Despite taking place more than a decade ago, Gregg Gillis' set has lived long in the memory as a sweaty, unrestrained dance-fest.

The Courier took at a look at just how the biggest gig in Karova's history came together.

Shaun Adams, Karova Lounge's gig booker: I had a close association with Woody McDonald who was the programmer for Meredith Music Festival. We caught up for coffee, and there was a group of us who were all fans of Girl Talk. Woody was bringing him out for Laneway Festival. At that stage, he hadn't fully exploded in Australia. It was still pretty fringe. Woody said, 'Wouldn't it be a cool idea to just do a really crazy show at Karova?'

Gary Wilson, Karova Lounge owner: From memory, he was only playing a handful of shows in Australia, so to get one of those shows was a credit to Shaun, but it was also huge for Ballarat.

Meg Rayner, The Courier's then-entertainment editor: Shaun Adams would let me know when there were things coming that were going to be really exciting. And he'd mentioned there was this huge international act coming. I honestly could not believe it when he said it was going to be Greg Gillis.

Tegan Glenane, Karova Lounge's then-photographer: I think because of what Yacht Club DJs were doing at the time, I knew about Girl Talk and the influence it had on Ballarat's music scene, and Melbourne's too. There was just a huge buzz around it. Everyone I knew was going.

Shaun Adams: When it got announced, we were all surprised how crazy the hype had gotten. I was taken aback by it. And to be honest about it, there were a whole lot of Ballarat venues that were trying to go, 'Oh, you should move it to this venue instead...' But it was a pretty great thing for us. It put us on the map.

Gary Wilson: I knew it was going to be really big. People slept out overnight make sure they got tickets.

Shaun Adams: A group of people got there about 7am, some even had blankets.

Meg Rayner: The line for tickets was insane.

Shaun Adams: We didn't know it would sell out, we just thought it would be cool to put on. To this day, it's still the fastest show we've ever sold out - it actually took around seven minutes.

Tegan Glenane: I don't think I quite understood the significance. I remember hearing it was on, and before you knew it, the tickets had sold out. I was messaging Shaun and he was like, 'No, we've got a ticket for you, it's fine. You'll be coming to shoot it right?' And I was like, 'Oh great, cool!'

Gary Wilson: In the few days leading up it to it, I started watching some of his shows. So I actually rang one of my mates who was a scaffolder, got him to put extra scaffolding under the stage. Because at all his shows, suddenly there's 100 or 250 people on stage, so I got my mate in because I had this concern the stage was going to collapse or something.

A Girl Talk live performance from earlier this year

Meg Rayner: I have never experienced another night like that. It was such a hot day, and because the venue's underground and heritage-listed, there's no air-con. The fans are cranking, but it's just moving all this sweaty air around.

Shaun Adams: We were hit with a few 30 degree days leading into that gig. The way that Karova's built, being a bit underground, once that building gets hot with all that brick and asphalt around it ... we weren't starting from a great situation. The venue was really warm, it was cooler outside, people were standing in the doorway for five minutes before they went back in.

Gary Wilson: Seeing Girl Talk setting up beforehand, he was wrapping his whole laptop in glad wrap, just because the sheer amount of sweat.

Greg Gillis, in a 2009 interview with The Courier: The heart of what I'm doing is based on doing intimate shows where you can interact - all hang out together. The best shows for me will feel like a house party ... tiny shows really work out.

Tegan Glenane: You couldn't even see anything. I'm pretty sure the power went out at one point, and there was no lights. It was so hot and jam-packed. It wasn't scary though, everyone was just excited.

Ballarat musician Tess Pavlich: I watched the pub turn into a pool of sweat. It transformed indoors to Underwater World. It was dripping off things, not just people. I think I found it fascinating...

Meg Rayner: Everyone was stripping off. I just remember the clothes stuck to our skin.

Gary Wilson: The temperature was just excruciating. I remember standing up the top of the stairs with a headband on and two spray bottles, spraying water out on the crowd. The heat was intense for the staff, for the performer, for everyone. But one cared.

Shaun Adams: The venue always looked half-full from five minutes into the show because we had half the venue dancing on the stage with Greg. Everyone was getting a piece of the action.

Meg Rayner: It wasn't long before Gillis began to remove some clothing - a stage antic he's famous for - and the guys in the crowd followed suit, sweat dripping off them as they pumped their fists to the beats.The music never stopped. Track after track was effortlessly mixed into what seemed like an endless set.

Shaun Adams: There was a bit of naivety going in about exactly what was going to happen. We knew that people got on stage, but the intensity of it all. It added to the folklore of the show.

Tegan Glenane: I was just kind of chucking my camera up, squeezing myself in places, putting the flash on and hoping for the best. It wasn't hard to shoot, because it was so exciting. The hardest part was the sweat flying everywhere. The camera was getting wet.

Hunting Grounds' Michael Belsar in 2009: I've never seen a crowd go that insane. I spent most of the time backstage in the DJ booth just watching the sea of people losing their minds. I guess you just had to see it to believe it.

Meg Rayner: I was there with Andrew Kelly, one of The Courier's best photographers. I think he crowdsurfed when he was taking photos.

Gold Fields songwriter Mark Robert Fuller: It was an absolute hotbox.

Shaun Adams: I caught up with Greg at Splendour In The Grass not long ago, and he still says it's the hottest gig he's ever played. Ever. It's a weird contradiction, Ballarat's known for being so frickin' cold.

Meg Rayner: The desk Girl Talk had his laptop on collapsed, and so security were holding the desk so he could keep DJing on his laptop. It was unbelievable.

Shaun Adams: That's another one of those things, if we had our time again, we'd probably be a bit more prepared. It wasn't the most sturdy table to begin with, it wasn't made to have the pressure of 30 or 40 people that were all leaning on it at the same time. It was pretty funny. We threw that table out afterwards, one of our security guards built us a proper table which we still have today side-stage.

Meg Rayner: I think he loved it. Gillis was used to playing these big stadiums, and he was in this country town in this underground bar. I think he thought it was unbelievable.

Tegan Glenane: If I wasn't shooting it, I would have spent the whole night dancing with my friends. But I was kind of dancing with everyone, and everyone knew each other, so it didn't really matter. I wasn't missing out on anything. I've never laughed and smiled so much.

Nipuna Jayasekera from Neon Love: It probably wasn't the best show musically but in terms of energy and vibe it was like a hot sweaty orgy.

Meg Rayner: It's such a small venue, and to see everyone so happy and literally just spill out onto Camp Street afterwards - hot and sweaty and trying to catch their breath - it was so much fun. That night is just something I've never forgotten.

Gary Wilson: There's some classic photos of everyone coming out the front drowned in their own sweat. It's a night I'll never forget.

Shaun Adams: The photos and documentation we have of that show is really special for all of us. We could have easily not taken photos at that point in time, it was a little pre-social media where all that stuff is live or whatever.

Tegan Glenane: It was one of those really iconic things, you're just never going to be able to repeat that. The people that just happened to be there got this really intimate experience, and that's what was kind of cool about it. Girl Talk is still being talked about now, it's one gig in a tiny bar in Ballarat, years and years later. It's pretty amazing.

*Some quotes have been edited for brevity.