Gelli Haha Gets St. Paul To Surrender

Gelli Haha has been my new obsession lately. Her synth-heavy dance pop stylings are enough to get anyone dancing, and her reputation for putting on a wild show was something I needed to see for myself. As I walked towards Amsterdam Bar & Hall on Thursday night I began to clock that the city felt just a bit different. I saw people in very bright outfits smiling and walking towards the same fittingly red door. It was an absolute rainbow of stripes and smiles. This was certainly the place. 

Opening the night was Big Sis. They’re a sibling duo from LA by way of Liverpool who were 50% dance music aficionados and 50% comedy perfection. Baby and Babie Baker tolled the lines between music and comedy in a way that had everyone smiling ear to ear and dancing the entire set. 
They started their opening slot in absolutely GIANT flat outfits. White polo shirts and khaki cargo shorts with chunky New Balance dad shoes. I really do mean giant outfits. They could just barely get the microphones to their faces. Turning around on the stage could have been a safety issue for a lesser skilled set of musicians. The room filled with dirty synth beats and colorful lights and we never looked back. 

Every song flew by as we were lost in the world they created. Each one ended with a deadpan “Thanks. We’re Big Sis” in perfect sibling unison. Over the course of the set, they undressed revealing the same outfit, just smaller and smaller until they were down to glittery khaki hot pants and white dickie collars. Their comedy was more than just fashion, though. Their onstage banter had the delivery of two people who could not be more serious about the silly things being said. It was absolutely hilarious; like something out of a classic SNL sketch.

The crowd basically exploded during their song “Yay Yomes.” If you’re chronically online like myself you would recognize a line from their song from many, many Tik Toks “I took the drugs and the drugs are working. The drugs are working”  which is usually played in the background of cats on catnip (my personal favorite) or countless other silly animal videos. It clicked in that moment that we all knew the song and we RAGED. Absolutely one of the most fun opening sets. I’m definitely making all of my friends come with next time they’re in St. Paul or “that other one” (Minneapolis) again.

I would have been honestly satisfied with that performance for the night but we had more coming, and it was glorious. 

Gelli Haha’s set started with a screen of crazy controls as if we were on a spaceship that was in major failure. The band members who I can only describe as vibe captains came out to save the day as they ran to their stations at the drums and old-school synthesizers. Eventually, red flashlights filled the darkness and headed into the crowd as if they were looking for an alien who had escaped capture. The fugitive: Gelli Haha. The two flashlight wielding dancers and Gelli looped back through the crowd an onto the stage for a fully choreographed night of insanity.

The music was exactly as I hoped from hearing the recordings. Synth-y, dreamy, disco-y, and reminiscent of some of the 2008-2011 electro-dance motif. After all, a visual spectacle is great, but the music is the through line to bring it together. “Funny Music”, “Gelliverse”, “Spit”, and “Johnny” were standouts to me.

Every moment of the show had some kind of prop and choreography. It was so fun to see something so intentional but also whimsical at the same time. It was like being at a taping of a 90’s children’s show with some kind of underlying sinister vibes percolating under the surface. Joy, mystery, and nostalgia all wrapped into one big red vision. 

I always enjoy when an artist is intentional with color. Red was the theme from outfits, to fishnets, hula hoops, hammers, and trampolines. Everything conformed to the motif, so when a prop like the parachute from elementary school came out, it was a vision that delighted. Especially as a dress for Gelli and her dancers, who made distant arms and legs for Gelli’s head sticking out the top. The creativity was such a joy. 

Hearing that the set was 11 songs might sound on paper that it was too short, but the effort and detail that went into every second of the show made it feel like we had watched a marathon set of greatest hits. Every time we’d get used to an odd thing the was happening, a new one would appear. It was a feast for the eyes and ears. 

As the encore of “Klouds Will Carry Us To Sleep” wrapped up and the lights came on I looked around the room filled with stripes and color and smiles and thought “this is one I’m going to remember forever.”

It just felt so good to be carefree and spend the night laughing and dancing away. Well done, Gelli Haha. Well done, Big Sis.