ESSER
“There’s nothing left in the world to talk about,” Ben Esser declared as he began his show.  This little rebel took the crowd back to the beginning of popular music as he worked the stage with moves similar to Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson.  Esser explained, “I grew up listening to ’50s pop. It was a bit of a teddy boy thing.”  He continued explaining his reason for choosing it as an inspiration because the music and attitude essentially “stated the class.”  Esser quickly attracted the crowd and had heads bobbing through the first song.  “I love you” began with a compilation of old, well-known, clips of love songs.  Originally a drummer, most of Esser’s music is built around the instruments more so than lyrics but nevertheless, Esser manages to write unique songs and contribute interesting introductions to each one.  Esser was dancing with the mic stand by the fourth song—which he said was about serial killers— and the crowd was beginning to warm up.  Esser left the stage to the band for a bit, giving them a moment to drop some great beats with a hip hop feel.  The eclectic frontman transitioned from this moment to a punk-pop, electro song and then his hit “Satisfied,” with concentrated fundamental beats.  The catchy song proved ’satisfying’ for the crowd through its repetitive, clap-along premise.  Esser described his final song, “Headlock,” to be about wrestling, as the prerecorded beginning of the song blasted over El Rey’s speakers (a trademark of his, it seems).  The song gave the band members an opportunity to expand their capabilities, switching instruments and integrating beatboxing—or whatever “ooeeooo” translates to.  Later, Esser spilled his attraction to the American music industry, observing that there are “so many platforms…television, radio, etc., giving an artist more exposure than [in England].”  —Next time you are near Essex, South London, be sure to knock on Esser’s door, he is quite good for a chat.

DATAROCK
A loud synth boom jolted the antsy crowd into excited jumps and cheers while the stage remained empty and black, aside from the awesome screen fading between the new and old Datarock album covers.  Finally, four hooded men creeped on stage, the lights bursted and Datarock took over.  Their set-up was unique: each member played at the edge of the stage, giving everyone equal exposure to the crowd.  Their trademark sunglasses and red jumpsuits perfectly contrasted the white drumset and funky white guitar and bass.  During moments the lights hit, Datarock was all energy, yelling for the crowd to join in on the excitement.

Drummer Tarjei Strom brilliantly maintained a strong enough beat to keep the crowd’s rhythmically challenged bobbing heads in time, while Fredrik Saroea continued to encourage the crowd to participate yelling “sing with us!”  Four songs in, keyboardist Ketil Mosnes brought out his saxophone, one of the most unique aspects of the performance.  Overall, the music had a strong, infectious hold on the crowd—the drums and bass kept the danceable beat strong and Saroea maintained the European reputation of incomprehensible vocals and lyrics.  By the sixth song, “Sex Me Up,” incomprehensible lyrics didn’t matter. The entire venue was unstoppable. Datarock even had stragglers waiting at the bar dancing to the beats.

Datarock also gave a free lesson on why bands no longer invite drunk chicks on stage during their song, “Princess.”  “Does everyone know how to do the running man?!” yelled Saroea.  No. Somehow not everyone knows how to do the running man, in fact, all 5 chicks that crawled on stage had no idea what the running man is and proceeded to adjust everyone’s attention from the music to their ridiculousness.  Poor Mosnes, while playing the saxophone, had no idea that a very inebriated woman was pretending that the stage was a crude hip hop video by air-humping him.

Regardless of the debauchery, Datarock continued enthusiastically.  “It feels so good to be back in Los Angeles! This is our second home!” The ’80s theme continued through “Amarillion,” tonight’s slowest song (although in reality not slow at all), that sounded like something out of an ’80s prom.  “The Pretender” followed, Datarock’s new song, set for release on October 12.  A typical Datarock dance tune, the song incorporates ’80s synth, a signature saxophone solo, and more lyrics than usual.  Finally, Saroea removed his top and the brainchild that won L.A.’s attention began—”Fa Fa Fa” literally kicked in as Mosnes feverishly batted the synth and Saroea proved how rock&roll he is with a jump-kick off Strom’s kickdrum.  There is no doubt that Datarock loves their own hit as they prolonged the enormous power being emitted from the stage.  Saroea jumped into the crowd while Strom and Mosnes performed a duet.  The song was like a fireworks finale—big, bright explosions of music with each moment surpassing the next.  Usually a performance like this signals the end of a set, but for Datarock it was simply regular business.  Thanks to looping technology, the 4 members were able to huddle together at the front of the stage for “Computer Camp Love.”  This wasn’t the most bro-moment though, as Mosnes and the bassist advanced to a short make-out session.  During their second to last song, “I Used To Dance,” there was so much physical activity that the venue was shaking.  Mosnes had a more successful crowd surf while a dance-off between Saroea and Strom ended up in Strom impressing everyone with his worm.  The bassist then began running through the crowd as Strom introduced each member of the band.  Each moment was drawn out to its fullest capacity and Datarock could barely pretend that there wasn’t going to be an encore as they quickly ran back onto stage to announce that this show had been the “best show [they’d] done in ages!”  A drum solo ensued with the rest of the band on their knees bowing to Strom’s greatness.  The band’s reasons for choosing jumpsuits as their trademark, as if this had not already been obvious, became clear when the ‘jazzercise’ segment of the show commenced—complimented with repetitive synth and drums.  The epic finale, “Time of My Life,” united both opening bands and a collection of audience members, despite security’s attempt to keep strangers off the stage.  Datarock felt like the big family reunion everyone wishes they had, complete with loud, distorted music, debauchery, dancing and immeasurable energy.

—Britt Witt