WERS 88.9 fm Performance Wrap-Up: Girl Talk

November 6, 2009

First of all, let's get the terminology straight: aside from insisting he is not a DJ, Greg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk) does not "perform" at "concerts," nor does he "play shows." The most accurate description of his sold-out gig at Boston's House of Blues would be a "party" - though this does little justice to the sheer intensity of the evening's events.

This nomenclature is apt to give some the wrong idea. Naysayers might argue, "Why would you see Girl Talk live? You can just play one of his albums really loud at home." But unless you live in a 2500-capacity rock club with state-of-the-art lighting and sound, you're not going to have the same experience. Between the constant flashing of strobe lights, the rumble of hip-hop bass and the acrid, collective body odor...well, there's a term for that, too: "sensory overload."

Yes, Gillis's live show is not unlike his albums - a continuous flow of ironic mashups, spanning and reappropriating the pop music lexicon of the past 50 years - but aside from the aural onslaught and visual stimuli, he also brings a tremendous charisma to his live appearance, never letting the crowd fall behind his hit parade for the attention-deficit disorder generation. He even made sure the people on the second and third floor balconies were enjoying themselves, though it was clear that the ground level was the place to be. Those streaming rolls of toilet paper (fired off by modified leaf blowers) and giant, confetti-filled balloons can only reach so far.

The party went on for just over an hour, but at that energy level, it may as well have been the whole night. The crowd was treated to overlapping pop hits, both classic and contemporary: Khia sang "My Neck, My Back," over the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back," to great acclaim from the audience, followed shortly by the de facto fan favorite from "Smash Your Head" - Biggie Smalls rapping "Juicy," over Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." By the end of the night, Gillis had most certainly made good on his promise: "What is it, a Monday night tonight? Well, it's a Friday night in this venue!"

- By Mike Moschetto

-Photos by Steve Klise