As the crowd waited for the Girl Talk show to start, several beach balls were thrown from the stage, keeping the crowd occupied. Pittsburgh rap group Grand Buffet opened with an extremely abbreviated set. The group tore through a number of shortened songs interspersed with some profanity and references to drug abuse.

The crowd seemed largely unmoved by Grand Buffet's set. Kyle Golden (senior-psychology) said he was surprised such a raunchy group had been booked for an on-campus event.

Girl Talk's performance started slowly. Gillis struggled with microphone feedback, asking several times for changes in the volume levels. Once he was happy with the setup, Gillis thanked SOMA for organizing the show despite the setbacks. However, when he mentioned the show would have to continue with the hall's house lights on, the crowd's cheers turned to boos. Gillis quickly regained the crowd's approval by firing up his laptop.

The show opened with a mixture of T.I.'s "Bring 'Em Out" and Van Halen's "Running With the Devil." Just like on his records, Gillis kept the show interesting with a constantly evolving stream of music. Rather than splitting his mixes into "songs," Gillis made sure the beat never dropped by manipulating the samples to perfectly segue from one to another.

Though the night's fare resembled a Girl Talk album, Gillis created new mixtures of samples and let the beats linger to better allow for dancing. As the show progressed, The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony" mixed with The Ramones' "Blitzkreig Bop," M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," Blackstreet's "No Diggity," Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy." It was an eclectic mix, but Gillis made it work.

Though one man with a laptop on stage might make some skeptical, Gillis made up for it with showmanship. He took the stage with a hoodie on but quickly removed it, tearing his shirt from his chest and becoming a blur of flailing limbs and sweaty flesh, pausing only slightly to alter the flow of the music. The raucous group of students onstage also contributed to the dance-party atmosphere.

Of course, the overall effect would have benefited from a better light show in a dimmer hall, but Gillis worked past the setbacks. Though getting into the show was difficult, Girl Talk made it worthwhile for those who persevered and managed to get through the doors of Alumni Hall.