Girl Talk @ First Avenue

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 byJon Behm]

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Also: Girl Talk “Feed The Animals” Review