Girl Talk's Williamsburg Pool Party: Nature vs. Over-Nurtured

Photo by Dominic Ciccodicola for Gothamist

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The Wiliamsburg Pool Parties will wrap up next Sunday with Grizzly Bear and Beach House, but in many ways yesterday's blowout with Girl Talk felt like the real explosive climax to the summer. Fifteen minutes before Girl Talk went on, the line to get in stood still from the entrance at N 8th Street and ran well past the corner of N 11th. Parks officers seemed constantly on the run throughout the set as the hordes of people shut out of the fun became unruly and threatened to push through or turn over port-a-potties. One reader left a report of a chaotic scene from the front gates where allegedly hundreds of people cut the line and were allowed in by security just as the set was getting under way.

Massive lurking clouds creeping in from across the river threatened to shut down yet another outdoor event in a season that feels like it owes us one big rain check for another summer. But in the end, it was just passing showers and the only pause came halfway through the set when the stage began giving in to the weight of the dozens of teenagers Girl Talk's Greg Gillis had brought on stage to dance.

The teenagers certainly made their presence felt at yesterday's show. One girl threw up while on stage dancing, others openly urinated along the East River and we kept spotting various young women crying without any clear indication if they were tears of pain or of joy. Even though a majority of the crowd probably wasn't able to vote for him in his last election, Senator Chuck Schumer was on hand to get his mash on.

As the party dispersed onto Kent Street at show's end, our final image of the night came as a crowd gathered on the corner of N 8th and Kent below a get together taking place inside one of the condos one floor above. Two girls stared each other down, one safely in the fancy digs, one on the sidewalk below, both threatening to have a flash-off. The girl inside the condo went through with it and exposed her breasts through the window, much to the delight of the throng of amateur male photographers looking up. The girl on the street buckled under the pressure, not being able to muster up the necessary exhibitionist spirit. With a disappointed crew around her, she coped with it through the accepted method of the day, tears streaming down her face.