Mashing, moshing combine in chaotic Girl Talk performance

Buzzed off of Red Bull and Jack Daniel’s, Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, came onstage to a hyped audience Saturday night at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nThrough his music and words, Gillis encouraged the crowd to do whatever they wanted, and the audience obeyed. The chaos during his show ranged from technical difficulties to broken equipment.\nGillis headlined the night, following performances by Batalyst, DJ Flufftronix and the premier presentation of “d-star fashion.” The night was organized around Dorothy Shestak’s clothing line, which was presented for her senior Individualized Major Program project and organized with the help of her former roommate Hillary Demmon.\nAll the profits went to the World Health Organization.\nBatalyst, from Indianapolis, is composed of drums, two keyboards and a vocalist. The singer, Ashley Nelson, mixes rapping with singing over the music. By the end of their performance, the audience was up on its feet for the fashion show. DJ Flufftronix played for the “d-star fashion” modeling presentation until Girl Talk began. \nFifteen seconds into Girl Talk’s performance, the audience rushed the stage.Two speakers surfed the crowd as well as a few people.\nAfter several technical difficulties and chaos erupted on the overcrowded stage, Girl Talk’s performance was paused until the stage cleared. \nThe crowd was very unwilling to listen to anyone other than Gillis, the spokesman of the night.\n“It’s like the participants against the Chumley. It’s a clash,” said junior David Upton during the hiatus.\nGillis came back on stage to cheers from the audience. He hushed the audience so he could talk to them without a microphone.\nHe spoke to the audience for a few minutes and, after getting the crowd pumped up, began performing again. His style is branded as “mash-up” music, a mixture of several different songs blended to create one using only his Apple MacBook.\n“What he does is for the ADD generation,” said Muncie resident Travis Harvey.\nGillis maintained control of the audience throughout the night. After ripping his shirt off, random audience members gave him a scarf, glasses, a jacket and several bras to sport on stage. He put on a couple of the bras, but one ended up in his mouth. \nAfter his performance, Gillis claimed they did not pay him after the show because of the damages to equipment.\n“I might be paying for some weird shit,” Gillis said.