Clearly our 412 neighbor is a fan of the Queen City, and we love him right back, feeding off the energy and the many interactions he had with the crowd. (To the person who caught the hoodie he tossed into the crowd shortly after taking the stage, I want/need it kthx!)

For those of you smart enough to get a ticket, I hope you’re still finding bits of confetti in your hair and ringing in your ears from the fresh mixes he brought to the packed venue. Half the fun of a GT show is trying to identify the samples he throws at you, and there were a LOT.

Whether it was a two second clip of Kendrick Lamar’s “Backstreet Freestyle” or the twerktastic flow of Sage the Gemini’s “Gas Pedal,” there were tons of fresh beats to shake it to. Yeezus, arguably (in that I will debate you endlessly on the greatness of it) the best album of last summer, had a few tracks that were “Bound 2” make appearances, and GT did not disappoint.

Because there is no set playlist for his shows (he is mixing the tracks live on stage like a g.d. boss), it’s a challenge to remember what was played and when, but some standout crowd favorites were when he paired M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” with Lorde’s “Royals” and mashed up Radiohead’s “Idioteque” with Quad City DJ’s “Train.” (Side note: if you were lucky enough to be in the subway car that got ejected after having a 15 minute sing-a-long that was just too much for the good people at NFTA, y’all are amazing. Ride the train, indeed).

Before GT took the stage, local act the Get Money Squad warmed up the crowd with a slightly disjointed set. Their stage presence was lackluster, but their EP has been well-received locally, so give that a listen if this show was your only exposure to the group.

Canalside is quickly becoming the go-to spot for outdoor shows, with this one boasting a VIP area that included unlimited wine, burritos by Lloyd, and a designated blocked off area close to the stage.  For the rest of us, dancing it out in the packed crowd was one of those bizarro bonding experiences where it didn’t matter that your feet got trampled repeatedly and some drunk girl spilled her beer all over your already sticky sweaty body because OMGirltalk, this was the best show at Canalside all year.

Photo credit –  William DeFreis

The post Girl Talk at Canalside (8/8/14) first appeared on buffaBLOG.

If you manager to arrive at Canalside early, make sure to catch the urban surf vibes of The Get Money Squad. The buzzing, Buffalo act, comprised of members of Network, recently released their debut EP, Nothing’s Wrong, capturing our album of the week honors.

Music kicks off at 7pm.

The post Tonight: Girl Talk first appeared on buffaBLOG.

The last time I saw Girl Talk (government name: Gregg Gillis) was on a sweaty summer evening in 2012, so it’s appropriate that two years later, he’s coming back to the 716 to deliver another night of sweat til ya bleed steez in the way that only GT can. For Gillis, “shows are actually difficult for me as far as performing the material, and they’re always physical. I always want them to go better, always trying to push, trying to move forward.”

Push he does. At the onset of Girl Talk, Gillis would show up to house parties still clad in the suit he wore to his day job as a biomedical engineer, and while the vibe of the show hasn’t changed, the clothes and locations definitely have. Now, it isn’t a Girl Talk show til he’s shirtless and sweating on the crowd, rocking the sweats and (custom) Jordans that have become his on stage uniform.

The sweats. He orders them “by the boxload every month” because he goes through them so quickly, and is very open to the idea of a sponsorship: “There has been one company that I won’t name, a bigger company, that’s sent me some stuff. Not a sponsorship but they sent me some gear. Shout out to whoever wants to send me some sweats.” (Are you reading this, New Era?!)

They are such a staple of his onstage persona that when in jeans and a tee, “walking outside my own show, people don’t recognize me.” Add a sweatshirt, and he goes from GG to GT, a superhero quick change as (seemingly) effortless as the mixes he plays live on stage. However, the self-described generally low-key Gillis is quick to point out that at shows, it’s “a great time to exist on a different kind of level..not a character; it’s almost a part of my personality I don’t really get to express any other time.”

Expressing himself is something that comes naturally to the artist, who says that, along with his loyal crew (many have been with him from the beginning) “We’ve always been into the performance of it. Everyone knows how much this means to me; everyone has pride in their work…it’s fun to tour with friends and people who are passionate about what they’re doing.”

From setting up confetti cannons to picking enthusiastic concertgoers to dance onstage during the show, there isn’t much the crew doesn’t do. For Gillis, who describes their shows as “a little different just because of where it came from-the whole vibe of the show was private house parties. Ideally everyone’s looking at me like we’re all hanging out together; obviously the ones onstage are actually hanging out.” Because of this, it’s important for those people to go just as hard as he does, which is something he’s very aware of, explaining that he pushes himself in hopes that the crowd follows along.

It must be mentioned that GT is a Pittsburgh native, and the city loves him so much they gave him his own day. All Day, Gillis’ last mashup album, dropped on December 7th, 2010, and in Pittsburgh (and my house), it’s known as Gregg Gillis Day. He loves the city right back, vocally supporting the Pirates and Steelers, and when pressed about the city’s NHL franchise, he acknowledges that “I’m definitely a Penguins fan.”

Bam. It took all my self-restraint not to get on Twitter immediately after this gem and post it, complete with three of my favorite hashtags: #qotd (quote of the day), #realtalkgirltalk, and #blackandyellowbetch. Gillis, who views all social media as a performance, explains that he “really enjoys other people’s social media. I love Instagram but I don’t feel myself compelled to engage in it.”

Inexplicably, he only followed one person on Twitter until very recently. The man who sampled hundreds of artists throughout his musical career chose to follow just one, and for that one to be Soulja Boy is both baffling and funny. According to Gillis,  “I was really into only following Soulja Boy and I’m still into the idea of it.”

What inspired the change? “The Freeway thing. When it was coming out, it would be insane to be doing this project with someone and not be following him.” If you haven’t yet, cop Girl Talk’s latest project, a six song EP titled Broken Ankles.

The collaboration, which combines Gillis’ original beats with Freeway’s unmistakably gruff flow, was released in April, and for the first single, “Tolerated,” the duo made a campily, disgustingly horrifying video, complete with a Waka Flocka cameo and so many bodily injuries that broken ankles are the least of your problems.

When asked how reception of this project has been at shows (Freeway cameos at a lot of festival dates) GT explains that “working material into what I’m doing is exciting for me because when I put it out people were into it, but a lot of people were like, ‘where’s the mashup?’ They wanted something a little closer to my previous albums.”

This wouldn’t be a proper Girl Talk interview without a little girl talk, so naturally I asked him what he puts in his hair. In many press pics, GT looks clean and freshly washed, with hair that he describes as “poofy” and “too fluffy” but any snap from a show? I can see sweat.

It’s another GG to GT change that helps him cultivate his onstage persona. He says he’s “pretty clean in general, but on the road I end up not showering that much. I like to stay raw and usually don’t wash my hair…at shows I revert back to a more primal state.”

Luckily for GT, I wash my hair (maybe) twice a week, and know a little something about the merits of various dry shampoos. Having a chat with one of my favorite artists about one of my favorite hair products just might be (read: it totally is) the highlight of my summer

Wanna catch Girl Talk in all his “filthy even before the show starts” glory? Tickets are still available for the August 8th show at Canalside. If your hair game isn’t ready to play, cover it up with a Pittsburgh Pirates cap. Black and yellow, betch. Represent.

Photo by Paul Sobota

The post Girl Talk first appeared on buffaBLOG.

Tickets will go on sale for the show on Monday, May 12th, for $15 in advance, $20 day of.

The post Just Announced: Girl Talk first appeared on buffaBLOG.

Full disclosure: I’m borderline obsessed with Girl Talk. Haters gon hate, but I think his baggy sweats/no shirt/dope hat and/or headband steez at shows is superfly. The Pittsburgh native has been churning out mixtapes for years, sampling everyone from Jay-Z to Bruce Springsteen on well-produced and well-acclaimed albums that are the lazy man’s dj at parties. Too lazy to make a playlist? No worries, because Gregg Gillis has you covered.

Freeway, *not* to be confused with “Freeway” Rick Ross, though both copped their name from the same famed drug trafficker, hits hard on this track, and his chain game is, shall we say, brilliant. The Roc-a-Fella affiliated rapper, who caught my ear guesting on slept-on Kanye track “Two Words” from Ye’s debut album, College Dropout, is known for his gritty delivery over even grittier beats, and while this style doesn’t necessarily mesh with GT’s seamlessly sampled sound, on this track it works.

Multiple mixtape maker Waka Flocka brings his usual flair to the track, and while he isn’t featured heavily, his combo of thick braids and thicker video hoes makes up for his short verse.

The video itself, directed by Allen Cordell, is a teaser for the full-length vid, and is a kung fu/fight club hybrid that features GT and Freeway ripping limbs off the people unlucky enough to cross their paths while swagging their way through the city.

Cordell, who also directed videos for Cloud Nothings (who are coming to Buffalo this Friday y’all!) captured the self-proclaimed “anti-hater” message that GT and Freeway are trying to convey in the most over-the-top and almost campy way possible…if you had told me that classic low-budget horror flick turned Spider-Man franchise ruiner Sam Raimi decided to direct a bloody funny music video, I would have believed you.

The post Girl Talk and Freeway f/ Waka Flocka Flame: “Tolerated” first appeared on buffaBLOG.