Words & Photos- Mitch / EVERYDAY METAL
Melbourne had recently been pummeled by high winds and rain, yet the weather managed to break in time for the long-awaited and sold-out Melbourne show from the German electronicore legends ELECTRIC CALLBOY. Originally slotted for the Forum, Australian fans purchased tickets in record numbers, requiring an upgrade to Port Melbourne’s PICA venue. This was our first visit to the converted aircraft hanger venue and it felt like a mini music festival.
Opening the night was Melbourne local’s FUTURE STATIC, who were stoked to be opening for Electric Callboy in their hometown. The first time we saw Future Static was at The Corner Hotel, a much smaller venue, yet the band looked at home on a big stage. They wasted no time at all launching into their set and blasting through their first few tracks Waves, Never Miss, and Chemical Lobotomy where the lead vocalist announced ‘Get ready for the first breakdown of the night!‘. Taking a moment to chat with the audience they announced, ‘This next one is a cover, you might know it’ as they proceeded to play the 2004 hit song ‘Gasolina’ by Daddy Yanke. The second half of their set featured The Fatalist, The Hourglass, Roach Queen, Dead End, and concluded with Venenosa. Future Static effortlessly blurs the lines between hard rock and metal to create a signature sound that is appreciated by the already huge crowd packed into the venue.
Hailing from Stockholm Sweden with a cult-like following was Self Deception. The audience broke out in a deafening roar as they entered the stage. There was a lot to take in from the masked drummer to the butterfly-like bassist and the vocalist’s washboard abs. Opening the set with Smoke You Out, TicToc, and the fan favourite, The Scandinavian Dream. From beginning to end the band bounced around the stage, the energy whipped the audience into a frenzy and unleashed the first crowd surfers of the night. Their set continued with The Look, Hell and Back, and during the track PSYCHO, massive pink balloons were launched into the mosh pit. Self Deception closed the set with Holy Water and their hit song Fight Fire With Gasoline.
With the sun finally set, a rising chant of ‘CALLBOY, CALLBOY, CALLBOY‘ rang out across the venue. A video lit up at the back of the stage with a uniformed woman asking passengers to get ready, what were we getting ready for? None other than the Tekkno Train! Electric Callboy entered the stage with a ‘chug chug chug chug chug’. Tekkno Train was followed by MC Thunder where the band paused briefly, grinning ear to ear to acknowledge the huge and how great it is to be back in Australia. They continued with Spaceman, Hate/Love, Everytime We Touch, The Scene and Castrop X Spandau.
Electric Callboy has amazing energy, and looks genuinely happy to playing in Melbourne. ‘Us Germans are pretty filthy, but you Australians are nasty, drinking from a fucking shoe, we will not do it’ of course this was met with fans yelling ‘Shoey, shoey, shoey’. Eventually, vocalist Nico caves to peer pressure, taking a shoe from the audience and delighting everyone by consuming a stinky beverage.
They took a moment to address the audience and they expressed how happy they were to be playing in Australia and how the entire tour was completely sold out before they even arrived in the country. You could tell how genuine their appreciation was making heart shapes with their hands. They began to play ‘Arrow of Love‘.
The band left the stage, and a spotlight hit the drummer as they commenced a blistering drum solo to the tune of Sandstorm by Darude. As the solo came to a close, the opening sample for the 2021 smash hit HYPA HYPA began. The band hit the stage in their costumes from the video clip (mullets and all) and a guest appearance from I Prevail vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe which made the mosh go mental. Following Hypa Hypa was Parasite and then things took an acoustic turn with vocalists Kevin and Nico sitting behind pianos and playing Let It Go from Frozen followed by I Want It That Way from The Backstreet Boys. ‘Alright, this is your last chance to party with us, lets fucking go‘ the absolutely massive set closed with Hurrikan.
You didn’t think that was it, did you? The band returned to play three encore tracks, Pump It, Mindreader, and of course, We Got The Moves, featuring the giant blue vests, bowl cuts, and sunglasses.
Huge thanks to the PICA crew for having us and a special thanks to Dallas Does PR for arranging media access.
EVERYDAY METAL – SUPPORT LOCAL HEAVY METAL
