100 gecs revel in pure fun in Minneapolis

100 gecs performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.Sara Fish for MPR

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April 19, 2023

100 gecs filled the Armory with songs about tooth removal, horse racing, Doritos, bloodstains, and frogs on Tuesday night. Laura Les and Dylan Brady’s musical project has accelerated in popularity since their last Minneapolis visit, which took place at Fine Line in 2020. In a venue more than 10 times the capacity as the last, 100 gecs performed a show equally intense and playful following the 2023 release of 10,000 gecs.

The Armory’s floor felt like a trampoline before Les and Brady stepped on stage. Chaos broke out as soon as Matt Stephenson, frontman of Machine Girl, roared his voice. During the opener’s hardcore rave set, Stephenson’s words were almost impossible to understand amidst the mix of metal and digital sounds. Drummer Sean Kelly’s physical ability to keep up with the high-BPM compositions was unbelievable. When incorporating hip-hop beats, Stephenson descended to the floor to hop and scream along with the crowd. While in the audience, he climbed to a ledge and stood hunched over, as if acting deceased.

Many crowd members had acts of their own. The overarching aesthetic was gothic and oversized clothing, and the more entertaining outfits included: Banana suits, Angry Birds costumes, Gopher overalls, clowns, stuffed bear backpacks, chains, bondage, and frog hats. It would have been hard to feel out of place in the environment.

A woman wears a purple cloak with yellow stars — 100 gecs performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Sara Fish for MPR

Dressed in printed cloaks, Les and Brady of 100 gecs walked on stage to “THX Deep Note,” one of the world’s most recognizable audio logos that plays in many film intros. Singing along to the opening track, the first words out of fans’ mouths were, “I’m the dumbest girl alive!”

The duo is known as one of the acts to usher hyperpop into mainstream attention, but the night’s setlist demonstrated that “hyperpop” is a small box compared to 100 gecs’ expansive sound choices. If anything, it’s hyper-everything. Les jokingly described the tour as an “Elvis Christmas special variety show,” and there might not have been a better title. With most songs under three minutes, and many under two, the atmosphere shifted rapidly as songs began and ended — circling between shades of metal, pop-punk, polished electro-pop, and ska.

The set delivered chatty harmonies and catchy hooks amidst the chaos of distorted vocals. On “I Got My Tooth Removed,” hands fluctuated between swaying above heads, then pressed aggressively between bodies, and then swaying again. “Frog On the Floor” held nursery-like rhymes, and eerie boings accompanied the psychedelic song “The Most Wanted Person In the United States.”

A surprising interlude came when Les and Brady sat down with acoustic guitars and asked what the crowd would like to hear. As people screamed song titles, Les joked that she couldn’t hear and would cover “Wonderwall.” Instead, the duo strummed an almost unrecognizable rendition of the 1000 gecs’ song “gecgecgec.”

Not so surprising was the look on people’s faces as they stared into their friends eyes and excitedly sang/spoke Les’ line: “Hey little piss baby, you think you’re so f***ing cool? / Huh? / You think you’re so f***ing tough?” on “money machine.”

The duo’s stage presences were quite distinct: Les did most of the crowd interaction while Brady remained quiet. She introduced the majority of songs titles before beginning tracks, as if unsure if the newer fans were familiar with the entire catalog. Perhaps playing in front of larger crowds still feels fresh.

A man wearing a pointy hat and cloak with notes sings into a mic — 100 gecs performed at the Armory in Minneapolis on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Sara Fish for MPR

Les introduced “fallen 4 Ü” as a song about going to shows, and it accurately described aspects of attending a 100 gecs performance. She sang, “Lost my keys, broke my phone, plus I came here all alone / Now somebody's pressed against me, I'm already sweaty.” The middle of the general admission floor is not a spot for everyone. Throughout the night, people held lost shoes in the air, pressed rib cages against the barricade, and tried to stay standing while mosh pits opened and slammed shut. The show may have been overwhelming for anyone with sensory hypersensitivity, but listening to 100 gecs’ music, the energy is to be expected.

For anyone looking for catharsis that can be found in silly vibes related to the mundane — like the aforementioned tooth removal, horse racing, Doritos, bloodstains, and frogs — the night was ideal. The duo’s shameless and carefree demeanor wasn’t juvenile, rather accepting real life challenges lightheartedly.

The encore closer, “gec 2 Ü,” exemplified 100 gecs’ ability to project intimacy into a room filled with thundering bass and lights flashing intensely in every direction. A subtle tender ambiance emerged as Les sang, “You're sitting all alone, and you call me on the phone / And you say, ‘I need love, can you get to me now?’”

100 gecs