Girl Talk 2/1/11 in DC

Confetti Rains Down on the 9:30 Club

I was fortunate enough to nab a few tickets for Girl Talk’s first of two shows here in Washington D.C. at the 9:30 Club. The highly anticipated set had the whole venue brewing with energy. As the lights dimmed, Mr. Gillis, aka Girl Talk, crawled to his dual-computer set up, and proceeded to hop on the table to a crowd of swaying hands and screaming vocal chords. After a few short words, the music started and jaws dropped. It seemed like he started with pieces of “Once Again,” the opening track off his album Night Ripper. At first I was like “YES,” but then I wondered, how good could a set of just pre-recorded mashups be? My questioning was shortly answered. It was so much more than just his album tracks. The set was filled with sing-a-longs, a mind-blowing back drop (as pictured), and more treats in the form of confetti and balloons than a kid can dream of. Every beat was accompanied by a custom light show, and the crowd continuously bounced for the full 55-minute set.

Greg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, on a Tuesday Night

After a request from him to “take it to the next level,” Girl Talk upped the ante and made sure no one went home questioning his ability to put on an insane show. After a fast 15-minute set, including a lot of his novelty mash-ups, balloons flooded the venue. People were not ready to leave. A 15-minute encore set, an “improv,” he stated, ended with Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure. Glorious? Yes. Four thumbs up – fingers and toes. If you ever get a chance to see him – act fast and get tickets, it will be well worth it.

-Ben Klein

BK – Have It My Way! – Tuesdays from 2-4 p.m.

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