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Words & Images by: Jake Krolick
Girl Talk :: 02.07.11 :: Electric Factory :: Philadelphia, PA
 Girl Talk :: 02.07.11 by Jake Krolick |
Gregg Gillis has down that magic mix that makes crowds go wild. Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, is like that box you buy at the party store with everything included for a good time. Just add Gillis’s keen ear for fitting together hooks like Legos and it’s an instant party.
It didn’t take long to see that this one man mash-up machine has the psychology of his fans figured out better than ever. Besides the creativity on his latest pay-what-you-wish offering All Day, Gillis seemed as pumped as ever to be up on the Electric Factory stage dancing and manipulating his laptop. He tweaked our movements and bursts of energy like a people’s mayor, using all the best parts of rap and pop pulled together from over several decades of hits. The song snippets were memory ghosts from parties where you spent hours snogging, weddings you acted a fool, or in the case of the majority at the Electric Factory, school dances. But Gillis’s keen smashups contained such highly contagious songs that it didn’t matter how old you were. We had all sung or danced to them before, and so we did again. It was a phenomenon that reminded me of karaoke, where the more you resist enjoying yourself, the better chance that you will end up being dragged onto the stage to sing, or in this case, dance.
I like Girl Talk not because Gillis is an amazing musician, but because his mash-ups and shows are filled with guilty pleasures. Between the black stretch leggings, neon head wraps and evening sunglasses, the floor of the Electric Factory had a definite vibe going on. While Gillis’ crew tuned his laptop and hyped the crowd with cannons firing toilet paper, the backstage was a melee of excitement. The 40 or so chosen stage dancers were beaming with excitement as they planned their most enticing moves. The whole lot of them, followed by Gillis, ran up the back ramp onto the stage. There, Gillis laid the smack down for the next two hours, playing much of All Day.
 Girl Talk :: 02.07.11 by Jake Krolick |
The new material featured strong mixes, but it wasn’t what really sent the crowd reeling, which was the older material off Feed the Animals and Night Ripper. It seems that those earlier mixes contained raw qualities which are less relevant in his latest material. Or maybe it was just that I enjoyed his mish-mash of artists more on Night Ripper. Gillis didn’t miss a chance to capitalize on someone’s taste around every corner of the room. From the classic Black Sabbath “War Pigs” intro during All Day’s “Oh No” until the moment he ended in the dust of 2 Live Crew’s "We Want Some Pussy” and Paul McCartney & Wings “Silly Love Songs” from Night Ripper’s “Peak Out,” the vast majority of the crowd was indulging in every way they could.
In the parking lot tickets were going for almost a Ben Franklin. It seemed steep, but based on the facial expressions and sea of flapping arms inside the money spent was well worth it to those within the beat melee where Gillis bounced to his new song “Get It Get It.” Its enduring Frankenstein sew job of Rye’s Rye’s "Bang”, Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker” and Depeche Mode’s “Just Can't Get Enough” sure made a heck of a lot of folks happy.
When you look at the show as a whole it was a powerful entity. Sure he’s pulling together amazing bits from other artists, but he is the mastermind that fits all the pieces together so expertly. Besides Gillis’s mash-up abilities and relentless dance moves, his crew did a nice Gallagher style pummeling of the crowd with a variety of non-lethal implements. From confetti filled balloons to a plastic tube snake, shit just kept raining down on the sweat soaked crowd. The more it poured on them, the more passion they exuded. The fans connection to Gillis was strong and they moved to his every whim. I was most impressed by the girl dancing wildly next to Gillis who didn’t miss a beat as she batted away balloon after balloon only inches from Gillis’s brow. It was this unbridled passion that had a shirtless, dripping Gillis sending his love and adoration out to the masses, thanking Philly for being such a blast.
Continue reading for more killer pics of this night...
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