I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Oh Land… until last Tuesday when I listened to her perform live on Babylon Bomonti’s stage for the first time! Before that night, my knowledge of Oh Land was limited to her hit songs like “Sun of a Gun”, “Wolf & I”, “Perfection”, “White Nights” and “Renaissance Girls”. I knew only a little bit about Nanna Øland Fabricius, the artist behind Oh Land. I had no idea what I was missing!
Oh Land’s performance was an inspiring mixture of symphonic and electronic sounds with guitar, drums and keyboard, all of which was tied together with soulful lyrics; my favorite parts were those moments when the music passed between electronic and pop, and you could really dance. Her experimental music is somewhere in between indie pop, synthpop and electronic, which is to say that it’s beautifully unique. Also, I should mention that Oh Land’s performance was a really impressive effort: Nanna was flying with her microphone from drums to keyboard and back. Her smooth moves in that little space on stage were quite calming and vibrant at the same time, so it made sense when I learned that she had also been a professional ballerina for many years.
What is more, it wasn’t only a performance for your ears – as Oh Land specifically stated, Babylon’s lighting guy deserves a big thanks. It was also something to watch her band, with their cheering energy. Oh Land shared the story of her album name’s Earth Sick – it was a song originally written for astronauts who had spent some time up there in space and were re-adjusting to the world.
When they said goodbye to us around 11:30, both sides knew that they’d be back for a few songs. Nana came back with her guitarist, and they sat down in the corner of stage and played a song together. At the very end she took out her phone and everybody raised their hands for a ‘happy thank you more please’ photo. She also posted a photo on Instagram with this lovely caption: “Turkey Last Night! You were out of this world Istanbul”. But it wasn’t just that. She didn’t hide her enthusiasm and appreciation for the crowd during the night. She was even surprised that everybody was singing along to some of her less popular songs. I enjoyed every moment and it was nice to hear that Oh Land is also glad to share those moments with us. Thank you for this sparkling performance!
