By Nina Vasiljevic
Special to The Chronicle

On a chilly night of March 2nd, 2013, the audience gathered in front of
Rockwood Music Hall on 196 Allen Street, NY to see “Oh Land & Friends”
perform.

As you enter the Rockwood Music Hall, you can see a really small, intimate, “pub
like” venue, consisted of a small wooden stage with brown drapes hanging from
the ceiling and red velvet rhomboid walls. There were a few reserved tables in
front of it. The bar was across the stage with balconies above it that oversaw the
stage and the whole venue. The lights, which were dim and red, have created
that feeling of intimacy. The spotlight was on the stage.

At 9:30 P.M., Nanna Øland Fabricius, also known as Oh Land appeared on
stage followed by two of her friends, an applause, whistles and supportive cheers
from the audience. She asked the audience if it’s still snowing outside, to which
the audience muttered the answers. But still, she accepted to believe that it’s not
snowing and added that “rain’s so weird.”

A moment later her powerful voice filled the room captivating the audience.
Her musical repertoire consisted mostly of new songs from her upcoming album,
which is still in the process of recording and couple of the old ones, such as “Wolf
& I”, “White Nights” and “Sun of a Gun.”

New songs included ballads such as: ”Three Chances”, “Cherry on Top”, “Love
You Better”, “Green Card” and “Bird in an Airplane.”

“Have you ever seen birds in airport?”, Nana asked. (Audience: Yes.) “Weird,
right? How did they get in here? Are they going to the South?” (Audience
laughed) Then she added: “I would feel kinda bad for them, but then like, maybe
they’re just smart. This song is kind of about that… Just kind of.” Then she
started “Bird in an Airplane” and the laughter died as the audience concentrated
on the narrative of the song.

“This is a sleepy song”, said Nana introducing one of her new songs. Her
introduction was followed by a beat of a bass guitar while she threw her fists in
the air. “Alright, I’ll be serious,” she said. Audience laughed. It was clear that it
was a “sleepy song”, after Nana sang the chorus about “sleepy town.”

“This song is called “Love You Better…and it’s new. Must be pretty confusing
to listen to so many songs that you don’t know,” she remarked. Then she started
singing: “I will love you better, better when I’m old…” The words moved
many in the audience.

“You know when you meet somebody and it’s just like too strong too fast?”
(Someone in the audience: “Yeah.”) “You know that? Why don’t you
tell us about it?” (The audience laughed) “Alright…that was the story. This
song is called “Pyromaniac.” The audience started screaming to the beat of
“Pyromaniac” showing the love for the strong drum and guitar line.

“I am your Green Card, I am your Green Card, so stay with me…”,
was the chorus of the following song titled “Green Card.”

“This song… I wrote it, because I was reading about Renaissance Men, like
Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo. And I was like…ahhh, they can just do
everything. They were like doctors, and they were painters, and they were like
really socially skilled and just probably good looking. I was just like, there needs
to be like Renaissance Girls song. So this is called “Renaissance Girls,” said
Nana and then started playing the drum intro to the song.

The last song she played was “Son of a Gun”, a very popular song from her
second album “Oh Land.” She thanked the audience for coming and for “being so
kind to her new songs.”

Later on Nana mingled with the audience willing to answer all the questions
they had. She said that her next album is “95% finished”, but few touch-ups are
needed. She personally thanked for coming every person that approached her.

This was one of those little intimate concerts that stay imprinted in your
memory forever. The audience laughed, swayed to the music and even shed a
tear. It was a full cathartic experience.