Blame Lees and West, but it seemed a
little strange for Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, to be performing in
such a larger venue at double the price of his previous visit. Still,
the laptop warrior must have made a lasting impression – both at his
headlining Laneway appearance in 2009, and his two-night stand at the
Sydney Big Days Out just a day before. The crowd may have started out
in smaller numbers, but by the end of the night, you could not have
squeezed another person into this triumphant party. The Girl Talk audio-visual
experience was a joy to behold. 

Starting things off in a strangely cavernous
Enmore were lo-fi/hi-energy quartet Royal Headache. The antsy crowd
were displeased to have anyone but Gillis taking up their precious time
on the theatre’s stage, but the band took it all in their stride (sample
dialogue – Heckler: “GIRRRRLLL TALLLKKKKK!” Lead singer: “…I
don’t talk like a girl!”). The sound put a lot of emphasis on scratchy,
discordant guitar, lead vocal howls and upbeat, fast-paced drum lines.
It wasn’t always coherent, which can be traced back to an initially-terrible
audio mix and the lead singer’s tendency to do laps of the stage whilst
singing loudly and passionately. The band’s performance, however,
became progressively more and more enjoyable across its brief running
time. An odd choice of support for an act like Girl Talk, but a sound
one nevertheless. 

Why it took Gillis so long to arrive
on-stage is anyone’s guess – the dude has a table, two laptops and
a microphone to worry about. Still, one would suggest it was this delaying
of the inevitable that excited the crowd even further. Gregg leapt straight
onto the stage in a flash of blue lights, then straight off the stage
and right into the front row – stopping only to sign a tour poster
for a lucky Michael Cera lookalike. Following this exchange, the breathy,
glitchy sample from Ciara’s “Goodies” that kicks off GT’s Night
Ripper album blasted through the speakers. We, along with the thirty-odd
people onstage - didn’t need another invitation. The party had begun. 

The next hour and a bit was a flurry
of pop culture, past and present, warped in a technicolour ball of confetti
and toilet paper (thanks to the two amazing people up the front in basketball
jerseys for keeping the crowd overflowing with both!). At any given
point, we were cheering, shouting or singing along to – deep breath
- Ke$ha, Tag Team, Miley Cyrus, The Notorious B.I.G., Crowded House,
Kelly Clarkson, Drake, Pilot, Elton John, Snoop Dogg, Lil John and another
cast of thousands making cameos both vocally and musically. Watching
Gillis work is also a bizarre take on clockwork – one moment shuffling
both feet in time with the song’s rhythm, the next hunched over his
laptop and picking samples like a kid in a candy shop, the next hopping
like some kind of sex-hungry rabbit in pure excitement of the moment
at hand. He is thoroughly, intensely involved with his on-stage work,
but he never stops that from getting in the way of entertainment –
both on his behalf and on behalf of the crowd. Perhaps it was for this
reason that the masses were left roaring in approval of Gillis’ performance,
even after he and his posse had deserted the stage entirely. 

And so it was – as the Enmore’s workers
looked fearfully at the balloons, toilet paper and confetti all over
the floor that was to be cleaned up, Girl Talk’s crowd slowly made
their way out onto the streets, loudly and very sweatily. There wasn’t
a moment where the crowd weren’t visibly enjoying themselves, and
in Gillis’ world, that’s a Mission Accomplished.

A SECOND TAKE BY ASHTON JONES

As veteran of four Girl Talk performances (and having seen his set at BDO just a few days before) I was quite interested to see what Gregg Gillis was going to bring to the table this time around. When he started off with his standard intro from the past two years 'Once Again', his opening track from 'Night Ripper', I let out a little sigh as I knew almost song-for-song what to expect. This didn't stop me from nodding my head and dancing like nobody's business but I'd love to see even more variety in his sets, maybe even (shock horror) some live mixing. Given that however, he still brought the party, and the sold out Enmore crowd loved it. 

With bananas flung into the crowd, toilet paper sprayed everywhere, and confetti filled balloons dropping from the ceiling there was something to entertain everyone, even if they weren't feeling the mixes he was dropping. Some standout moments included the crowd sing-a-long of "woah-oh-oh/it's magic/you know/never believe it's not so!", the teasing baseline of Radiohead classic 'Idioteque', his famous 'Smash Your Head' mix which includes the instrumental of Elton John's eponymous 'Tiny Dancer' and a crazy overlay of Lil Wayne's 'A Milli' onto an 80's dance tune (whose name escapes me).