Notorious for his unique remixes, which incorporate samples from a variety of recording artists, Greg Gillis of Girl Talk has come a long way from his beginnings as a Pittsburgh party DJ.  In only a few short years, his name has become synonymous with high-energy, infectious tracks and even crazier, sweaty live shows where Gillis and his wild MacBook rip it up, freak-out, and rock out with the crowd.  Having overheard mentions of Girl Talk’s upcoming show on metro rides and bus cues days before his Thursday night performance, it was clear that many of us in Montreal were pumped to be in attendance at one of his notoriously crazy shows.  Our photographer Erik Naumann reports:

 EDITORS NOTE:

Photos and words care of Erik Naumann [http://pandastrong.com/]   

I got there early to find a good spot to take photos from. After a beer and a gin+tonic (GT… Girl Talk?), the openers, CX KiDTRONiK/Krak Attack came on stage: two old, obnoxious guys pretending they’re from New York, playing obnoxious mash-up/hip hop with a video backdrop of photos of girls’ ass cracks. I established a good relationship with the bartender by drinking steadily through this set, but towards the end they brought a group of young, drunk girls on stage and started grinding them. I told my bartender “I’m not drunk enough for this”, and he provided another strong gin+tonic to help me along. Bless him.

 I was still in a state of shock from Krak Attack’s assault, and The Death Set wasn’t able to revive me. They riff overtop of other songs in a kind of generic way. It wasn’t terrible, like Krak Attack, but the bar had been set pretty low. After a few more drinks and meeting up with some friends, Girl Talk started setting up on stage.

 
Bathroom Break… yikes!

Gregg Gillis stood on a table, said some stuff into a mic, and threw confetti into the air. Then they let a bunch of people on stage with him and the place exploded into instant pandemonium. For a guy who DJs from a laptop, Girl Talk has the most amazing sense of presentation and stage presence. The show is energetic and wild and he’s right in the middle of it with you. The crowd was a tightly packed, swarming mess of bodies and the air was full of coloured confetti, beach balls and flying toilet paper. I didn’t get a photo pass but it was pretty easy to walk into the VIP section to get some photos. It’s already a pretty incredible show and then you look over at the balcony and see this guy with a balloon head. Who the fuck is that guy?

I checked my camera at the coat check and dove into the crowd with my roommate and actually managed to find friends of mine up towards the front. We danced and got shoved around with the flow of the crowd and had an amazing time. The thoughtful way different threads of pop are interleaved together is difficult to truly appreciate but easy to enjoy. Girl Talk seems to end every show by stripping down to his boxers, demonstrating the complete craziness that every party should end up being.

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