Concert Review
Girl Talk
Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, BC
July 25, 2008 

Reviewed by Isabel Lau (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

 
Few DJ performances are able to captivate enough to resist the continuous runs to the bar for more drinks or from the periodic glances at Blackberry messages. Girl Talk was one of the few exceptions to this wherein the set was so stellar that I did not hear the usual calling of booze, Berry, or even a loaded bladder for that matter. From the get go, Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) engaged the enormously anticipating crowd with his wild stage presence and electro/ hip hop mash-ups. Clad in 80's retro sweat apparel and with nothing on stage but his two laptops, it may be hard to imagine that this solo act, barren of any traditional instruments, could trigger crowd surfing in a sea of perspiring heads. Believe it, guys and gals!  

It was also perhaps not hard for Girl Talk to wow the crowd after the opening act, Twin Crystals, a local experimental/ punk band, received at best, a lukewarm reception. It could have been the blaring vocals from Twin Crystal's lead singer, Jesse Taylor, or the spray of spit water that would erupt every ten minutes from the drummer, Jordan Alexander, that did not mesh well enough with the Girl Talk audience. However, the self plugged ears and raised eyebrows exhibited by many individuals completely disappeared when Girl Talk took the stage. Nearly everyone left the comfort of the bar and their seats in order to rush the dance floor and get close to Gillis. We soon saw that proximity with the crowd was not an issue for him either as he screamed "There are no rules tonight!" and allowed anyone to join him upfront and center. In a matter of seconds, the stage was completely filled with elated fans and photographers who danced alongside Girl Talk. It wasn't long before security became an issue and the drunken crowd surfing, initiated by Gillis of course, had to stop.

After the stage was cleared and Gillis shirtless, the music resumed to a much appreciated audience. Sampling from tracks by Ace of Base, Blackstreet, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Radiohead, Roy Orbinson, Usher's "Love in the Club", and many more, Girl Talk proved to be the absolute master of mash-ups. Everyone, from the white-haired lady sitting below me, to the hip-hop heads, to the young university students, was profusely eating up anything and everything Gillis dished out. At one point this crowd was wildly jumping and moshing to a remix of Kelly Clarkson. Girl Talk ended the night perfectly with a slightly slower mix for the encore.  

Everything about this man is fabulously eccentric, including his decision to release his new album "Feed the Animals" online in a pay-whatever-you-like-for-it manner. Although he states on his myspace page that, "if you pay over $5, you get an added bonus of one big mp3 file with all of the tracks connected...if you pay over $10, then you are pre-ordering a physical copy of the CD, which will be out later", it is doubtful that many wouldn't abide by such etiquette since his production is utterly priceless. Do your hungry ears a favor: check out Girl Talk and download the new album here: http://www.myspace.com/girltalk