It’s taken me years, but I think I finally get the deal with 100 Gecs. At first, I found the music abrasive. And it sort of is. It started to be annoying. And it sort of is. But here’s how it shifted:
Remember how in 2020 – for some inexplicable reason that still baffles medical professionals to this day – we all stopped going to shows for a few months? (What was the deal with that? What was happening?). Anyway, by the end of that period, I was so grateful to be back in the crowd at shows that I didn’t really care who or what I was seeing and hearing. I was just so grateful to be back at shows and to see other people enjoying themselves. Gone was my Grinch era. My heart had grown three sizes.
It was during this period that I got nabbed to sell merch for 100 Gecs at their show at the Royale in fall 2021. Sure, I knew I wasn’t into them, but $125 is $125. But boy, was I glad I accepted the offer. They pack in a truly wild crowd that gets hype. So now, over a year and a half later, when I got an email looking for coverage of 100 Gecs performing at Roadrunner with Machine Girl (who I would see open up for Kenny Fuckin G if I had to), I was already there. I wanted to take photos of that crowd, who would undoubtedly show up in droves costumed as witches and pixies and who knows what else.
The show did not disappoint. From Machine Girl’s unrelenting noise to 100 Gecs’ autotuned stage banter, this bill was filled with equal parts breathtaking spectacle and comic relief. The noisy jungle of Machine Girl’s albums was converted into something that sonically plays more like thrashy noise punk, which is an interesting pivot for the Long Island duo. When frontman Matt Stephenson marched offstage to perform the final 3 (or so) songs of the set in the middle of the audience? Absolute scenes. Being close enough to the stage to see a big wad of drool clinging onto his chin? Iconic. And that’s not a term I throw around willy-nilly.
Machine Girl turned out to be the perfect opener for 100 Gecs, raising the energy just perfectly enough so that when the headliner took stage, the audience was in sheer uproar. By the time the duo of Laura Les and Dylan Brady took the stage, the packed house was more than ready. Ripping through tracks off their latest release 10,000 Gecs, they also threw in some of the biggest crowd-pleasers from their previous album 1000 Gecs. It’s yet to be seen if the group will continue with this powers of 10 naming convention, but it will be cool to see how many gecs they get up to before switching it up. “Stupid Horse,” “Gec 2 Ü” and more stood out, but the real magic moment of the night was when a young woman in a clown costume was carried by the crowd to the first row, a veritable renaissance painting of an audience.
Check out our photos from the show below.
