There comes a time in every 20-something's life when they wonder when they became so stinking entrenched in reality. For my Trusty Sidekick it was somewhere between the 43rd and the 44th roll of toilet paper being unfurled into the audience by a girl in a day-glow yellow gym-class outfit with a leaf blower/toilet paper un-roller. She leaned over and said "The ecological footprint of the show is killing me!"
Once I started looking, reality became harder and harder to ignore. The cold hard truth is Mr. Gillis, in his plain tee and headband, was very likely having more fun than the audience at any given moment. Don't get me wrong, the Roseland was packed, the will-call line insane, and clusters of MFNW wristbands were trying their best to will people out of the venue so they could get in.
Before he even skipped on stage, the crowd on the floor was chanting for the mashup maestro and practicing their dance moves to a (silent) video recording of a previousGirl Talk performance. And while the crowd exploded when he hit 'play' on his laptop and the stage rushed with fans, it was less than 30 minutes before Trusty Sidekick and I noticed various on-stage fans just standing around, or worse, talking with their friends. Greg's #1 fan was himself though, and every time a new song mixed in he threw his hands to the sky and danced. Just watching him is infectious: you can't help but at least sing along.
Michael Jackson was featured prominently in the set, which almost served as more of a distraction. MJ's songs eclipsed the mixing work of Girl Talk, hearing no less than 3 of his songs continued to remind me, Sidekick, and the crowd of our great loss. While Kanye made no musical appearance, the likes of Beyonce, Depeche Mode, and Bruce Springsteen all become logs in Greg's musical cabin. As much as he wanted us all to follow and dance like we were middle schoolers on speed, it was the gravity of the real world that kept sinking in and kept the audience from truly running away with him.
