If you're ever in the mood for an impromptu music show on a Friday mid-morning in Tel Aviv, be sure to stop by Kikar Magen David on the corner of Allenby and King George, at the entrance to the Carmel Market.
By RICKY BEN-DAVIDPorch-Gelnik(photo credit: Joshua Goodman)
If you're ever in the mood for an impromptu music show on a Friday mid-morning in Tel Aviv, be sure to stop by Kikar Magen David on the corner of Allenby and King George, at the entrance to the Carmel Market.
Decked out on a balcony overlooking the square and equipped with a microphone, 2 guitars and 2 amplifiers, Kobi Gelnik and Ilai Sperling belt out tunes by the Beatles, Oasis and Mosh Ben Ari (to name a few) to the cheers of the gathering crowd below.
The audience is mixed; the older people stand and look up somewhat bewildered, while some videotape and some take pictures. The most notable are the Birthright kids on their latest stop in Tel Aviv who yell out their "requests" to Kobi and Ilai above.
The idea came to Kobi one night last summer, as he was sitting on the same porch with friends, playing his guitar. "The porch is at a great height, right in front of the square, it was as if someone put it there for a show. I thought that it would be cool to do it once, for the fun of it," he says.
The reaction, they say, was great. People stood there as if at a concert and some even sang along. They performed a few more times but then winter came and they stopped.
Having resumed their show last week, the duo advertises via text messages and Facebook invitations. "I have a goal of being the guy that plays on the porch on Fridays at 11:00 a.m. Like Miri Aloni is known for playing there every Friday at 2:00 p.m," says Kobi, adding, "We should be called 'The Guys on the Porch'. I would like people to know that every Friday at 11 we will be there on the porch playing just for the fun of it. No money, no commercial, just music."
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