Girl Talk walks the talk in St. Louis (1/8)
Girl Talk’s Greg Gillis is an omnipresent musical being, existing in no set decade and keeping an eye out on just about every musician who’s ever stepped up to the plate. Last year was kind to him, as his recent work, Feed the Animals, graced nearly every year-end list (including our own) and brought the former medical student to every popular music festival nationwide. So why not start out 2009 in the typical party guru fashion? A sold out show at the Pageant in St. Louis seemed sufficient enough.
It should be said that it was no small feat to sell out a show at the 2,300 max capacity Pageant, especially in a fairly weak concert selling city like St. Louis and on a night where under 10 miles away Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and the Gym Class Heroes were creating a hive of activity at the St. Louis University campus. Context aside, Gillis brought the party, and for one-fourth of the price, the crowd jumped up and down and danced to samples of Wayne’s songs, which seemed rather tongue-in-cheek as he was playing right down the street.
All great acts need a great lead in, and maybe sometimes, someone to make them look better. On this night, Gillis would have both. Opening act, Chicago rapper, Hollywood Holt, took to the stage with absolute tornado of noise and furious physicality.
The rapper, backed up by former M.I.A. DJ, Million $ Mano, came out and got the crowd jumping, swaying, and at the end, physically keeping him from hitting the ground as he jumped into the mass of bodies. Having recently been anointed next big thing by Kanye West, Holt stood up and delivered on the promise.
Next up was fellow Pittsburgh rap duo, Grand Buffet. Though the group tried their best to please the crowd, few in the horde were going for it. It got ugly quick. As soon as the duo walked on stage, an icy chill wafted over the crowd that had been red hot minutes earlier. Vulgarities, along with middle fingers, were thrown casually. The duo quickly let it get to them, often addressing the crowd. As if the awkward chit chat about politicians eating babies (and how they felt about microwaves) weren’t enough, the group couldn’t get past the boo-birds in the crowd, and therefore failed to please those looking to have a good time. However, the fairly short and awkward set left the crowd more excited than ever to see the main attraction.
It’s amazing that in such an extremely short amount of time Girl Talk has gained the popularity to go from playing several hundred capacity clubs to venues like the Pageant. With major planning and assistance from the security crew, the crowd quickly made its way on stage and a usual Gillis-endorsed show ensued.
There’s truly no way to describe a Girl Talk crowd. It’s as eclectic and seemingly random as Gillis’s own music. St. Louis was no exception, overloaded with spandex wearing teenagers, animal masks galore, guys wearing dresses and last but not least, Gillis himself wearing sweatpants.
The dance party went on for an hour and a half, and just like the music, not one person quit moving, jumping, or partying. No matter your taste in music, believe me, you will hear something you can tap a toe to, as a Girl Talk show is an entirely unique experience that is not to be missed whether in a small club, a large venue, or the traditional music festival.
Write that down.
nice pics Andy, that show was absolutely off the wall nuts, there were three green guys at my show, pics were difficult though, the stage at the Pageant is already 6 foot off the ground, and add another 3 for his table. I’m 6 ft tall, but that still leaves me 3 below eye level!
Girl Talk is the one show I will always try to catch no matter what. Hands down his shows have the most energy of any DJ I have ever seen.
I caught him 3 times this year. Once in Chicago (photos & article: http://thedeadhub.com/girl-talk-makes-sweet-sweet-love-to-a-sold-out-congress-theater/), and then in Omaha on the 9th and last night in Des Moines. I’ve never danced so much in my live. I concluded I don’t need to work out for the rest of 2009 now.
I’ll have my photos edited from the Omaha show shortly.
fuck grand buffet. missed hollywood holt, but gregg gillis threw it down. with his last show getting shut down early at the gargoyle, I had to see him again. this show was a great return to stl for Girl Talk.
It was just seemed odd to sing a song about partying or sex, and then follow that up with saying fuck Budweiser, which is an automatic no-no in St. Louis. After you go there, there really isn’t any return to popularity, ever lol.
Grand Buffet, got destroyed at the Pageant, they sucked… Maybe they shouldn’t have started the set by instructing everyone to “fuck the NFL, fuck baseball, fuck orange juice, fuck politics, fuck microwaves, etc.” Also it didn’t go down well when the fat man got angry at with the unhappy crowd and told everyone to perform oral intercourse on his weiner.
hmm, grand buffet was awesome and well received at the 930 club in DC a few months back.