Show Review: Gelli Haha with Big Sis and Molina at Brick & Mortar Music Hall, 3/26/26

The world is really ready for an Electroclash comeback. Peaches is touring on the regular. GRAVY TRAIN!!! and Le Tigre have returned to the live stage. But where are the young electroclash acts here to carry the torch? SLAYYYTER and Charli XCX are definitely bringing the influence into the modern era. Yet, the DIY, artpunk side of it was 100% on display this lovely Thursday night at Brick & Mortar Music Hall.

Opening the show, Molina played a set of gorgeous, lush shoegaze. Loud guitars over light vocals, and under most settings, it would’ve been an amazing set. But, being hyped up for an electro dance party, it left me feeling a bit brain-wandery? That isn’t a real term, but good shoegaze isn’t meant to take your attention; it’s meant to push your brain into a stream and let it gently flow. In that case, she was perfect.

Big Sis was the exact opposite of Molina. The brother/sister duo, named both Baby and Baby, came out in giant white polo shirts and treated the crowd to 30 minutes of electro-rap comedy gold. They kept referring to us, sarcastically, as Sacramento. They did a whole “love song” contemplating what to text your ex. They did a song about reclaiming the word “freak” from folks who think of it as a sex thing. It was laugh-out-loud hysterical, with great beats and excellent mic skills on top of the punchlines. And the best moment was entirely on the fly- Lady Baby (as I refer to the female presenting member) had a sty last night, prompting the line, discussing how lucky a sty is on tour, ending with, “When you get a sty in Sacramento, you’ll find a guy in bed, though.”

I WANT TO SEE GELLI HAHA PLAY THE SPHERE.

The staging was probably the most elaborate thing I’ve ever seen at Brick & Mortar. There was a giant video screen showing the show “loading” as a drummer and a flight attendant took the stage and, after a brief warm-up, jumped into “Funny Music,” with the flight attendant playing a series of different analog synthesizers. Then, Gelli Haha herself pushed her way through the crowd, eagerly looking for, well, something? Then the dancers came out, and the party really got started.

[Show as slideshow]

The show was a big show. It was the most tightly choreographed show I’ve ever seen in such a small room. The five performers on stage functioned as if every move was purposeful, which it may very well have been. Props came out like bubbles, rubber balls, and inflatable, psychedelic dolphins (a la Lisa Frank). For the “Normalize,” Gelli and her dancers got under a circus tent and climbed onto stools to do a three-people-as-one-person move that felt very Grace Jones. “Bounce House” was performed ON TRAMPOLINES without losing breath or failing a single dance.

[Show as slideshow]

But the moment that really got me? “Piss Artist,” a song about peeing in a cup at a party and trying to figure out what to do with it? Well, towards the end of the song, Gelli and her dancers, who had been dancing with goblets the entire time, threw the cups to the crowd, who pelted us with… confetti. Not piss. I know there wouldn’t be pee in those cups, but she still got me.