April 13th, 2006 | The lowdown by Allison Miller

Boom Room with a View - Liferoof.

Overlooking the city from just off Istiklal Caddesi sits the Liferoof, haven of University Students longing for foreign pop music. Upon entering and climbing one flight of stairs, you have a short wait to take the 4-people at a time elevator up to the 5th floor. If it’s cold enough for such things, a Turkish guy will take your coat and hang it up for a small fee. To your left is a “chill out room,” complete with fireplace and squishy couches. If you head up the stairs to your right, however, you come out into an almost completely dark room that has an amazing view of the city – due to the fact that 2 of its walls are covered with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Make sure to stop by Thursday through Saturday to hear good bands that don't know much English perform their versions of American pop hits. We went on a Saturday night, and the band was really good and played a great mix of Ameican pop with a couple of Turkish pop hits thrown in. Chumbawumba and Michael Jackson topped the set list, although many of the words were mumbled into the microphone. Friday and Saturday there’s a 10 lira (about $7.50) cover, although we ladies got in for free and only the gents had to pay due to our friend who speaks Turkish chatting up the bouncers for us – totally doable in Turkey, especially if you’re a foreigner.