Welcome to OZ

Dylan and I recently attended an event at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel downtown on Broadway, which was the launch party for a new video platform called Oz (www.oz.com). I only knew about the event, because I follow the Icelandic band GusGus, who I've been a fan of for many years, and I had gotten a notification that they would be playing there that night. I wasn't completely sure what exactly Oz was, until that night. From some of the previous communications with them, I gathered it was some sort of website for creative people to be able to showcase themselves, and contrary to what I usually do, I actually read the fine print on their communications including the legal and privacy policies, since initially they were asking me to open my own "account" with them (by starting a "channel"). In the legal disclaimer, it mentioned that it was subject to Icelandic law. Well, I am a Icelandophile so this really intrigued me!

Before we had even walked in, we realized that there was definitely a disproportionate amount of Icelanders to Californians, compared to anywhere else I'd ever been in LA. One of the first people I spotted upon entering was Hogni, the newest vocalist in GusGus. I wanted to go get my photo taken with him, but I got too nervous, even though it became apparent that he had positioned himself in that location for that very reason, as many other people began taking photos with him.

Dylan and I had decided to take April off from booze, which was just as well because the drinks were expensive anyway, so he got a free coffee and I paid a few bucks for an energy drink, and we made our way into the theatre after checking out some of the various information booths about Oz (which we still didn't quite understand).

Once in the theatre, we were sitting pretty close to the front when this silly blond boy came and sat next to us and told us how he and his friend had been to Iceland and had seen GusGus in San Francisco. He was talking a mile a minute and had mentioned a band called Samaris who Dylan and I had never heard of. Then as quickly as he had arrived, he was off to go get a drink and make up with his friend (they had been feuding, he explained).

Finally, the show began and it turned out that Samaris was the first band playing.  Dylan and I could see the blond boy over on the side, dancing like no one was watching (although clearly, a lot of people were, since no one else was up dancing). They band included a vocalist, a clarinet player, and a DJ/electronic instrumentalist. 

 



After a very short, three-song set, Samaris left the stage and a guy came out wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and a head-set microphone.  Dylan called him "the Icelandic Steve Jobs". He began explaining what exactly Oz is, which basically boiled down to a sort of subscription-based YouTube, where you can purchase access to someone's channel in order to view their content.  In the corner of my eye, I could see the blond boy continue dancing despite the lack of music. Meanwhile, the presentation was already a little awkward (it was very Icelandic, and did not seem to have been rehearsed) when all of a sudden, the blond kid jumps on stage and goes over to whisper in the Icelandic Steve Job's ear. It was difficult to tell what he was saying, but we surmised that it most likely amounted to him requesting Steve Jobs to leave the stage and bring the band back on. After what seemed like several excruciatingly awkward minutes, security finally came and removed the blond boy and the presentation continued. Essentially, different artists and "creators" could start their channels, set their price, and then update them with video content. The most common example of who might use this was musicians. Icelandic Steve Jobs said it would be like in the '80s when you used to spend your money on records in a record store, only now you'd be spending it online for band's videos and exclusive content. It sounded very ideal, and I wondered who would actually pay to subscribe to a band's channel.

Up next was another Icelandic band that I don't completely remember the name of, because we were more tickled by the fact that one of the members was a dude we had seen years before (almost 10 years to be exact) at Iceland Airwaves named Hermigervill.  He had a song we loved called "Sleepwork". However, tonight, he performed "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saens on a theramin.

 

This was followed by another song or two with his partner in the band, and then a little interview between the partner and the Icelandic Steve Jobs.

 

Then, it was time to hear about another way that Oz could be used. We were introduced to a hula hoop artist who performed an amazing routine with light-up hula hoops.  The girl, I think, was actually the only non-Icelander on the bill, but there may have been mention of her having some sort of connection to Iceland through her family. In addition to videos of her hula hooping, she shared that she would be including insights into health, wellness, and yoga on her channel.

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for arrived, and GusGus took the stage! It became apparent that this was the moment that almost everyone else had been waiting for, as during the first few seconds of the first song, most people in the theatre stood up, and then many of them (including us) decided to rush the stage since there was a large open area in the front and we all wanted to dance!

I was afraid that their set might be short since the preceding bands sets all were, but I was delighted that they actually played a full set!

My photos don't do it justice at all, but it was a really great show, with a perfect mix of songs from their most recent album, "Mexico" and the one before it, "Arabian Horse", although it's a little disappointing that they don't ever seem to dust off any of the songs from their first couple albums back in the late 90's.

After the show was over, we were exiting the theatre when we spotted Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters a few rows back.  We already knew he was a huge GusGus fan after having ran into him at their show at the Roxy back in October. I said hi to him and he gave me a hug. I'm sure he doesn't actually remember who I am even though I've met him several times, but he always acts like he does and is very friendly. We talked very briefly about the show and then we left him alone. Dylan also approached Hermigervil to tell him how much we liked his song "Sleepwork" to which he said that was like bringing up a ghost because it was so long ago and he barely remembered!

All in all, it was an interesting evening, a great concert (for free!) and yes, I do plan to subscribe to GusGus's channel on OZ so check out www.oz.com and see if there's anything you're interested in!