Qbertplaya's Gigoblog: Girl Talk @Pier 94, Oct. 25th

Tonight, I checked out the free Girl Talk aka Gregg Gillis show thrown by Kia at Pier 94 just off the West Side Highway. I easily picked up a pair of bracelets while down in the LES for CMJ last week. I knew this would probably be an annoying show, but I have enjoyed his album, Feed the Animals, quite a bit and figured it could be fun, and at least it was FREE.

Shana and I got to the venue just before 6pm, thinking we'd walk right in since it was advertised that doors would be at 5pm and the opener would start at 6. From that point on, I knew this was gonna be pretty much a clusterfuck of a show, since they didn't open the doors till 6:15, and they had us stand behind a flimsy barrier of stanchions while we watched the crew set up the real barrier by the stage for about half an hour. Shana and I did manage to get up front on the rail once we were allowed to move up, which I dunno if it was a good thing, but at least we had an unobstructed view. Just based on the lack of preparation before the music even got started, I'd say a firm NO to ever owning a Kia Soul or whatever the frick they were hawking. Their complete lack of organization in timing and setup inspires very little confidence in their competence at providing a good vehicle. Sorry, Charlie.

The opener, OJ Da Juiceman, came on about 65 minutes after the originally scheduled time, which pissed me off since I was hoping not to miss too much of Game 6 of the ALCS (Go Yankees!). Da Juiceman, a two-bit aspiring hip-hop artist, had a short set, clocking in at about 14 minutes! (Now if only every snoozer opener could play that little!)

Happily, Girl Talk hit the stage pretty soon thereafter, and predictably, it was a totally loud, but somewhat fun mess. We witnessed Gillis bounce up and down in front of his laptop, getting sweatier and sweatier by the moment, eventually losing his headband and sweatshirt and undershirt. At certain points, he jumped into the crowd and surfed a little. I got to hoist his ass over the barrier at least twice, each time praying to God that his sweatiness would not come near me. Homeboy needs some Speed Stick!

The setting itself was made out to be a big party, except there was no booze (all ages show) and I really believe I was the oldest person there, at least up front. There were about 30 kids dancing on stage, making it feel like an MTV Spring Break video, except with American Apparel wannabe models and doofy-looking guys in stupid headbands. Also, there were two Girl Talk crew members who shot streamers, toilet paper rolls and confetti, as well as sprayed water and threw cookies and tortilla chips into the crowd. Yeah. Loved that.

Anyway, the kids ate it up, and I guess I vaguely had a good time witnessing Girl Talk's most excellent DJing for 75 minutes (do I dare call it art or music?), but yeah, I'm old. I don't need to ever do that again. So happy that I got home just in time for the Yankees to pull ahead of the Angels in the 4th inning and win their way to the World Series.