After the distorted ending of Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ rung out across Skytop Field and sweaty students filtered out, the damage was apparent immediately.

Cups, confetti, water bottles and toilet paper were scattered everywhere. The grass was flattened like there had been a stampede. Popped balloons wilted near the stage.

All in all, it looked like the remnants of a successful house party. And that was exactly the atmosphere that mash-up artist Girl Talk, along with The Cool Kids and Jack’s Mannequin, brought to this year’s Juice Jam.

This year’s Juice Jam sold the most tickets ever, with an estimated 4,700 tickets sold, said Darren Goldberg, University Union president. It outsold the previous best-selling concert, Third Eye Blind, by 800 tickets.

Well before the show started and students showed up, UU board members were scattered across Skytop Field, constantly checking their phones, a buzz of anticipation in the air.

Jack’s Mannequin’s tour bus pulled in about 20 minutes behind schedule, with singer Andrew McMahon striding directly towards the stage. Everyone snapped into action.

‘Once talent gets on site, now things get crazy,’ said Kevin Manley, executive co-director of UU Concerts, surveying the setup this morning with a walkie-talkie at the ready. ‘Good crazy. Exciting crazy.’

Students spread out across the South Campus venue, giving the afternoon its sprawling party feel. And once Girl Talk took the stage, the daytime house party turned into a massive dance party.

A light rain threatened the beginning of the event, but students gradually poured in throughout the afternoon. Juice Jam, which in past years has been populated by a majority of freshmen, saw a lot of upperclassmen turn out for main act Girl Talk.

‘I’m here for Girl Talk, the music is so much better than it has been in past years,’ said Kassondra Wilbur, a junior political science major. ‘This is great, fun dance music.’

The non-music activities were a hit as well. Long lines formed to get a free spray-painted hat, which many donned throughout the afternoon. A caricature artist was also popular, and many freshmen filtered through the student organization fair.

Once The Cool Kids took the stage, a small group crowded towards the rappers, hands in the air, while most still stayed at the other activities or sat on the grass eating cotton candy and giant popsicles.

As Jack’s Mannequin took the stage, many abandoned the rest of Juice Jam and focused on the real show – the music. It took a few songs for singer McMahon to get the crowd into his self-proclaimed ‘piano rock,’ but once he started climbing on top of his baby grand piano, the crowd responded.

‘It was a really solid set,’ said Andy Striph, a freshman acting major, after Jack’s Mannequin’s set. ‘I was surprised at how cheap it was to get into this show. And it’s cool how there’s other stuff to do besides the music too.’

His set closed with a cover of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ ‘American Girl’ and left the growing crowd with a palpable buzz. As the stage was dismantled, the audience of about 100 swelled as they anxiously awaited Girl Talk.

Armed with solely his laptop and about 20 randomly chosen people to dance onstage throughout the whole hour and a half set, Gregg Gillis, also known as Girl Talk, hit play and did not relent until the last beat faded across the field.

His wardrobe of a ratty sweatshirt and headband were gradually thrown off as he hopped and flung himself around stage, until he was left in just sweatpants. The crowd’s energy swelled and ebbed with the different song samples – people going crazy for Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ and Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone.’

The added stage theatricals hyped up the crowd – one of Gillis’ close friends spent the beginning part of the show using a leaf blower contraption that shot off streams of toilet paper into the crowd. Fans blew confetti into the audience throughout the set, and huge balloons were released at the end, throwing the dance party into a frenzy.

Gillis gave the ‘last song’ speech about three times, and no one protested – if anything the energy got higher as the Jackson 5 rang out with Justin Timberlake, and finally Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer.’

The end was almost anticlimactic, the song slowing down into distortion as people towards the stage and way back in the grass danced frantically with friends. The energy Gillis created was gone as soon as it began. Security began hustling sweaty students out as soon as the show was over.

‘It was so awesome, he played a lot of stuff not on his albums,’ said Rebecca Masters, a junior at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. ‘The toilet paper thing was great, I was wearing some in my hair for awhile. And he was dancing and really getting into it the whole time too.’

eaconnor@syr.edu

Published on September 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm