Electric Callboy / O2 Academy / Birmingham
A wet and windy night and a drive over to the O2 Academy in Birmingham to see German techno metalheads Electric Callboy on their sold out UK tour. Unfortunately the roads were a nightmare and a 1 hour drive took over 2 hours and I missed opening act Monuments, which I had been really looking forward to (sorry guys).
Checked in at the box office and collected my passes just in time to see Monuments leaving the stage which was a shame, but just enough time to get the cameras set up for the second support As Everything Unfolds. We say As Everything Unfolds last June when they supported Enter Shikari at Rock City in Nottingham, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable set.
The house lights for the set were unfortunately poor, being mostly dark blue resulting in silhouetted figures on stage, but the set itself was excellent with a mixture of heavy sections and more melodious sections. With the addition of keys to the mix, it sets them out as different to many bands, and a good fit for tonight’s headliners, and it’s a nicely mixed in to the overall sound.
Adam Kerr’s guitar skills were certainly on show tonight, the riffs were tight and clear, and balanced well with Charlie Rolfe’s vocals which were excellent as usual. There was a real buzz around the venue, and the crowd surfing started in earnest during their set.
Despite the lighting issues (as a photographer) it was a really good set. The band were tight and clearly enjoy playing together, and I could see how they had grown and developed since we saw them last year. A great set to open with.
The O2 holds around 3,000 I believe, and it was packed to the rafters tonight, with fans in dodgy Hawaiian shirts and dodgier sunglasses ready to party hard. I’d not seen Electric Callboy before, but have watched some of their liver videos on YouTube, so I knew I was going to be in for something special.
The lights drop and the intro track Tekkno Train rings out and the crowd are going wild. The confetti cannons go off showering the capacity crowd in ticker tape, and the bright white strobes burst into life as singers Kevin Ratajczak and Nico Sallach bounce onto the stage to roars of approval.
Last year’s album Tekkno, featured heavily in the set list, and you can’t but feel you’re at the party of the year.
The pace just doesn’t dip once as they march through the set with Ninja Dancing and Spacemen having the crowd going crazy. Viral hits Hypa Hypa, We Got The Moves and Pump It, fuses dance and metalcore and the mix works so damn well.
Singers Kevin Ratajczak and Nico Sallach work so well together, bouncing off each other to deliver something between gig and theatrical experience. The place is absolutely steaming and sweltering, but nothing is going to dampen the atmosphere. We enjoy covers of Cascada's Every Time We Touch and then a giant pink penis-shaped piano is dragged out for a wonderful rendition of Let it Go from Frozen and I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. Just brilliant !
It has to be one of the most fun shows I’ve been to, and the audience are totally up for it, and it reaches a peak for the encore with Pump It and We Got The Moves.
And before you know it, its all over. It’s absolutely flown by, and everyone is dripping and exhausted.
An amazing experience Electric Callboy are pushing boundaries and challenging pre-conceived ideas about genres like countrymen Lord of the Lost - Musically excellent, but fun and exciting too in equal measure.
A thoroughly enjoyable night all round !
