Girl Talk @ The Palace,Melbourne (31/01/2012)

Thu 2nd Feb, 2012 in Gig Reviews

The first and only time I have previously witnessed the sensory explosion that is a Girl Talk live show was in 2007 at an overnight festival. Amongst young, drunk revellers keen to dance and bring in the new year on a high, Girl Talk exploded into an hour long non-stop party with all the visual trimmings and interminable energy to match.

Five years later and little has changed for Girl Talk, aside from some flashier LED light displays and pyrotechnics to literally spark the set alight with a bang. Why change such a winning formula? Girl Talk, aka Greg Gillis, clearly proves how popular such a simple (and perhaps repetitive) format can be by his continuous run of sold out shows. Purchasing a ticket to one of his shows isn’t shrouded in any kind of mystery; you know what you are in for when you enter the venue and he certainly manages to deliver.

My viewpoint from the top balcony of The Palace’s multi-tier layout allowed me to have a full vantage point of the young, Red Bull wielding crowd as a sea of people danced, jumped and swayed in perfect unison before me. As the show was again sold out, bodies were packed wall-to-wall and at no point did anyone appear bored or disappointed as they desperately grabbed at bursts of confetti and screamed in recognition of each new song sample.

Hearing a set from Girl Talk is like indulging in an aural encyclopaedia of pop culture from recent decades. Mixing 50 Cent with Vampire Weekend, Adele with the thundering riffs from Metallica’s One and throwing in classics such as Lust For Life by Iggy Pop and some Led Zeppelin for good measure, something is recognisable for everyone listening. Beyonce’s Crazy In Love and Nirvana’s Lithium incited the biggest crowd responses, whilst mixing the drily distorted riff of Last Nite by the Strokes with a heavy, decelerated hip hop beat appeared to be the most unusual and inventive creation of the set.

Considering Girl Talk is essentially a one-man show, he certainly has all the bells and whistles involved to create a larger than life performance. Between a collection of 30 or so crowd-goers freely dancing the entire duration of the set around Gillis, plus a matching duo brandishing toilet paper guns, there’s never a dull moment on stage. Gillis himself is dressed as an unconventional tennis player, complete with sweat bands and miscellaneous exercise gear (pieces of which he abandons throughout the show).

It is questionable whether or not Gillis controls much during his set, or simply rolls through a pre-mix and laps up the atmosphere amongst the revellers. Whether it is clever or not, there’s no denying the man has crafted the idea of the ultimate mash up and whittled it down to a fine art. And he certainly knows how to throw a decent party.