Today I got an opportunity to travel up to L.A. and see the Mewseum exhibit at Zune L.A.

Your next question probably is: “Zune L.A.?”

Actually let me answer your FIRST question: No, there were no Zune HDs lying around.

Zune L.A. is a space that Microsoft is using as an upscale hub for industry events, release parties and gallery exhibitions. Ordinarily these events are closed to the public, however the art showing revolving around the group Mew is open to the public. This will run until September 3 so if you have a moment head down there and check it out.

When you reach the entrance, you have to be let in by the person overseeing the gallery exhibit. I would think that it’s because they don’t want people wandering around in the offices – those are closed off while you’re there (darn it!).  Zune L.A is used during the day by a select number of Zune Team members. It is when night falls that Zune L.A. takes on its cultural nightlife persona – except for times like this when it’s being used as more of a art museum.

Zune L.A. has a few floors to it. I only saw the first and the second, but I also saw a stairway leading to another floor. There’s a full stage area for performances and some flash Zune players in display cases. The bathrooms are one of the real highlights because they’ve decorated the bathroom walls with the same off-the-wall artwork that you’ve seen in the Zune Originals, Zune Arts and Zune Journey parts of Zune.

Pretty slick if you ask me.

In the area where the Mew exhibit was going on they have a PC setup and open to the Zune Software. Zune L.A. has its own Zune Social account – unfortunately they don’t have Zune Pass, well it’s either that or The Mew isn’t available under a Zune Pass subscription.

In another room, they have an XBOX 360 Elite, a touch screen computer running what I believe is Windows 7 (didn’t look that carefully) and a Microsoft Surface. This particular surface machine had more on it than the one I saw when I visited Seattle for the MVP summit. This table had a whack-a-mole game which was very responsive to your touch. Since it knows multi-touch playing the whack a mole game against my home girl was pretty damn exciting.

Now, the Mew exhibit was short and sweet. It just offered a few pictures from the group and some footage of their shows. Some lucky individuals will get to see the group perform a special live show on the stage. If anyone out there is already listening to the group, feel free to leave a comment telling us your thoughts about the band.

Overall the space is well designed, bright and has a cool layout. It’s definitely one of those places where you could have a black tie industry event (and they have!). The Mew exhibit was interesting, but it’s mostly my fault for not reading up about the group more before I went. Yet, after seeing them and listening to a bit of their sound, I’ll definitely give them a go sometime this week.

Check out the photo gallery below (Live Photos) for a few snapshots I took (including the ones presented in the course of this article).