.

Taking the music somewhere else

Brett preceeded this with a little speech about playing different versions of the songs live about ‘taking the music somewhere else’ and why would anyone want to watch a band do it note for note and also being connected in an increasingly disconnected world. Beautiful. Then straight into two old classics.

Afterwards I checked how many songs were pre-reunion and post and it was pretty much half and half and what’s so great is hearing just how popular the newer songs are even in other countries. Sadly we hear the opening La Las of Beautiful Ones, which signals the end of the set. ‘Istanbul you have been beautiful’.

Unusual distractions

Istanbul really is a beautiful city with lovely friendly people and stunning landscapes. In the divide between the two sections some people were doing ‘rock n roll’ type jiving and two men were running around the gap chasing each other. I found this strange. These small distractions are also exactly what is so great about crowds in different countries, you just never know what to expect.

They encore with The Only Way I can love you.

Thank you Suede. Brett, Neil, Simon, Mat, Richard I couldn’t love you any more 🖤 and thank you Insatiable Ones Community for always making these trips so memorable.

The little back book

I have a little black book in which I’ve written up my suede gigs in since 2021 and I also get friends and people I meet along the way to write in it . The band have written in it occasionally. I gave it to one of the Russian fans and part of what he wrote was this:

‘Music unites people

Music makes things better

Music will make love eternal and unconditional

And it will make war and hate go away

and we will all be As One’

Connected / Disconnected