Photo by TJ Fackelman, words by Adam J. Lovinus
Where were you when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States? I’ll forever equate this historic moment with Turner Hall Ballroom and Girl Talk.
The evening started off on-edge; I had been watching election returns at the Harp & Shamrock knowing it would be another anxious couple of hours before anybody knew anything. Kentucky had gone red and Vermont blue when I staked out for Turner in need of distraction.
Openers CX Kidtronic spat crackpipe raps over DJ Funk-style booty house beats, while a montage of gratuitous ass shots projected on stage behind them. Baltimore’s Death Set Kids never got their set off the ground; technical difficulties reduced them to an air band. Very weak, I thought – and was happy to turn my back and watch Obama pick up Pennsylvania and Ohio on the monitor in the back of the ballroom.
It wasn’t long after Girl Talk took the stage that CNN called it. He had just mashed up “Come Sail Away” by Styx with Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares” all bitch-house style, and you could feel the floor of the venue bounce as the sold-out crowd jumped around celebrating. When he deftly snuck in “The Weight” by The Band underneath 2 Live Crew’s “Shake That Ass Bitch,” my buddy Andzej turned to me, grinning and said: “At a certain point, you gotta wonder if the joke is on us.” He nailed it.
Some of the other set highlights: “No Diggity” by Blackstreet mashed into “Flashing Lights” by Kanye West; the “Tiny Dancer” booty house mix into the outro of “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles; “I Want You to Want Me,” Cheap Trick (Madison represent!) an unexpected “Jesse’s Girl” by Rick Springfield and a floor-shaking mix of “Song 2” by Blur, followed by AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” forced upon “Faithfully” by Journey (thanks Adrienne!). Oh, and watching the electoral map turn blue.
Usually I leave Turner Hall buzzed on tall boys. That night I was buzzed on pure adrenaline and rekindled enthusiasm for this fine nation, where musicians have the right to spin classic rock-cum-bitch-house on Election Night. I’ll never forget it.
Related: Girl Talk interview by Erin Wolf for Vital Source
Fan-belt Milwaukee 