All words: Autorock
There will always be complications at a Girl Talk show. It’s part of the experience. The first time I saw Gregg Gillis perform in ‘06 at a sold-out show at UW-Madison, I ended up standing on a subwoofer for the entire set and slicing open my hand hanging on to the scaffolding above. Last year, the police cut Girl Talk’s Pitchfork festival set short. Still, even with the abbreviated set, I managed to get kicked in the head by a crowd surfer. Even with the snags - maybe even because of them - I had an absolute blast at both shows. The sold-out 930 Club show last Friday was no different.
Getting into show was a challenge, even if you managed to get tickets (which were selling for as high as 150 bucks). The line to get into the show stretched for hundreds of feet - I missed the first 15 minutes of Gregg’s set as a result. I would’ve liked to see openers Hearts of Darknesses and Grand Buffet, but I was still recharging from Of Montreal the night before.
Once I got in, the dance party mayhem was in full swing. The crowd had already filled the stage. In the middle of the sweaty, heaving, drunken mass of fans stood Gregg working the laptop. Elaborate projections lit up a gigantic screen behind them, occasionally beaming live shots of the crowd. Confetti was shot into the audience, as well as what looked like massive inflatable… well, dongs.
Gregg played a greatest hits-style set, focusing on his most beloved pop clashes. Tag Team, Kelly Clarkson, Stardust and Wiz Khalifa reprised their roles from Feed the Animals. As always, Elton John and Biggie from Night Ripper elicited cheers.
The new material didn’t disappoint. “Louie Louie” mixed it up with Missy Elliot. Kid Sister collided with Depeche Mode. “Jockin’ Jay-Z” rubbed elbows with “Swagger like us” and the Ramones. In my favorite moment of the night, Girl Talk layered Yo! Majesty on MGMT’s “Kids” and everybody went apeshit.
A few minor complaints crossed my mind. Standing in line to get into the show was a pain in the ass. The new material was the most exciting part - I wished there was more of it. Also, at certain points the crowd on the main floor seemed to lose steam. While the upstairs crowd and the sweat-drenched kids onstage danced hard for most of the show, I had the distinct feeling that some folks on the main floor felt left out from the pandemonium going on onstage. It’s hard to connect with everybody in a space as large as the 930 Club, but I think Girl Talk did an admirable job his first time there.
While the initial thrill of hearing Girl Talk’s sample-barrage is gone, dude still has a way of eliciting more enthusiasm and energy from a crowd than most performers out there. Great fun.
(we leave you with a few choice snaps from Josh Sisk’s experience at Sonar in B’more -ed)
I know it’s old school but Mark Jenkins has a nice succinct review of the show in today’s Post where he puts Girl Talk into it’s proper perspective as a musical and live entity. I also can’t imagine enjoying watching a stage overrun with the people that were waiting in line behind me to piss five minutes before but then again I am old old old.
October 14, 2008 at 2:46 pmthis sold out? weird.
October 14, 2008 at 2:55 pmthe sonar show was sold out as well. 1400 capacity.
October 14, 2008 at 3:21 pmso what does he do with that laptop. i suppose since he doesnt use a headphone cue to mix that the whole set is allready preloaded into ableton or something? im confused. someone please give me the know!
October 14, 2008 at 3:28 pmOMG this looks like sooooo much fun:)$@$
October 14, 2008 at 3:30 pmterrible and it had little to do with Greg. The scene was horrific, like a bad high school dance. it was as if every suburb in the DMV emptied out. i saw many parent chaperone, girls running barefoot (ew!) in the club(n00bs!)… i dunno why they said the mob was drunken, i doubt the majority of them could even buy ciggarettes, let alone alcohol.
probably some of my bad having bought tickets to an all ages show. next time i’ll know better.
the lights blew, the “projections” were meh…. girl talk was girl talk. i mean, greg does amazing mash-ups, and i really like both albums. perhaps it was my altered state at Camp Bisco when i first saw him that made me think he wouldnt be a teeny bopper sensation.
for those of you who decided to sell their tickets for 3x face, you did the right thing.
when is chromeo playing again? THAT was spectacular!
October 14, 2008 at 3:39 pmbrandon: He does use headphones. He’s a DJ that makes his own mash-ups. They are some of the cleverest and catchiest around. Kids go to see him and dance on the stage. This is fun because it is.
That’s the know.
October 14, 2008 at 3:44 pmheady pictures! that red cap gregg’s wearing in one pic (and some dumb blond girl in several later copped it) is mine!
October 14, 2008 at 3:48 pmGarbage. Hopefully these kids will graduate to something with substance and look back at their enthusiasm for this like many of us who dj now laugh at our former appreciation for shitty UK late 1990s trance or Tribal house…
October 14, 2008 at 4:04 pmis there a punch line? this looks like a set up for a comedy show. ridiculous.
October 14, 2008 at 4:07 pmhttp://auralstates.com/2008/10/girl-talk-interview-w-gregg-gillis.html
“I use Audio Mulch….Typically, during a set there will be two to ten loops playing at any particular time. The actual combination of material is usually pre-thought out. It’s not like I’m improvising on the spot. But the transition from segment to segment is often times not as thought-out. So basically it is a whole bunch of loops in front of me, a variety of material, usually a bit more than I want to play, so I have a bit of freedom to jump around. I put together sound collages in real time basically.”
October 14, 2008 at 4:13 pmI’ve got a laptop
and I’ve got a six-pack
tonight I’m going to kick some ass
all night you fuckers this parties gonna last.
oh so wait is it like high school musical 4
October 14, 2008 at 4:17 pmAny DJ who hates on Girl Talk is just jealous that they’re not selling out 9:30 Club and having as much fun as Gregg is.
October 14, 2008 at 4:36 pm@eddie: LOL. this show looks like Gallagher should have been headlining.
October 14, 2008 at 4:36 pm@cale
i don’t fault this guy; i fault the kids. i swear the whole scene looks like it could be on a sitcomedy. dude with a laptop sells out 9:30 and the crowd worships him. it should have been kramer. amazing.
Sisk Sisk Sisk again with the seven levels of hell.
October 14, 2008 at 4:50 pmI’ll never understand why this dude is such a lightning rod for hate.
October 14, 2008 at 4:58 pmBecause he’s far from the best who does this, he deserves credit I just think he gets wayyy to much.
October 14, 2008 at 5:47 pmAutorock: It’s the same reason he’s a lightning rod for worship and big crowds. He’s not the biggest name in this genre, so people take out their jealousy and bitterness about new things on him rather than addressing: 1. Is this form of music viable? and if so 2. What would it mean to be particularly good at it? Rather than think about things, some people on the internet would prefer to go GUUUHHHH ME HATE STRANGES DURRRRRR.
October 14, 2008 at 6:05 pmYeah what clown p said. I had to log out, I hate being official.
Here’s something: http://images.kipin.net/images_files/1223663031.png
October 14, 2008 at 6:08 pmmy full GT set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshsisk/sets/72157607986822444/
October 14, 2008 at 7:50 pmthe great thing about a girl talk show was that you could go and dance and have fun like you would at a normal nightclub except you don’t have to deal with all the bros and dbags and dumb girls. i saw him at my school a couple years ago and it was just an amazing dance party…now he’s touring and all the bros from my school are going which defeats the purpose of going to see him in the first place imo. not all music needs to be intellectualized. he throws a great party and what is there to hate on?
October 14, 2008 at 8:31 pmThese KIDS will graduate and, with substance, will look back at this MOMENT PERPLEXED, smiling & thinking that just for a few MINUTES, their hearts were beating like a muthaf#@*ing BOMB, their faces were sweating, and they did not GIVE A S#@* about how they looked to the rest of the world, regardless of how trashy the music was.
SOME OTHER PPL, on the other hand, will not f#@*ing remember what the f#@*they were doing that night. What were you doing???
F#@* substance and F#@* snobbism. MUSIC. It’s whatever the f#@* makes you move, shake and lose your soul into.
This dude did it. And he actually gave that gift to all those KIDS. You didn’t. Look back at that. And STOP BEING OLD.
October 14, 2008 at 9:02 pmentry level fest 2k8.
urban outfitters & am apparel probably made SO much money on new zany outfits purchased in anticipation of this show.
entrylevelalts fo sho
what uh. said.
October 15, 2008 at 9:51 amisn’t this website called brightest YOUNG things? stop evaluating the crowd’s worth based on age.
October 15, 2008 at 9:59 amhatecubed - I’m not evaluating their worth based on age, I’m evaluating their worth based on the fact they went to Girl Talk - sold it out no less.
Also, Young is a state of mind, not a number, and it goes hand in hand with the Bright part. Bright people don’t like GT much as dumb people don’t like Baudelaire.
October 15, 2008 at 10:30 ami think the problem with GT shows is that they’re a good dj set, but a terrible “concert.” Since most of the people at his shows are too young to know the difference, it creates a pretty weird vibe between people in “concert” mode and people in dj set mode.
October 15, 2008 at 10:37 ami think i actually saw a black person in one of those pics - wow, i guess i was wrong in assuming that only white high school kids were allowed to shows at 9:30
;-)
October 15, 2008 at 10:49 amRe: Bright people don’t like GT much
This is simply not true.
October 15, 2008 at 11:20 amCale - yes it is.
October 15, 2008 at 11:25 amMichael, did you compare Girl Talk to Baudelaire? seriously?
October 15, 2008 at 11:33 amRight, except for all those bright people that do.
Some things out there can be appreciated by the masses and the cultured at the same time. Usually for different reasons or on different levels, but appreciated nonetheless. Shocker.
October 15, 2008 at 11:36 amDan - no I didn’t.
Cale - that’s just it, if they do, they aren’t bright.
October 15, 2008 at 11:40 amLa poitrine en avant et les poumons gonflés. Comme de la toile… J’escalade le dos des flots amoncelés; QUE LA NUIT ME VOILE! Je sens vibrer en moi toutes les passions
D’un vaisseau qui souffre ; Le bon vent, la tempête et ses CONVULSIONS.
-Charles Baudelaire, on drugs.
this thread is turning into a bunch of girl talk.
October 15, 2008 at 11:52 amI have begun to hate what Girl Talk’s live shows are becoming. But I must say, a huge number of my friends are bright and like Girl Talk. For much the same reason I love shoot em’ ups and slasher flicks.
Unless we are talking a different kind of “bright” that doesn’t include intelligence and PhDs in Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
October 15, 2008 at 12:01 pm
What is a bright?
-A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview
-A bright’s worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements
-The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview
Greg - you really aren’t going to go into the whole degree = intelligence thing are you?
Because I have one letter for you:
W.
October 15, 2008 at 12:19 pm“Educate society toward accepting the full and equitable civic participation of all such individuals”
are “brights” currently being held down by the man?
October 15, 2008 at 12:30 pmI like the idea of the Brights, Cale, but I have a problem with using the word “naturalistic”. It smacks of positivism and Enlightenment principles and that makes me go, very intelligently, : p
However, a worldview and an ethics free from supernatural elements, I can get down with.
October 15, 2008 at 12:32 pmeddie: the religious Man, anyway. many people who are atheist, humanist, agnostic, etc, are definitely devalued. Think of politicians - they have to pander to the church-going masses. “No atheists in the foxhole” and all that rot.
October 15, 2008 at 12:34 pmkim, regardless of religious views or lack thereof, i think you would have to agree that aethists are far less persecuted than the religious man. i’m not defending either side (i practice edism), i’m just saying that it is silly to think that aethists (or brights?) legally, socially or otherwise are being restricted in any way. if anything, religions have been restricted (legal action brought upon them (although mostly christian) to remove spiritual items from public view, etc.). if you’re aethist, then you don’t have to worry about such things. you can just be aethist.
October 15, 2008 at 12:53 pmMichael- That’s why I was careful to note a science degree, specifically a PhD and friends, as in more than one person. Perhaps I should also note the lack of influence of pedigree on their educations as well.
There are a few problems with your W counter:
1. To cite W as anything but an exception to any rule is sheer folly. Taking a cross-section of Harvard Business School attendees, you would be likely to find dozens of bright people for every 1 W.
2. W only has a masters, and it’s an MBA. You know where else you can get an MBA? University of Phoenix online.
Regardless of what you say, if you are spending 6+ years of your life in a research lab, slaving away on a bench work and dissertation…that takes you being bright and more. I don’t know anyone in a science PhD program here that I wouldn’t consider bright, even if I disagree with some of their tastes or opinions.
October 15, 2008 at 1:18 pmEddie - what about when my tax money goes to fund religious schools? Or when atheist military personnel are discriminated against by their Christian peers? Or howabout when Christians block contraceptives and education to AIDS ravaged nations? Or when atheist children are subject to creationist propaganda in public secular schools? Or what about the successful Christian backed effort to hamper stem cell research which could possibly be used to help millions of atheists suffering from debilitating diseases?
October 15, 2008 at 1:54 pmeddie - i didn’t say persecuted; i said devalued. big, huge, gaping difference. they’re certainly not restricted in any way, but they are marginalized.
October 15, 2008 at 1:54 pmcale - well, yes. there’s that. our country’s governemental system is defintely influenced by a (particular sort of) Christian point of view, thereby effectively shutting out anybody who disagrees.
October 15, 2008 at 1:56 pmtypo! governmental. that rogue ‘e’ pushed its way in there somehow.
October 15, 2008 at 1:57 pmKim - my link to the Brights wasn’t necessarily an endorsement. While the organization is well intentioned there is also a bit of silly smugness to it that won’t help the cause. Plus I am in the camp that believes labels for atheists, humanists, brights, etc. defeat the purpose. Atheism should be the default mode of thought. I don’t have to profess that I’m a non-racist. Then again, these groupings and organizations do empower people who may be in the closet atheists that need some encouragement to come out by showing them that there are other people who don’t have ignorant and dangerous world views. On the other hand, I still use these labels because you sort of have to.
Also Eddie - I can think of more instances where stepping into a room in the United States and declaring you are an atheist will incite hostility more so than stating you’re a Christian.
PS. Girl Talk 4 Eva!!!!!
October 15, 2008 at 2:01 pmthis typing could go on for hours on this subject. i’m holding an edism seminar on saturday night at jimmy v’s. it runs from 2:30 to 4:30 with one 15 minute break. you and i will go head-to-head, cale. then we’ll discuss ideology. then we can go head-to-head again if we aren’t too sore.
girl talk! pshay
October 15, 2008 at 2:12 pmHOW did this thread turn into THIS?
October 15, 2008 at 2:12 pmsvet - cale did it. yep, blame cale. that’s what i say.
October 15, 2008 at 2:13 pmI blame Satan.
and Michael.
October 15, 2008 at 2:16 pmSvet - Didn’t this same thing happen with that article on his free album?
myspace.com/lagrevegenerale
Bring HIM to town, make HIM thrown down his epic 6 hour sets and THEN we’ll talk about Girl Who?
October 15, 2008 at 2:19 pmi dont think i will ever understand people hating on others having fun.
October 15, 2008 at 2:58 pmCale - just doing what I do best.
October 15, 2008 at 2:59 pmFun is out, Haven’t you heard?
October 15, 2008 at 3:16 pmCale, you are my hero. I like GT and there is nothing any of you can do about it. Ha!
October 15, 2008 at 6:07 pmdan says: “i think the problem with GT shows is that they’re a good dj set, but a terrible “concert.” Since most of the people at his shows are too young to know the difference, it creates a pretty weird vibe between people in “concert” mode and people in dj set mode.”
this is really the perfect summation of this show. my friend said someone told her it was “life-changing.” most of these people just havent seen a good dj before…
October 15, 2008 at 7:36 pmI had fun seeing girl talk in the backstage room at the cat a while back for a few bucks, but I wouldn’t go to 930 for such shenanigans because I’d expect more of a concert, which a dude at a laptop just can’t provide.
October 15, 2008 at 10:57 pmi was part of the high school student mass at girl talk whose parent waited outside the club until i got in then went home. who the fuck cares if people who had fun at girl talk weren’t old enough to buy alcohol and can’t be considered Bright because they had a good fucking time being sweaty? GO BACK TO YOUR REAL DJS AND YOUR REAL MUSIC THEN
October 18, 2008 at 1:58 pmI wouldn’t say “brights” are needed to see Girl Talk for what he is (a hack), but some perspective, and familiarity with the experimental electronic music, and dance scenes (which tends to coincide with maturation. Girl Talk fans are young, and lack this knowledge). Take any artist on the Tigerbeat6 roster, and they were doing the same thing, but better, and years earlier.
Girl Talk is also at the point of hurting the artist of the same pedigree he claims to come from. Illegal Art (GT’s label) has completely changed its format to more mainstream/pop oriented material, leaving many mash-up/glitch/sample appropriation artist searching for a new home.
I welcome all Girl Talk fans to dig a little deeper, and check out the slightly more esoteric (but still Top 40 radio sample-based) Wobbly release “Wild Why v3.5.” For more familiar territory, try the Violent Turd release “Oh, So now you fuckers wanna dance?” by Kid606 and Cex. If you just really like dance music and DJs, and live in the DC area, check out the LODA parties in Silver Spring. If you’re in Baltimore, check out the More Less parties at the Hexagon.
Respect to Girl Talk the party, not Gregg Gillis the artist.
October 20, 2008 at 7:58 amGT must have learned something in his college marketing class - his target market is everyone. I give props to the guy who sells out 930 club and sonar, two venues separated by a measly 40 miles. He knows how to get people motivated and throw a party… as for dj’n, that’s a different story…since he really isn’t one. It’s not much different than seeing surkin or boys noize live. Two great producers who manipulate their you see thirty threes ‘live’. If you want a live show go ask the dismemberment plan to re-member themselves. If you want a sweat filled workout of a good time, go see GT.
October 28, 2008 at 4:03 pm
look at all those hipster douchebags!! firsties!!
October 14, 2008 at 2:30 pm