Datarock @ Rock and Roll Hotel
What is it about Bergen, Norway? The city of 250,000 is the home to numerous bands, including Kings of Convenience, Annie, Röyksopp, Sondre Lerche, and Datarock. The latter, a group of red jumpsuited goofballs, played Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hotel and did not disappoint.
Half electronic, half guitar, the duo (which expands to a quartet on tour) lifts from ecclectic places, like the musical Grease ("Computer Camp Love"), Factory Records' funkier stuff ("Fa Fa Fa"), The Cure ("Princess"), and the '80s in general (the band's jumpsuits, headless guitars, and wraparound shades). The music includes a lot of quick, shuffling guitars, fast and impressive drumming, electronic beats and samples, and some saxophone.
Being funny is a key part of both the music and the stage show, with band members exhorting the crowd to do aerobics in unison, leading everyone in a rendition of "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing, and being generally amusing on stage. The song titles help too, like "Night Flight to Uranus" and "I Used to Dance with My Daddy."
More than just '80s nostalgia, they're good performers with fun, danceable songs. The band was touring behind last year's Datarock Datarock, and played a few new songs as well.
Openers were Richmond's Ki:Theory and D.C. DJs Sneakers in the Club. Ki:Theory (pronounced "key theory") played modern rock with electronic flushes and weren't bad at first, but the songs sounded the same after awhile. The lead singer was also a bit overly dramatic and looked like a Goo Goo Doll, taking away from the effect.