100 gecs shows St. Louis how to get down

Hot on the heels of the release of their second studio album, 100 gecs hit the stage at The Pageant in St. Louis the other night amid one of the craziest storms I have ever witnessed. As I was walking up to the venue, rain was pouring, and the sky was filled with lightning bolts that ran nearly 360 degrees across the sky. A couple hours earlier the power had gone out at the Korean restaurant I was eating at, which maybe should have been my sign to head home for the night and wait out the tornado watch that was currently in effect. But…for myself and the rest of the sold-out crowd that packed their way into The Pageant later that night, staying home was not an option.

As the crowd steadily grew, the opening act Machine Girl came on and immediately dove into what would be a very intense start to the show. Machine Girl’s creator and vocalist Matt Stephenson wasted no time in plunging the crowd into his unpredictably wild performance. Self-described as “fucked-up electronic punk” the show was anything but boring. Stephenson leapt across the stage to the beat of drummer Sean Kelly, screamed into the mic, and bared his teeth towards the crowd in what could best be described as an animalistic and energetic show. The duo will be accompanying the Gecs along the rest of their US tour this May, so be sure to show up early if you feel like rocking out!

After a brief intermission, the stars of the night took the stage. 100 gecs appeared, each donned in full wizard gear, and opened up the show with a raucous and insane couple of songs. The fans were going absolutely nuts from the very start of the show. Once they got a few songs into the setlist, the St. Louis natives Dylan Brady and Laura Les, took a moment to acknowledge the crazy weather we were having, and said how awesome it was to be back where they both grew up in St. Louis, performing to a sold-out crowd. As the roar of the people in the audience continued the band jumped back into performing their set which was chalk full of aggressive, hyper pop anthems that are almost impossible to not groove to. 

The duo has perfected the art of taking common pop music tropes and pushing them to their absolute limits.

Hence the aptly named category “Hyper Pop” that they are commonly lumped into, a genre that listeners over a certain age may not be quite as receptive to due to its extremely fast pace and aggressive delivery. The unique sound of the band as they explore the sonic limits of how far you can push a song before it breaks, for me is over-shadowed by only one thing: the absolute sense of fun that they seem to be having both on and off stage. If you dig through the lyrics for any of their songs, it is immediately apparent that they are not taking themselves too seriously. For example, their newest album features songs about: how dumb the singer is, a frog that they found in their basement, and a heart wrenching anthem about someone getting their tooth pulled.

All in all, 100 gecs is a band that prioritizes fun over just about anything else it seems. So if you are trying to nail down your concert schedule for this Spring (or any other season the Gecs are touring in your neighborhood) and you ALSO prioritize fun (which you should) then getting to one of these shows is a no-brainer!

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