There was a distinct excitement in the air in Tulsa on Saturday June 28th. Tulsa was buzzing about the act playing at Cains Ballroom that night. Some people had heard of Girl Talk, many others had not. At around 6pm I got a text from Hunter at Cains, “The scenesters are in full effect!” They were already lining up in front of Cains to get the choice spot in the front row with full access to Girl Talk and his handy laptop.

Girl Talk is a one man band consisting of a “laptop producer” named Gregg Gillis, who hails from Pittsburg PA. His music consists of an amalgamation of pop samples, woven together such that the end result is a new form of music, standing on its own, independent of any one of its parts. More specifically he uses software to “mash up” songs from widely variant musicians to create a new sound, ie: Notorious B.I.G with Elton John or Cranberries with M.I.A. It is unlike anything you have ever heard before and it works people into a FRENZY.

When people attend a Girl Talk show, they don’t just stand in the audience and listen to his music. They get dressed up in full hip/funky/retro/80’s/club costume regal and actively participate in the concert. Last year when Girl Talk came to Tulsa, as is the custom, the audience stormed the stage, crowding in on Gregg and his laptop pulsing with every intonation of his on the fly mix.

This year people were ready, and were lining up out the door before 6:00pm. At about 9:00pm we started to catch word that it was looking like it was going to be close to a sellout, the anticipation mounted.

As we arrived at Cains, people were already whipped into a frenzy by the music of Techtonic. The place was practically at capacity and the area just in front of the stage was PACKED with people waiting to rush. As we sat in the back and observed the scene, a small Asian girl walked in front of us and mid stride busted out a few windmills with perfect form, popped right back up and continued walking through the crowd. Spandex, cut-off jean jackets, headbands, face paint, gold chains and bandannas abounded. Wafts of Bubba K greeted the olfactory. People were ready for Girl Talk, a muted undercurrent of excitement was ready to burst.
At about 11:00pm, I got word that he had arrived from the airport. This was a relief, because for the past 8 hours he had been stuck in Dallas due to weather. As I headed back stage thanks to a Video Pass from Hunter I entered the antique dungeon-esque backstage artist hangout were I found Gregg wrapping his laptop in Seran Wrap. His shows get so wild he must protect his technology from the impending chaos and beer splashes of his eager fans.

As he was giving instructions to the sound crew about the audio setup I cleared out to go and video the fans packed into Cains waiting to see their beloved Laptop artist. People were going nuts, packed in, sweating, screaming, hands in the air, ready for a show.

After Gregg got everything setup, he went back to his backstage area for a little pre-show routine. After he finished stuffing his sweatpant pockets with confetti, he emptied a beer can of its contents and filled it up with Jack Daniels, “I usually don’t take my shows this seriously, but I was stuck in Dallas for 8 hours and I have not had a drink all night.” In the background we could hear his warm-up music BLASTING: “GIRL TALK . . . GIRL TALK . . . GIRL TALK”

Readied, he bolts out of the room and onto the stage where balloons are flying, bubbles are floating and people are already climbing onto the stage to great their musical hero. Chaos, pushing and shoving ensue. The crowd is SO fired up about the performance the cords get pulled out multiple times from his setup. Each time Gregg Celebrates by saying “THIS IS A REAL SHOW - I USED TO PERFORM IN BASEMENTS TO ZERO PEOPLE”

By the end of the show, Gregg ends up pant-less and shirt-less, wearing nothing but boxer briefs and dripping sweat from his Jesus beard and long ass hair. In a triumphant moment he climbs onto the table and leads the 1400 people in Cains to a side-to-side arm sway as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” swoons, laced with the thumping of some ghetto hip hop.

I have seen Girl Talk three times. This latest performance at Cains was indeed an EPIC and historical performance that will grow more legendary with time and the ascending star of Gregg Gillis. However, every time Girl Talk performs, there is an indescribable sense of well being and light bliss in the air. After much contemplation I have tried to understand why unlike any other musical performance Girl Talk produces such epic “Good Vibes.”

When people experience in mass so many auditory triggers of pleasant memories via the abundance of sampled pop music something happens in the collective consciousness of the group. In the case of Girl Talk, for that short hour that he performs his pop orchestra, people are riding a waive of positive emotion, which in turn feeds the collective to higher levels of positive vibrations. Keep your heart three stacks, keep your heart . . .

Not for hipsters alone
- Alyse Cox

I am not a hipster. I am an average, twenty-something college student with occasional fits of ‘cool’ moments. I do not have a degree in music theory. All I know is what makes me want to let loose and get down – and right now what makes me boogie is the Parisian electro house duo JUSTICE.

Most people don’t understand the subtleties of electronic music. When I tell my sorority sisters that I am going to see a DJ, I get the same scoffs. A response along the lines of, “Ha. like a rave?” “Are you going to take X and wave glow sticks all night?” . . . Uhh, no. Not exactly.

To the uninformed, casual listener, this assumption is very common. According to anyone unfamiliar with electronic music there is only ONE genre: TECHNO. Similarly, someone who has no clue about classic rock wouldn’t know the differ- ence between Led Zeppelin and The Who. For someone new to Hip-Hop, listening to Kanye West might sound exactly like Lil Wayne. Two very distinct sounds are easily confused when unexplored.

“JUSTICE performs their music using turntables and an assortment of other highly technical and extraordinarily computerized methods.”

Which brings us to JUSTICE. While they are definitively electronic and perform their music using turntables and an assortment of other highly technical and extraordinarily computerized methods, their musical appeal crosses all genres. Fans of Metal, Hip Hop, Jam and Country could all rock out and enjoy a JUSTICE concert.

Justice made their break with the 2003 debut of a remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone.” I have been listening to JUSTICE for a few months, and I had never heard this famous remix un- til I was at the JUSTICE show in Dallas in early March. Besides their most popular and catchy single, “D.A.N.C.E.”, “Never Be Alone” was the hit of the night. The zealous crowds of danc- ing fans were belting out the lyrics as the duo would lower the music so it was an audience A Cappella version of the song. It was what I would imagine it would feel like to be at the hottest show of the year in the 80’s. I have a very enthusiastic affinity for the 80’s and the overindulgent lifestyle everyone lived.

The moment I was dancing to “ Never be Alone, ” listening to the crowd hit every note of the chorus, being absorbed by the overpowering rush of the pulsing white lights and feeling the shock waves of the wall of speakers behind JUSTICE, I knew it was the closest I will ever get to fulfilling my fantasy of living the uninhibited extravagance of the hay days of the 80’s.

The Hipsters of a JUSTICE concert

Do you remember when Kayne West first displayed his blazing short temper and outrageous arrogance at the 2006 MTV Europe Music awards?

He stormed the stage after not receiving the award for “Best Video.” Turns out, JUSTICE took home the coveted award that night. (They were not actually, physically there. Thank god.) Kanyeeee . . . . What are we going to do with you?

After JUSTICE melted our faces, the crowd started trickling into the after-party which continued just upstairs from where JUSTICE had been playing.

The progressiveness of JUSTICE attracted an equally progressive crowd to the Palladium Ballroom that night in Dallas. The venue was crawling with the true cool kids – fashion forward funky clothes and personal grooming styles you would see at loft parties and the dive bars in Soho. Consequently, I paid close attention to the social dynamic of this unique cultural subset as another way of showcasing all of the unique aspects of my experience with JUSTICE.

The after-party featured some of Dallas’ top DJ’s, one of which played vinyl records exclusively. This must be a huge “cool factor” in the electronic scene, because this was the hubbub going around the Dallas hipsters. Sure enough, he was playing fun music that made me want to dance, buuut . . . I distinctly remember still feeling the afterglow of the pulsing lights and overpowering groove of JUSTICE from earlier in the night.

As the party goers caught their second wind with the help of a few cocktails and other party favors, the dance floor started to get populated and pretty soon, I found myself on the outskirts of a circle witnessing what I assumed was an unofficial “dance battle.” I had seen these before, at high school dances where the participants were only attention-starved adolescents. This battle was different; these guys were actually in a dance crew, with an actual name, most notably The Funky Buttercups crew from Norman.

As I was standing there enjoying watching my own live version of You Got Served, I realized the battle, although casual, was serious. I watched a few guys who reminded me of those high school boys so eager for attention jump in and get schooled by the pros. Shortly after this, I saw my older brother hand over his camera and equipment to a girl and prepare to jump in. Immediately I cut through the dance floor and insist that he stay OUT of the circle. This was the first time I ever had to stop my brother from embarrassing himself and me, a favor he has done for me more times than I can count. It was fascinating to be in the middle of the hipsters of the electronic music scene – just a small benefit of the unique and fun people that JUSTICE attracts.

As I walked into my room happily exhausted from a long exciting night of dancing, I was greeted by my roommate who indulged me with her feigned interest in electronic music. “How was it?” she asked. As I was getting my enthusiasm up to tell her all the exciting moments and how mind-blowing the show was, she stopped me — “How was Genesis?” (Genesis is the opening track on their first album). I replied with confusion, “Uhhmm…. Yeah it was good. They played it…..why?” She proceeded to pull up a You Tube video. “It’s on the new Chevy commercial….”

Right then and there, she turned my excitement into discouragement. Although the commercial is actually a Cadillac commercial (they are all the same anyway), it made me realize that everything progressive, unique and ‘edgy’ loses its luster when the mass media gets word. It won’t be long until we are hearing JUSTICE tracks on several mainstream commercials. Let’s just hope that as JUSTICE reaches higher levels of commercial success they are still able to retain their underground hipster ‘edge’ along with their following of professional break dancing crews and chilling ‘nuke in your face’ live performances.