Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
2022 was looking to be a huge year for Electric Callboy. They had begun releasing singles for their then-upcoming album Tekkno, and the momentum continued to build into the new year. Blue Ridge Rock Festival announced in February of that year that Electric Callboy would make their way back to the States for the first time in nine years to perform at that year’s festival. Soon after a full-fledged tour throughout the US was announced alongside Attack Attack, the singles kept releasing, and anticipation started to hit a boiling point. The band’s album was set to release in September; everything was looking great until the Tekkno train derailed. Electric Callboy was forced to postpone both the American and European tours after Vocalist Nico Sallach was diagnosed with a severe jaw and middle-ear infection that had doctors suggesting the singer not fly or perform.
Fast forward to 2023, and the band finally got back to what they loved doing most. The Tekkno World Tour was announced, and tickets began selling fast. Solence and Conquer Divide were added as support, and by the time the band arrived on American soil, the tour had sold out every show. New York was slated as the final tour stop on Friday, September 15th, and while other Metal fans packed out the nearby Terminal 5 to watch the choreographed dances of BabyMetal, over 2,000 metalheads filled out the Palladium Theater for their own dance party. Many fans came cosplaying as their favorite Electric Callboy music video characters. Plenty of mullets and sunglasses, 80’s 80-inspired workout gear, bowl cuts, tiny hands, and square frame glasses were seen throughout the massive crowd.
When the opening act, Conquer Divide, kicked off the show, the theater was bursting at the seams with fans. The all-female metalcore group out of Michigan came out to an excited crowd and started the night with “Atonement.” Samantha “Sam” Landa (Drums), Isabel “Izzy” Johnson (Guitar), Kristen Sturgis (Guitar), Janel Duarte (Vocals / Bass), and Kiarely “Kia” Castillo (Vocals) are no strangers to working with Electric Callboy. The bands collaborated earlier this year on Electric Callboy’s “Fuck Boi,” with Castillo providing the vocals for the track that paired incredibly well with Sallach’s. Both vocalists play the same roles within their respective bands, with Castillo providing the clean vocals while Duarte digs deep to provide the guttural screams that’d make even Ratajczak a little jealous.
The band hit fans with tracks including “Chemicals” and “Paralyzed,” among others. At one point, the band requested fans perform a wall of death, and the result was exactly what you’d expect from the city that never sleeps. As the band closed out with “Nightmares,” the band members held their hands in heart shapes in appreciation for the crowd. Conquer Divide was the ideal act to open up the show. With their connection to Electric Callboy and incredible talent, fans who didn’t know who they were before the show left talking about them.
Conquer Divide
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
The Swedish band Solence was next to the stage. Markus Videsäter (Vocals), David Strääf (Guitar), David Vikingsson (Drums), and Johan Swärd (keyboard) are already taking the world by storm as relative newcomers. In fact, this was the band’s first tour, and they were ready to make the best of it. The quartet opened up with “Banger a Day Keeps the Doctor Away,” a track that, if true, could make your yearly checkup seem obsolete. “Good Fucking Music” followed up before Videsäter had fans all lift their middle fingers in the air and repeat lines from “Fuck The Bad Vibes.”
Fans unfamiliar with the group before the night began were all on board when the group closed their set with “Solence.” The band thanked the deafening crowd to close out their final stop. Hopefully, fans will not have to wait too long to hear news of a follow-up tour. Solence has grown so much over the last year. It’s impossible not to be impressed. Get on this hype train early. Solence is primed and ready to blow up if this first tour is anything to go off of.
Solence
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
With only Electric Callboy left, the venue was at full capacity. A sea of fans ready to party with the German band. Soon, the lights went down, and German cosplayer/streamer Tingilya Cosplay was seen on screen. Much like her role in the band’s music video for “Tekkno Train,” Tingilya gave fans announcements regarding their upcoming time with the band, letting fans know that they were expected to party hard before requesting fans raise their hands in the air and begin clapping. With that, the beat was set, and David-Karl Friedrich (Drums), Daniel “Danskimo” Haniß (Guitar), Pascal Schillo (Guitar) and Daniel Klossek (Bass) arrived on stage. Soon after, Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak (Vocals) joined them, and “Tekkno Train” took off.
The crowd was electric from beginning to end, sometimes becoming even louder than the band they came to see, such as when the group played their cover of Cascada’s “Everytime We Touch.” During “Castrop X Spandau,” the group was joined on stage by their tour manager / Youtuber Tank The Tech, who wowed fans with his singing and his German. Between tracks, Sallach and Ratajczak had fun with the crowd. The pit was opened up to allow couples to dance at one point, and the wall of death made its second appearance of the night later on. Durade’s “Sandstorm” provided the perfect rhythm for Friedrich to deliver an awesome drum solo before the the band returned for fan-favorite “Hypa Hypa” while donning the outfits from the music video. After “Parasite,” the band delivered a couple of shortened covers of Frozen’s “Let It Go” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” with Ratajczak playing on a keyboard while Sallach provided the vocals.
Conquer Divide’s Castillo returned for “Fuckboi” before the band closed out their main set with “MC Thunder.” Of course, fans knew there were still a few select tracks that hadn’t been played yet. A quick wardrobe change and the Electric Callboy returned in their finest workout attire., getting fans to sweat it out to “Pump It.” “Mindreader” would follow before the band left the stage once more for one final switch of costumes, this one for “We Got The Moves.” Knowing it was the last track of the night, fans gave it their all during the final song. The party-like feel of the night reached new heights when both opening acts joined Electric Callboy on stage as the song hit its breakdown, creating a club-like feel to the metal show. It was clearly hitting the band that the tour was closing out. The hugs were long; the band was slower to leave the stage. Sallach couldn’t help but say, “This is going to make me cry. This is making me so fucking emotional,” before thanking the crowd on his way off the stage.
There’s no reason to shed too many tears; this was a fun tour with an entertaining headliner. An Electric Callboy show is a party, plain and simple. Come ready to dance. Come ready to have fun. Come ready to bang your head. The band alluded to another US tour in 2024, so it doesn’t seem American fans will have to wait another eight years to see Electric Callboy’s name in lights in a city near them. In the meantime, the Tekkno train hits the tracks through the UK in October before ringing in the new year while on an Australian Tour. 2023 was, in many years, what 2022 was supposed to be for Electric Callboy, a highly successful year highlighted by many fans with an American tour. 2023 delivered that for the group in spades, and now fans and Electric Callboy are ready to make 2024 even better.
Electric Callboy
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
