December 9, 2011 - 11:45am
Girl Talk storms through Ann Arbor with riotous secret show
BY ANDREW ECKHOUS
- Jed Moch/Daily
Girl Talk is a mad scientist. Splicing Lady Gaga legs together with Michael Jackson arms and a Biggie Smalls head, his creations absorb energy from the lovestruck crowd and throw it back, resulting in a raucous frenzy of screaming, singing and dancing. Attending one of his concerts is not only a chance to see the world’s foremost mash-up artist at work, but also an opportunity to sing along to songs you love, songs you hate and songs you don’t even know, with hundreds of people you’ve never met before but for some reason want to embrace.
Coming to Ann Arbor last night for the Axe One Night Only tour, Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis is currently making the rounds through college campuses cross-country playing secret shows at small venues, making for an intimate and sweaty experience. The shows were kept under wraps so well that even Gillis forgot about them.
“We scheduled these shows months ago, and there were no mentions on Twitter or the Internet, so it sort of slipped my mind too, believe it or not,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Michigan Daily.
Last night’s concert was at the Blind Pig, a cozy venue (to put it mildly), and though there was a remarkable lack of neon in the crowd, there was no shortage of energy. Gillis admitted the small Blind Pig couldn’t support his normal light show, but emphasized that he wanted to “bring the insane energy and atmosphere of a bigger show” to the legendary bar.
The openers, People Under the Stairs, primed the crowd, spouting fist-pumping lyrics like, “If you don’t like beer, get the fuck outta here!” By the time Girl Talk walked on stage, the rambunctious crowd was ready to get down.
The pure, unadulterated energy of Girl Talk never wavered: He amped up the crowd with his convulsive dancing, streams of confetti and his version of backup dancers, who sing along while using leafblowers to blow toilet paper and water into the soaking wet, “Is this your sweat or mine?” crowd. Meanwhile, dozens of front-row concertgoers were lucky enough to be brought up on stage, allowing them to dance next to Gillis and have their pictures posted on Facebook by jealous friends.
At a Girl Talk show, your favorite Wu-Tang/Souljah Boy/Outkast verse may be mixed with your favorite Radiohead/Metallica/Dr.Dre beats, giving you a double-dose of mindblowing music. The schvitzy crowd could be bumpin’n’grindin to a filthy Salt-N-Pepa/Journey mix one second, and screaming at the top of their lungs to “Bohemian Rhapsody” the next.
Some techno elitists whine about Girl Talk’s “unoriginal material” and his gimmicky shows, and they have a valid point. But one Girl Talk show probably releases almost as much energy as an A-bomb, and his sampling skills make entirely new songs out of old material.
As I limped out of the Blind Pig with a sore neck and battered body, I looked around me. People from every demographic imaginable were in as much pain as I was, but they couldn’t stop raving. Like Dr. Frankenstein before him, Greg Gillis’ monster has come to life, but instead of uniting against it, the townsfolk have gathered in the city square for a grimy, sweaty techno party.
