100 Gecs stopped in Minneapolis on April 18, during 10,000 Gecs Tour 2, for a rambunctious set that further proved their generational talent.
This time around, the duo (Laura Les and Dylan Brady), played The Armory. With an 8,400-person capacity, The Armory was a major step up from the 1,550-person capacity First Avenue Mainroom, where they last performed in Minneapolis.
The upgrade in venue was appropriate for a band known for attracting riotous (and smelly) mosh-pitters. Like, someone got bit at their last Minneapolis show.
The spirit of 100 Gecs was obvious before they even took the stage at The Armory, particularly with their merch. The ridiculous merch designs matched the sense of humor of the band’s music perfectly.
One shirt depicted Yoda with breasts on the front and two anthropomorphic cannabis leaves underscored with “LEGALIZE IT!” written in red text below it. Another shirt had the hysterical lyric from their new song “The Most Wanted Person In The United States,” “Got Anthony Kedis sucking on my penis” (intentionally misspelled).
The duo opened their Minneapolis show with the opening track off their critically acclaimed March album, “10,000 Gecs.” The track, titled “Dumbest Girl Alive,” opens with a tongue-in-cheek sample of the iconic THX “Deep Note,” a sonic fixture in most Gen Zers’ cultural upbringing, before abruptly transitioning into a ‘00s pop punk-sounding riff. Seconds later, the track metamorphosizes again. A funky trap section arrives, sampling Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” and Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” two of the most familiar entries in the hypebeast canon.
This chaotic, high-energy mix of the sound palettes of the ‘00s and ‘10s is the epitome of both 100 Gecs’ creative mission and what’s left of the hyperpop subgenre as a whole. The song worked as a perfect opener for the setlist.
The extremely goofy ska song “Frog on the Floor,” also from “10,000 Gecs,” brought a surprising amount of crowd enthusiasm, considering its departure from the abrasive fusion of catchy pop and head-banging electronic that defined the duo’s first album.
While not as innovative as some of their other songs, the crowd embraced the band’s sense of humor with this track, bouncing to amusing lyrics about a keg stand-performing amphibian.
Later into the setlist, Les and Brady performed their newest album’s lead single, “Hollywood Baby.” The single perfectly exemplifies what makes their new studio album and live set great. It mixes pop-punk, industrial and autotune-pop in a way that can scratch the specific musical itch inside the hyper-online brain of the average 100 Gecs fan.
About halfway into the show, the duo performed three metal-influenced tracks back-to-back: “Hey Big Man” (from their 2022 EP “Snake Eyes”), “Billy Knows Jamie” and “One Million Dollars.” Absolutely feral mosh pits raged throughout it all, especially during the extremely Limp Bizkit-esque “Billie Knows Jamie.”
Toward the end of their set, the duo performed two fan favorites from their debut LP, “1,000 Gecs.”
First was “hand crushed by a mallet.” The track’s distorted beats, along with Brady’s industrial grunts, primed the crowd for the concert’s most hard-hitting song, “money machine.” Once the group started “money machine,” the crowd opened a circle pit, the biggest of the night. It’s safe to say that “money machine” is still 100 Gecs’ signature song, given the burst of energy once the chorus hit.
Les and Brady are still masterfully delivering danceable hardcore music in a live setting. The group has proved that since their last LP, they have not lost any steam at all. With the fervent crowd and high quality performance, there is no doubt they will go down as one of the decade’s greatest acts.
