Girl Talk’s set at the Roseland Theater in Portland on Saturday (part of Musicfest Northwest) was like that first scene in The Lion King when Rafiki lifts the baby lion cub for the kingdom to see, and the animals all freak the fuck out. I don’t know if that analogy really works (I guess the music is Simba, but is Gregg Gillis Mufasa or the baboon?), but I think it’s safe to say that whatever the case, Girl Talk live is always insane.

I’d luckily bought a ticket to the show a week before, because gaggles of wristband-weilding festival-goers were stuck outside of the packed venue, waiting to be frisked. And oh my, what a frisking! The security guard had me walk through a metal detector before going through my bag, which involved opening every single crevice and compartment she could find (including but not limited to film canisters, a pack of gum, the pocket in the back of my moleskine?) and giving me an extremely scrutinizing twice-over, (she probably wasn’t allowed to frisk me too).

I missed Cool Kids and Lifesavas as I was trying to get into other shows, (ie YACHT @ Satyricon, the Brunettes @ Crystal Ballroom, both to no avail) but got there just in time, with pre-dance-frenzy tension hanging in the air . When Gillis finally ascended his pride rock, so did two venue security guards, and it became apparent to the crowd that no stage-rushing would be taking place. Things were looking grim, but alas! Gillis in his signature sweatsuit jumped down in front of the stage, the kids launched themselves over the barrier, the beats started, and the place exploded. Girl Talk does not disappoint. It was a limb-flailing, head-bobbing, fist-pumping mess and totally awesome. Probably even worth the twenty dollars (and countless other mysterious items I haven’t noticed missing) I lost when my bag was split open in the madness.

Half the crowd disappeared when the set was over, a shame considering Clipse was headlining; while the duo was charismatic and their performance totally on, the crowd was tuckered out from the Girl Talk insanity. Kids were dancing, maybe even awkwardly waving their hands around to the beat, but the only real enthusiasm exhibited (read: not primarily a hip-hop crowd) was for “Wamp Wamp (What It Do)”, a track Girl Talk samples in a mash-up of Grizzly Bear’s song “Knife”.

I confess I wasn’t really paying attention to Clipse, I was busy crawling around people’s feet collecting my scattered belongings.

Pampelmoose has some video footage of the show. Needless to say, unless you are totally square and hate dancing, Girl Talk shows are a blast.