Girl Talk: Confetti, Sweaty Grinding and Glow Sticks

On Friday I had the pleasure of going to the Girl Talk concert with Wonder Boy, the couple behind Chaos and Loving It and NinjaDad. I’d never been to a concert done by a DJ so I had no idea what to expect. I thought it might be like a rave, I think we all did, but I’ve never been to one of those so its a funny comparison to make.

Here’s what I can say. We walked in and immediately saw girls in tutus, people wearing all sorts of glow things and sunglasses that I haven’t seen actively worn since I was in the fourth grade. Also, the place was packed to the gills.

Son into the show the male half of Chaos, NinjaDad and I decided to head down the main floor of the crowd to see how close we could get and better enjoy the true Girl Talk experience.

Now let me pause here to tell about this bar I went to a lot my freshman year of college. It was called The Greenery, though often referred to as The Cheese, and it openly served underage folks. Because of this, its patron consisted mostly of underage people, a few locals who drank at the downstairs bar and creepers – older guys looking for some young girl to grind on.

I entered freshman year coming off of a four-year stint in an all-girl Catholic high school. I had had one boyfriend, and I use that term very loosely since we dated for two weeks, twice. I hot the Athens campus with wide eyes, 100% enjoying the male scenery. When my friends and I discovered The Greenery, I are it up. (I look back on this and wonder about my taste.)

We use to go up there in tight jeans and tank tops, regardless of the weather. If it was cold outside, we would don a flannel shirt and tie it around our waist as soon as we got inside the bar. I remember one week when I proudly went to the bar 5 nights in a row. Ladies night, brain freezer night, quarter draft night… When I would go, I would have a few drinks and head straight to the crowded dance floor. The floor was covered with a layer of sludge, certainly a mix of spilt drinks and bodily excretions, and the music played was pretty much the same every night. Knowing how to dance was unnecessary. There was no room for real dancing on the dance floor so it was all one big grinding, jumping mass. (This phase of my life stunted my dancing ability and explains my current dance floor moves.)

Jumping back to present. Walking into the crowd at Girl Talk, weaving in and out of sweaty flesh and inhaling pot smoke and feeling strangers up against you on every side … it took me back to college. And I loved it.

I thought the concert was great. Gregg Gillis, the man behind Girl Talk, had an onscreen show that was being updated in real time with images from the crowd. It seemed like there was always water, toilet paper, confetti or balloons being shot into the crowd. Up on stage there were people dancing for the whole show. (Of note: One boy had on a basketball jersey and basketball shorts. Another girl had on a dance leotard with no pants.)

By the end of the show my hair was slicked back into a sweaty ponytail and confetti was stuck to my sweaty shirt. Obviously I should have worn a tank top, despite the frigid air outside. Didn’t I learn anything in college?

Aside from the last image, all of these were taken by NinjaDad: