Girl Talk Show Too Cool For Most Schools

Toronto Island

Toronto, ON

on Sep 11 2009

Zack Vitiello (CHARTattack)

09/14/2009 3:53pm

There are few better ways to cure the back-to-school blues than attending a free concert on Toronto Island with one of the world's most acclaimed party-starters.

On Friday afternoon, Ryerson University students were treated to what must have been the most impressive Frosh Week event to be offered by a Canadian university this year, or possibly ever.

While opening sets by garage-rockers The Cliks and socially-conscious rapper K'Naan were more than most schools could muster (for example, my alma matter hosted Marianas Trench), Ryerson set the bar for all future Frosh events by bringing Mr. Gregg Gillis, more commonly known as Girl Talk, to start the school year off with a bang.

While the intensity of a typical Girl Talk show tends to be magnified by bright nightclub lights and whatever legal and/or illegal substances those in attendance have ingested, the Ryerson Parade & Picnic is outdoors and goes down in the middle of the afternoon. Not being a Ryerson student, I had no idea what to expect, and with less than 1,000 people crowding around the stage, I was worried that Girl Talk's slick mash-ups would fall on stiff legs and immovable feet.

Of course, I was wrong. Driven by the fact that all of the students and Frosh Week volunteers in attendance were full of the spirit needed to fuel an outdoor daytime rave, and by the inescapable reality that Girl Talk's music demands to be danced to (regardless of what time of day it is), meant this was a legitimate party — the type of Frosh week event that has other kids all over the country wishing they had chosen Ryerson.

As usual, Gillis brought up a handful of good looking party people to help hold down the massive stage for him. Unfortunately, the Ryerson volunteers took up the majority of the limited space, leaving many a longing student watching from the grass. Still, the highly-spirited organizers did a hell of a job with their time on stage, riling up the new students into a dancing frenzy.

It is absolutely impossible to try and translate a Girl Talk show into written words. In the same way you've tried (and failed) to explain his albums to your friends ("He mixes lots of songs together to form one new song." "Oh, really? My little brother does that on Garageband."), to say that his live performance is just one dude rocking out on a laptop doesn't even touch the surface of what a Girl Talk show is all about.

Given the rate Gillis switches from song to song, weaving samples together at a breakneck speed, it seems safe to assume he actually played every person's favourite pop song at some point in his set. In that sense, his music is all about inclusion — everyone can relate to certain bits and pieces, and therefore everyone has a hell of a good time.

Over the span of an hour-and-a-half, Gillis flawlessly reworked his entire library of samples, barely stopping to breathe. Aside from the grand finale — the proverbial pairing of Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" and Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" — every mash-up was totally fresh, and each one was just as awe-inspiring as those found on the Girl Talk albums.

The indelible chorus of Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" was worked in with the hard-hitting beat of M.O.P.'s "Ante Up," and the innocent voice of a young Michael Jackson on the Jackson 5 track "ABC" was juxtaposed with Khia's yearning, sexified whisper on "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)" (it went something like this — "I'm gonna teach you all about love, dear"/"Lick my pussy and my crack").

The crowd lost their shit as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" got a new gangster treatment from the two main samples comprising Night Ripper's standout track, "Bounce That" — Purple Ribbon All-Stars' "Kryptonite (I'm On It)" and DJ Funk's "Booty Bounce." Oh, and then there was Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," and Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" with Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot," and... O.K., you get the point.

Add a fantastic barrage of toilet paper and confetti — enough to thoroughly douse the first 20 feet of audience in multi-coloured bits of paper — to the fantastic barrage of music and we had ourselves quite the time. By the end, I found myself wishing I were going back to school, too.