This entire trip was unbelievable. It all started a few days ago with a sudden call from Oz asking if I could be at my local airport in two hours. I asked where I was supposed to be going, and he simply replied, “London.”
I told him absolutely not. He paused for a second and asked, “Okay, how about in four hours?” I thought about it briefly and said that was probably doable. He told me to be there in four hours and promised to email the details. I was still completely confused about what was happening, but when it comes to Oz, you just trust the plan, even when he gives you barely any information to work with.
I made the flight and arrived safely in London, but my luggage unfortunately did not. That posed a pretty interesting challenge because Oz immediately informed me that we were heading to an exclusive private viewing of the Mylo Xyloto album artwork exhibition at Proud Galleries in Camden that very night.
Standing Before the Graffiti Wall
When we walked into the gallery, the most obvious and commanding item in the room was the massive graffiti wall that the band had painted alongside British street artist Paris. That single wall served as the visual basis for the entire Mylo Xyloto album cover, along with basically all the art for that entire era.
At one point, Oz and I spent a long time just staring at all the tiny details we had never noticed on the digital covers. Getting to see the actual texture, layering, and vibrant colors of the album art in person was unreal.
The room was filled with many recognizable faces, most of which felt familiar simply because we had grown up seeing them on television or in magazines. At one point, I felt someone accidentally bump into me while walking past. He turned around to apologize, and I realized I was looking directly at Brian Eno. I got to shake his hand, thank him for his legendary work, and jokingly told him he was welcome to bump into me anytime.
The entire night, I knew exactly what was going through Oz’s head: he was trying to figure out the sheer logistics of acquiring that entire graffiti wall for the collection. We even spent a good chunk of time speaking with Phil about it. At the time, we could not even figure out where anyone could possibly store a wall of that size, so it ultimately became the one that got away. But the evening was a massive success, raising over £130,000 for Kids Company.
Oz and I also got to spend some quality time talking with Chris about various current projects in our lives. I really hope Oz shares his side of that story one day, because it is genuinely amusing.
An Exclusive DJ Set
As the night finally began to wind down, almost everyone filtered out of the gallery. Oz and I were still hanging around inside while the main lights were dimmed and a DJ was playing music in the corner.
We were still admiring the wall when I turned around and took a closer look at the person behind the turntables. I realized that the DJ playing to a virtually empty room of just a couple of people was none other than Charli XCX. She had recently finished her run opening for the band on the Mylo Xyloto tour.
Oz was just as surprised as I was. We decided to walk over and chat with her for a few minutes. She could not have been nicer. I told her how much I had enjoyed watching her performances throughout the tour and mentioned that I knew she was going to be an absolute superstar. She was incredibly humble and asked if I really meant that. I told her absolutely.
I then joked that this was probably going to be the absolute last time I would ever catch her doing a private set like this. She laughed and said she would happily play a private show for me one day, though I have a feeling her booking fee is going to be way out of my budget very soon.
Looking back on it now, these spontaneous, last-minute trips with Oz are always packed with the wildest surprises.
