REVIEW: Gelli Haha with Big Sis: Live at The Masquerade - Altar (ATL)
- Joe Chiarella
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
The one-of-a-kind artists bring their surreal worlds to ATL for a jaw-dropping night of music
Navigating the Masquerade on a night when all four venues have shows is a fascinating experience. As I watched people file down the stairs into Kenny's Alley and pass through the metal detector, it was easy to guess where each person was heading. The metalheads with their black t-shirts were there to see Sepultura. Those outfitted as clowns, circus performers, or just generally dressed in red? They were there to enter the whimsical world known as the Gelliverse.
Big Sis took the stage first, exploding through the doors in extra-wide white polo shirts and khaki shorts, paired with classic dad-inspired New Balance sneakers. The sibling duo blends pop and rap over club-inspired beats, maintaining a sense of humor behind each song that sets them apart from their peers. They shared that they had recently spent time in Atlanta recording their upcoming album. To celebrate, they brought out their friends, multi-platinum Atlanta rapper B.o.B and creative director and collaborator Tiff Janelle, for a few new songs. This might seem like an odd pairing with the clown suits of the Gelliverse crowd, but B.o.B looked like he was having the time of his life both on and off stage. After the duo played songs from the upcoming Big Sis album, it became clear that the hype around their new music continues to build. They are creating tracks that refuse to play it safe.
Before Gelli Haha was scheduled to appear, her two dancers (known as SiSi Haha and Juju Haha) came out, saying there was a problem and they couldn't find Gelli. In the pitch-black room, one could barely make out Ms. Haha in a red overcoat. She snuck through the crowd onto an unlit corner of the stage, taking a microphone and singing "Funny Music," the opening track to her 2025 album Switcheroo. The dancers kept searching for her, chasing her around the stage like a cartoon game of cat-and-mouse. One by one, the band performed the tracks on the album, joined by drummer Joanna Santos and Judy Jennings on synthesizer.
The show was brilliantly choreographed, moving from a grade-school-gymnasium parachute monster to a trio of trampolines to bubble guns and inflatable Lisa-Frank-esque dolphins. I felt like a child seeing the circus for the first time, never knowing what was going to happen next. It was refreshing to see a show like this, compared to bands taking the conventional route of simply standing and playing their songs. Surveying the room, it was easy to spot people with jaws dropped or wide smiles, emotionally invested in what was playing out on stage. There was a charming DIY quality about the whole production that made it feel authentic. It felt like the story playing out on stage was born out of funny conversations with friends around a Los Angeles apartment, rather than an overproduced stage show.
With Big Sis and Gelli Haha, Atlanta witnessed two artists at the peak of their game, not just making music, but bringing their full vision to life, allowing the audience to enter their surreal worlds for one Thursday evening.
Article and photos by Joe Chiarella. Please credit @joe.takes.pictures or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.
