Girl Talk mesmerizes and diversifies

"We're all together in here, we're going to take it to another level," Pittsburgh native Greg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, calmly said to a pulsating sea of wet bodies at the Skidmore College Sports and Recreation Center last Friday night.

Dressed in mesh shorts and a yellow headband, Gillis feverishly danced a the helm of two laptops that looked like they had been to the Green Zone and back, commanding the crowd through nearly three hours of grooves employing samples from the likes of Busta Rhymes, Neutral Milk Hotel, Manfred Mann, M.I.A and Three 6 Mafia.

The performance was Girl Talk's second at Skidmore in three years.

"He's so cooperative, such an inspiration," said Willy Appelman, president of the student group responsible for bringing concerts to campus.

The diverse crowd, hailing from as far as Philadelphia and Boston, swelled to about 1,500 at the height of the action. Students from UAlbany, Union College, Cornell, and New Paltz universities attended.

Electronic pioneers Prefuse 73 (who hadn't opened for another act since SXSW 1992) began with a cacophony of sound that jumped from neo-trance electro-grunge to what could've been a tape found at Dr. Dre's console circa 1986. The perfect introduction to the pop-art exhibition that followed.

"I know it seems stupid because it's just a band, but there's a lot of good energy in here," said Max, a fan of both acts who had been dancing from the moment he stepped through the gate.

"Greg Gillis is the great unifier of our time," said a bearded fan from Oberlin, Ohio. "Pop music is the great destroyer, and he takes it and turns it into something great."

Anticipation rose to fever pitch while the stage was prepped. A track reminiscent of the first off his 2004 release Unstoppable, on which "girl talk" is repeated by several voices, led to chanting before his immediate arrival.

Screams erupted as Gillis took the stage. He immediately snapped a few photos of the crowd and took to the mic. "It's a party Skidmore," he said, "and you're all in the font row tonight."

After a burst of confetti, the show began. Within 10 minutes, Gillis was hidden behind a wall of about 50 people who had grooved up onto the stage.

The house lights went on and sound was cut as a call to order was issued by campus security officials. Slowly those on stage were removed and Gillis was revealed, undaunted by any perceived danger.

"If it's not getting shaky, what's it worth getting?," he said after the show.

From that point forward the gym became like a funk-filled surrealist middle school dance.

Puffs of smoke sporadically appeared from within the crowd, and a few plastic flask sized bottles of liquor became floor dressing along with shirts, purses, cell phones, and glow sticks.

A stuffed and mounted fox with a gold medal around its neck surfed above the crowd, followed by a stuffed penguin.

Sing-alongs to familiar tracks, including the classic mix of "Juicy" and "Tiny Dancer" from the Night Ripper LP, were obliged by most.

Those half naked and soaked from being up front for the first hour retreated to the top of the bleachers, where a new dance floor formed.

"Think about a concert where you generate new thoughts, think about that," said Gillis. Both he and Prefuse stuck around for about an hour after the last dance chatting with student event organizers.

This show was one of his last in a month played at colleges across the country. Girl Talk will return to New York in mid-November with three shows at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.

Tour dates, photos, and music can be found at www.myspace.com/girltalk.