Say what you want about mash-up DJ Greg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, but onstage, dude knows how to party. Inflatable hands and sneakers and a basketball DJ table framed the frenetic Gillis as amateur dancers and toilet paper guns kept things hyped onstage. The crowd, finally relieved from the desert heat, responded in kind, as Gillis fed them selections from his last three LPs mixed into a heavy dose of new mixes. Hip-hop lyrics over rock beats continues to be Gillis' M.O.
Opening with Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," he moved through decades of pop in mere minutes, fusing tracks like O.D.B.'s "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" with the Cure's "Close to Me." Taking cues from his sports-themed stage setup, Gillis, clad in jogging pants and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, was am energetic performer, rarely pausing to stand in one place.
While he continues to mine all facets of the music industry for material (Grimes and Lorde both found a place in his set), he's yet to transcend the blueprint he laid out on Night Ripper. Still, it's hard to fault someone who can find common ground between the Pixies and Ice Cube, as Gillis did, to close out his set. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Opening with Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," he moved through decades of pop in mere minutes, fusing tracks like O.D.B.'s "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" with the Cure's "Close to Me." Taking cues from his sports-themed stage setup, Gillis, clad in jogging pants and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, was am energetic performer, rarely pausing to stand in one place.
While he continues to mine all facets of the music industry for material (Grimes and Lorde both found a place in his set), he's yet to transcend the blueprint he laid out on Night Ripper. Still, it's hard to fault someone who can find common ground between the Pixies and Ice Cube, as Gillis did, to close out his set. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
