Mash-up artist Girl Talk performed to more than 2,000 Carleton, University of Ottawa and Algonquin students at the Ottawa Civic Centre March 31 as part of Pandamonium, an annual end-of-year concert celebration.

The event, which in the past has played host to more mainstream acts such as Sam Roberts and Metric, decided to host a more unconventional artist this time.

“The VPs at Ottawa U and [Carleton] kicked around some ideas and brought them back to the executives,” said Carleton University Students’ Association vice-president (student life) Alex Sirois about planning the show.

And while there were some standard — but impressive — opening bands in Ottawa’s own Tympanic and the Juno-nominated Arkells, there was no mistaking who students had paid $15 to see.

“Who’s excited for Girl Talk!” exclaimed Sirois to an apparently intoxicated crowd.

As soon as the show began, fans cwere already dancing up on stage as Girl Talk spun the audience into a sweat-drenched frenzy.

Gregg Gillis, or stage name, Girl Talk, gained popularity with his 2008 breakthrough album, Feed The Animals, which showcased his unique style of mashing up various recordings spanning all genres.

One popular song mixes rapper Ludacris’ “Move Bitch” with 1970s heavy metal hit “War Pigs.”

Excitement for Girl Talk was evident, as the packed venue saw students bopping along to every mash-up, and there was no shortage of eager crowd surfers.

Whenever Gillis was not behind the turntables — he recreates all his mixes live — he was prompting the audience to dance or clap along.

And as if the crowd needed any encouragement, assistants on stage could be seen shooting rolls of toilet paper and confetti onto the floor.

Opening band The Arkells also received a very positive reception from the crowd. It also didn’t hurt that the Hamilton natives were just as excited to be opening for Girl Talk as they were for the opportunity to see him perform.

“We’ve played with a lot of our favourite rock bands, but we never got to play for our favourite DJ,” said front man Max Kerman.

And although Gillis does not consider himself a DJ, fans could nevertheless agree that whatever he does, he does it well.

“I’ve never heard Girl Talk live before, but being there in that crowd, made for one hell of a night,” said first-year Carleton student Macy Laporte.