Z-Trip
Waterloo Park, Nov. 8“I’m not like Girl Talk,” suggested Z-Trip. “I still got these turntables.” Z-Trip’s style is the real deal, and the sight of local pupil DJ Thibault’s rocking out atop a nearby picnic table during the set defined Trip’s ability to incite a riot. So did the crowd’s mad rush to the stage after the California DJ allowed a lone lady to keep dancing despite security’s other plans. Trip’s set reminded observers of the power of vinyl, mixing Dead Prez with Lil Wayne, M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” with the Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By,” Stevie Wonder’s “Up-Tight (Everything’s Alright)” with G’N’R’s “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” Even the Girl Talk-ian blend of Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome” and Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” shook out with more authenticity than a GT fashioning, Trip scratching up Robert Plant’s howls and cutting the needle on the Bomb Squad’s buzz. Throngs drained from an hour-plus of relentless moshing, the old-school DJ closed by queuing up slots from his Party for Change mixtape, letting listeners consider the history they all witnessed last Tuesday.
This article appears in November 14 • 2008.