 "Photo: Anne R. Belkin '12")
 "Photo: Anne R. Belkin '12")
When SBOG brought Girl Talk to Wellesley last spring, tickets sold out in under ten minutes. Students brought laptops to their 8:30 a.m. classes and students who didn’t have class before lunch set alarms to wake up early.
Less than a week later SBOG released more tickets and they were gone in less than five minutes. Limiting the number of tickets sold makes sense. Only a certain number of people can safely fit in Tishman Commons.
On Monday, Nov. 2, Girl Talk came to House of Blues Boston and tickets sold out in August. Considering the House of Blues takes a bit longer to hit capacity, it seems reasonable that it would take more than ten minutes to sell out, but months in advance is still impressive.
At Wellesley’s concert there was a lot of pushing, a lot of shoving and a lot of gyrating that led to awkward glances on campus for days after. However, that was nothing compared to the moshing, face-planting and general meanness that occurred at the House of Blues.
While leaning against the railing that separated the stage and the general populous by a foot and a half, I felt a change in the pushing and looked behind me. I was used to the constant push forward, but this time I was being pulled backwards. I looked back and saw a sinkhole where ten or twelve people had been standing a few moments before.
A girl had fallen on the ground and the people surrounding her had collapsed with and on top of each other. When everyone was righted we turned our attention back to the stage. The stranger standing next to me looked at me with wide eyes and shook her head; I mimicked her expression.
When Wellesley students walked into Tishman Commons on Feb. 16, 2009, they saw the small stage used for performances set up in the middle of the floor. As people filled in and waited for Girl Talk’s appearance, a member of SBOG informed everyone that Girl Talk would get set up and when he threw confetti in the air we would be allowed to rush the stage. As promised Girl Talk walked on stage, started the music and without anything further tossed a few handfuls of confetti into the air. And people rushed the stage.
The duration of the concert was a battle to stay on the stage, to fight for breathing room, to push closer to Girl Talk. His tour manager stood close by, making sure nothing terrible happened to his person or equipment, but that was it.
The House of Blues had an entire staff of bouncers whose job it was to stand between the stage and rail holding the general populous back, stand at every entrance to the stage, escort people from the stage and propel confetti, toilet paper and various other objects into the air. Though there were instances when people stood on the rail and made the leap to the stage, for the most part the bouncers did their part to keep the madness to a minimum.
At Wellesley the concert officially began when confetti was thrown into the air. Until then, spectators crowded the perimeter of the stage and waited for the show to begin. At House of Blues there was an opening act that flopped, and while waiting for Girl Talk to appear, the audience developed a relationship with the performer through the use of an enormous screen.
To tame the masses of people waiting for the mash-up artist, questions and instructions were typed out on the enlarged screen. The audience was told to yell or scream or get ready—as a stalling device, it was fantastic.
Of course, there are several things that need to be ready before an artist makes his appearance and keeping people waiting can really kill a show. The two most effective tactics seemed to begin with the screen reading “Girl Talk Trivia”. Questions came up referencing past albums, for example “Q: Who Are the Animals? A: WE ARE!” (“Feed the Animals” is the title of one of Girl Talk’s more recent albums).
As Dave, the same tour manager from the Wellesley concert, appeared on stage, a picture of his face took over the screen telling the audience to be patient with him, to be thankful that he set up this tour, and to demand that Girl Talk appear.
In spite of all the showmanship at the concert at the House of Blues, I found myself longing for the simpler, safer concert in Tishman Commons. I missed the ever present campus police making me feel safe, the exhausted and happy looks on the faces of SBOG members and an audience made up mostly of people I knew.
The predicted answer for ‘Who Are the Animals?’ should have prepared me for the craziness that ensued, but as I boarded the exchange bus for home, I breathed a sigh of relief.
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