Gelli Haha announces first headlining tour

Gelli Haha (the whimsical synthpop alter-ego of Angel Abaya) released one of 2025’s best albums with Switcheroo, and she also stirred up buzz for her live show that brought the Pee-wee’s Playhouse vibes of her album to life. Here’s how Andy Steiner described her Night Club 101 show in a review for Northern Transmissions:

Inflatable hammers. Matching red lab coats that strip down into boxer’s outfits. A rainbow parachute, like the one you remember from gym class. A bubble machine. Confetti, sprinkled into plastic cups and thrown on the crowd. Three mini trampolines. These are only a few of the props and toys featured in the live show of dance-pop oddball Gelli Haha. The artist, born Angel Abaya, makes an outrageous commitment to spectacle and playfulness. It works unbelievably well.

The Gelli Haha live show experience is equal parts a clown act, dystopian theatre, and clubby pop rave. Before she enters, a neon green dashboard lights up on the backdrop of the stage, aesthetically akin to the world of Danny Phantom. The dashboard has graphs that track “Geolokation,” “the Gelli-space Kontiuum,” and of course, ongoing “Gelli Radiation.” Gradually, the green spills over into an unnerving red. A breach is detected. Chaos ensues: two back-up dancers enter through the crowd, searching for the missing Gelli Haha. And there she appears on stage, adorned in a bright red lab coat as Switcheroo opener “Funny Music” begins.

That Night Club 101 show was one of a few dates that she played in 2025, but now she’ll be playing many more cities on her first-ever headlining tour. The tour includes a return to NYC for a bigger show at Bowery Ballroom on May 1. Tickets go on sale Friday (1/23) at 10 AM with presales beforehand. All dates are listed below.

Here’s what Bill wrote about Switcheroo in our list of the best albums of 2025:

“We wanted to make catchy music,” Angel Abaya says of her debut as Gelli Haha, a collaboration with Sean Guerin. “But we wanted it to be weird. We felt like pop music is too boring and experimental music can be too unpalatable, so we wanted it to meet in the middle.” The world needs more music like Gelli Haha — not so much in sound, as she’s got that covered with influences drawn from 40 years of pop iconoclasts, but in spirit. Switcheroo overflows with joyous, giddy creativity where “have fun” is the only rule (apart from wearing all red), inviting you to dance all night to a parade of colorful bangers that are weird in the best ways.

As for what pop iconoclasts she draws from, she’s cited Björk, Animal Collective, of Montreal, Kate Bush, James Murphy’s DFA parties, Michael Alig’s Club Kids, and Studio 54 as inspirations. If you haven’t heard Switcheroo yet, you should have a pretty good idea from this list of what to expect and even then, it’ll pleasantly surprise you.

Watch a video of her LA show from last March and the music video for “Bounce House” below…