MGM Music Hall, another venue that I have (shockingly) yet to shoot in, until tonight, and boy howdy, is it a show for books! We covered the Tekkno Tour last year here at Ghost Cult and it was genuinely one of the funnest shows I’ve ever been to or had the privilege of covering, and this time around we have a new crop of bands along for the ride. This time around the US, Electric Callboy brought along British metalcore legends Bury Tomorrow and Pennsylvanian metalcore outfit If Not For Me out on the road this time to bring the party. Electric Callboy just dropped their new collab single with BABYMETAL that rules! So gang, it’s a Sunday night in Boston and we have German party metal and international metalcore on the menu… LET’S EAT!
First up on this Sunday night party was Harrisburg Pennsylvania’s own If Not For Me. Having only ever heard of this band in passing by never having a good chance to listen to them I could only speculate about what they would sound like, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I really dug them a lot. They were super appreciative of the audience and also to the boys in Electric Callboy for bringing them on this packed (but ultimately short) US tour, it was only 8 dates across the US and a couple of stops in Canada. Combining a sound of mid-genre transition Bring Me The Horizon, early era Linkin Park, and Bad Omens: If Not For Me put on a solid show that did exactly what an opener is there to do, start the party and set the tone. This proved positive that their 2022 album Eulogy (InVouge Records) and their most recent release Everything You Wanted (Thriller Records) have been in regular rotation for me since the show.
Carrying over the energy from If Not For Me was a band that I have been trying to see for years now that got me through some tough personal times, Bury Tomorrow. Finally getting the chance to see this band live was a cathartic and euphoric moment for me. Playing a decent amount from their newest album The Seventh Sun (Music For Nations), vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates and the boys commanded the audience in a way that I haven’t seen in many years from any band out there. Hearing “Choke” live was where my neck started snapping back and forth and it didn’t stop until after the final note of the last set. Fun Fact: Cannibal (Music For Nations) was one of my top albums of 2020. Bury Tomorrow are been around for just shy of 20 years and you can tell while they’re performing, that they are still having just as much fun as they were when they started back in 2006.
And now, on to the main event! The final night of the tour and what a night it would soon become. From Castrop-Rauxel, the German party Metalcore masters themselves, Electric Callboy!! This is a big step up from the last time they were in Boston performing at Big Night Live, a nightclub inside of the TD Garden. Somehow managing to cram their entire stage show into a nightclub, but also fully expand on it for MGM Music Hall was truly a sight to behold. Opening up with the modern-day classic “Tekkno Train” I could feel the guard rail behind me quake and fear as the nearly sold-out venue of 5,000 people was shaking the building to its core. Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak’s chemistry on stage is genuinely heartwarming. I’d bet my next paycheck that if you look up “bromance” in the dictionary it would just be a picture of Nico and Kevin. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Electric Callboy understands the assignment when you say “let’s party”. Darude drum solos, “MC Thunder” and “MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)” made for a wildly spread out 1, 2 punch of fun. Their cover of Cascada classic “Everytime We Touch” and making a small “acoustic” section with a cover of “Let It Go” and “I Want It That Way” from the Frozen soundtrack and the Backstreet Boys respectfully. Near the end of the set before the first encore something unexpected happened, on their latest album Teknno (Century Media Records) there’s a song called “Fuckboi” which is Electric Callboy’s very well-made stab at making a pop-punk song and it features Kiarely Taylor from Conquer // Divide who were on the Tekkno Tour 2023 when we covered Electric Callboy last. Kiarely came out to perform the song with the band which caused a well-deserved ruckus across the audience, in a good way, mind you. Closing out the show (bowl-cut wigs, white vests, and glasses included), we got Döp-dödödö-döp! Döp-dödödö-döp! classic “We Got The Moves”. Confetti, beach balls, and the entire tour package and crew were all on stage for the last song and I could not take the smile off my face.
This was the last stop on the US tour for Electric Callboy, but they are doing all of the major music festivals over in Europe this summer. So if you’re able to get out there to see them, do so, you won’t regret it!
Until next time y’all,
This is Smallz with Ghost Cult… signing off.
Peace and chicken grease!
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS SMALL
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