Mägo de Oz: YouTube Theater - Los Angeles, CA - 11/2/24
Mägo de Oz (Spanish for Wizard of Oz) is a folk metal band from Spain. Since 1988, they have released seventeen albums. Their latest album is Alicia en el Metalverso (Alice in the Metalverse) which was released in 2024. This year, they returned to the USA and had their Feliz No Cumpleaños USA Tour (Happy Non-Birthday USA Tour). After several stops and several sold-out shows, the final stop of the tour was at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, California.
The venue was nicely packed by the time Mägo de Oz was ready to hit the stage. The lights went out and the crowd cheered loudly in excitement. The screens lit up to show a 16-year-old girl named Alicia (Alice) in a doctor’s office who puts on a VR headset and is transported to a magical world called The Metalverse. The video ends and all the band members come out to meet the audience as they start with the first song from the new album, “Alicia en el Metalverso” (Alice in the Metalverse). The song clocks in at just past twelve minutes making it an impressive opening song. You could hear the heavy metal and folk metal influence as the band uses a variety of instruments including a violin, keyboard and flute. Since the band is from Spain, it’s only natural that their songs are sung in Spanish. The second song played was their most famous song, “Molinos de Viento” (Windmills). The crowd cheered as soon as the song started and everyone loves this song and gets people dancing. Whenever songs from the new album would be played, the screen showed a variety of characters from the album which included the Mad Hatter, a smoking caterpillar and the evil Queen of Hearts. Other songs played on this show were "La Venganza de Gaia" (Gaia's Vengeance), "El Paseo de los Tristes" (The Walkway of the Sad) and "La Posada de los Muertos" (The Inn of the Dead). No matter what song was played, the audience loved it, and they showed their love and appreciation of the band as they danced and sang along to the songs. The final song of the night seemed to be “Gaia” which clocks in at eleven minutes making it for a long finale. The band left the stage, and all seemed quiet. The fans stayed and cheered and kept chanting for the band. After a quick break, Mägo de Oz came back out for some encores. The first encore was "La Costa del Silencio" (The Shore of Silence) which was a fan favorite, and the audience loved singing along to the chorus. The final song of the night was a song that many people could be heard shouting for the band to play. Mägo de Oz obliged and played another one of their most popular songs, “Fiesta Pagana” (Pagan Party). The audience continued to dance and sing along and made sure to give it their all. Mägo de Oz finished up the show, bowed to the audience and left the stage once again. Fans were left happy and satisfied and hopefully it’s not long before Mägo de Oz come back to the USA.
