Norway's Datarock Feel at Home in Canada at Virgin Festival

Posted on Aug 30th 2009 5:46PM by Drew Berner
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Norway's Datarock may be jet-setting electro rockstars, but they sure weren't suffering from jet lag during their early, hyperactive set on Day Two of Toronto's Virgin Festival.

They burned through a mercifully short set heavy on hits from their first album, 'Datarock Datarock.'

Though small, the crowd was clearly well-stocked with fans shouting along to songs like 'Computer Camp Love' and 'Fa Fa Fa' -- and it didn't hurt that the band played all-out as if performing before tens of thousands.

"When Datarock is at our most energetic, that's when we are the most special or unique, and that's when the audience has the most fun," singer/guitarist Fredrik Saroea told Spinner after the set.

But they seemed especially gregarious considering the sparse crowd and cold, damp atmosphere -- perhaps due to Canada owning some prime real-estate in the band's hearts.

"I've been to 45 different countries and it's strange but Canada is the country, outside of Scandinavia, that reminds me the most of Norway," Saroea explained. He cites Canada's financial situations, climate and public support for the arts as just a few of the many things the two nations share in common. But more than that, the way that Canadian fans quickly and easily embraced them has always made them feel at home in the Great White North.

"Canada was the first country outside of Norway to pick up Datarock," Saroea revealed. "The first time we came to Montreal we got more press for that show than we had in Norway in the three years leading up to then."

That's the kind of warm reception that could keep a band toasty on a frigid day.

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Virgin Festival Ontario Day Two

Trent Reznor and his band play their (possibly) last large-scale concert ever on the second night of Virgin Festival Ontario at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre. Aug 30, 2009.

Drew Berner for Spinner.com

V Fest In Photos

Trent Reznor and his band play their (possibly) last large-scale concert ever on the second night of Virgin Festival Ontario at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre. Aug 30, 2009.

OLP's lead singer shouts it out at Virgin Festival Ontario in Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre. Aug 30, 2009.

Bandleader Pharell Williams hypes the crowd at Virgin Festival Ontario in Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre. Aug 30, 2009.