BAEBLE CONCERTS: DATAROCK at The Phoenix

We knew we wanted something upbeat, unforgettable, and just a bit absurd when it came to capping off our twenty-four band run in Austin during SXSW. But not just any act would do. What we found for our finale was an outrageous slice of musical mayhem from a bunch of pros (though they'd never admit it), somehow sent from the heavens...or maybe just Norway. What we found was a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a bunch of red track suits. What we found was DATAROCK.

Like an oddball musical experiment gone beautifully right, DATAROCK tap into the kind of spectacular spirit first pioneered on stage by bands like Devo, The Beastie Boys, and The Happy Mondays. The matching red suits and wrap-around sunglasses the band members sport are almost iconic at this point, and apparently, a move conceived to look like some demented, Formula One race crew. They might as well be gas-powered, pedal-to-the-floor is the only speed they know. The bands catalog is over the top, spanning strange, offbeat locales (like computer camp), and demanding a splash of crowd participation along the way. In our latest concert video, this self-proclaimed "Norwegian, bizarre oddity" close the curtain on SXSW '11...a fitting and explosive end to a week we'll never forget.