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The Amherst trio had towers of amps stacked up all over the stage, including one that was pointed directly towards front man J Mascis, in case his monitors weren’t providing him enough of his own guitar sound. And not having enough sound has never really been a problem for the group, and it certainly wasn’t on this evening as the band tore through a fiery 90 minute set that spanned the band’s entire career.

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Home » Concert Coverage

Girl Talk @ First Avenue 11/03/2008

Submitted by Erik Thompson and Jon Behm on November 4, 2008 – 2:14 pm11 Comments


Girl Talk

Wow, Gregg Gillis sure can throw one hell of a party. With just a laptop and a copious amount of streamers, confetti, and toilet paper, the man known professionally as Girl Talk completely invigorated a sold out First Avenue, and turned a relatively tranquil Monday night into Dance Party U.S.A. With the stage completely filled with dancing audience members by the time the first few beats came out of the speakers, and the floor awash with flailing arms and mad gyrations, Gregg and his trusty laptop completely energized the room and, despite the lack of any real instruments being played and original music being created, Girl Talk put on one incredible show.


Girl Talk

I think the appeal of Girl Talk is that there is a little something in his music for everyone, no matter what your tastes. He isn’t just raiding the record collection of the indie kid, or the hip-hop head, it’s a bit of all our collections that are incorporated into his music. If you just listen long enough, you are bound to hear the strains of a song you recognize and love in a new and unique way, and chances are you’ll be bobbing your head to it. And once his set got started, it became a game of name that tune, with Beck beats over Cassidy lyrics, Weezer melodies meshing with Lil Wayne rhyme’s, and a blur of NIN, Styx, Boogie Down Productions, and, well, Blur. And when thinking about my review, I was struggling with whether or not I should list what was “played” by the song titles from Girl Talk records, or the actual songs he’s sampling from. But it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the room was full, hands were in the air, heads were nodding, and Gregg was bouncing around nearly as much as the audience, clearly feeling the vibes and the heat of the crowd.


Girl Talk

I was worried that First Ave would be one endless mosh pit based on what I’ve read and heard about Girl Talks live shows, and while both the main floor and stage was teeming with ardent dancers, there was still plenty of room to move on the periphery of the crowd and just enjoy yourself (perhaps because so much of the audience was up on stage.) So, it was nice to just nod my head to the music and bear witness to the madness unfolding in front of me. And there was plenty to take in, with the stage remaining full of dancing audience members all set long, and constant waves of streamers jetting out into the crowd. And everywhere you turned, people were smiling, which I think is essentially Gregg’s ultimate goal with his musical mashups; playing songs that make people smile (and shake their ass, of course).


Girl Talk

It was quite a spectacle, and actually enlivened me this morning to the grand event taking place today (or, I should say events-voting, then Mr. Dylan). And the timing of the show was perhaps the only unfortunate thing about Girl Talks set, for part of me wished that the shows were reversed, Dylan playing last night and Girl Talk tonight. For the party that took place last evening at First Ave would have been perfectly suited for tonight, around midnight, when hopefully these winds of change that have been blowing for some time now shake the foundations of this country and Barack Obama is elected President of the United States. It would have made for one hell of a Victory Party. But we could all just put on Girl Talk’s records really loud, wear our finest tank tops and sweatbands, invite all of our friends to come over and dance on our couch, throw confetti all over the place, and relive the experience as best we could. I truly hope it happens. My place is always available.


Girl Talk

[review by Erik Thompson, photos by Jon Behm]

(MySpace) (Wikipedia)

Also: (Girl Talk “Feed The Animals” Review) (Girl Talk, Dan Deacon & Tay Zonday @ First Avenue 10/05/2007) (Girl Talk Takes Montréal Jazz Fest to the Streets)

11 Comments »

  • Erik T. says:

    Great pics Jon, as always. You really captured the energy of the night. I thought for a second, with the way you disappeared at the start of the show, that you had that green mummy suit in your bag, and that was you dancing on stage. Fun night. Hopefully, what happens this evening will be even better.

  • Chris DeLine says:

    I thought for a moment that I was dreaming when I saw that fourth picture… and I might be… but does anyone else see Green Man on stage, or are my election-day “meds” kicking in?

  • Erik T. says:

    Yeah, that’s the outfit I thought Jon changed into at the show. Kyle and I were joking that the guy had that outfit on since Halloween.

  • Josh says:

    Great review Erik! I agree that Girl Talk (like most DJ’s) is more about the experience than the actual songs being played, although Girl Talk is amazing at his mash ups. Looked like fun, although it made me feel old as I looked at the pics and kept thinking “those kids are crazy”

  • stevemarsh says:

    Nice review and spectacular photos. Wow. What kind of camera is that?

  • Jon Behm says:

    Steve – I shot these with a Nikon D300. Glad you liked the shots!

  • Erik says:

    great review and great pictures. just wondering is you have any more pictures at all Jon and if you could possibly post them or send them to my email. thanks a ton either way!

  • Chris DeLine says:

    Hi Erik – All of Jon’s extended photosets can be viewed on his flickr page. Here are his Girl Talk photos.

  • Erik says:

    thank you so much Chris i really appreciate that link. if anyone else has any pictures or knows of any pictures you should definitely let me know. thanks guys!

  • Brody says:

    looked like an amazing show, I’m glad their was and early celebration before election day..

  • Chase says:

    Nice review, what a blast!

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