Datarock

“Datarock came all the way from Norway to play for you. We have a special dance.”
And with that, Fredrik Saroea, in his red, Datarock jumpsuit, proceeded to do the side stretch. Right, left, right, left, etc. Needless to say, the audience picked up on the moves immediately.

Opening for Ladytron, Norway’s Datarock laid down an irreverent, goofy brand of their dance-punk, electro rock at the Pageant.

With an infectious energy that started a dance party in the pit, the group played fan favorites like “Fa-Fa-Fa,” “Computer Camp Love,” and “Sex Me Up” during their 45-minute set.

Photographer’s Notes:

I’m a big fan of bands that high-five each other on stage, and well, these guys are a party on stage. I shot for the first three front the pit, but it would have been nice to shoot for a bit longer into the set.

My advice? Bring your wide angle and get in close for the real deal.

Lighting:

Lighting on stage was very minimal, so I decided to supplement it with a little off-camera flash action. I used the Nikon SB-800 and the Nikon SB-28 sync cord to gain separation for these shots.

Very weakly colored lights flashed behind the band, but without much smoke to help diffuse the light, the effects were generally quite low-impact. The treatment on the band from the front consisted of very dim, orange-ish light.

Lenses & Gear:

I shot with the Nikon D3, Nikon 24-70mm, and Nikon 14-24mm. The two shots presented above come courtesy of the Nikon 14-24mm. The ultra-wide lens was a nice choice for when these fun-loving Norwegians came in close to the lens.

Exposure & Metering:

I shot this mostly at ISO 1600, f/2.8, and between 1/60 and 1/20. In hindsight, since the ambient background lighting was quite thin, and I can’t help but wonder if even longer exposure times would have helped fill out the backgrounds of these shots more.

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with dance, dance punk, datarock, dj, electro, Fredrik Saroea, indie, Ketil Mosnes, party, photography, pitchfork, rock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.