First up was Pennsylvania’s If Not For Me. These metalcore kids brought big energy to the stage. The catchy yet heavy riffs, the growls, the catchy choruses, they clearly understood the assignment: get the crowd moving. Their stage presence for a new band was exceptional. They obviously draw influence from Bring Me The Horizon’s transitional material, when they were transitioning from pure metal and flirting with pop.


Veterans Bury Tomorrow were next and brought a more strictly metal approach to the proceedings. It was quite the sight to see a crowd in aerobics gear headbanging in unison. Vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates was dialled in and delivered a crushing performance. If you’re in a group of friends partying, there’s always that one guy who’s super serious; that was Bury Tomorrow, but they were still awesome and highly appreciated by the crowd.


It was time. From the time Bury Tomorrow left the stage, “duh-duh-duh-duh” chants started and erupted sporadically. That is until the conductor of the “Tekkno Train” appeared on screen to thunderous applause. She announced that the train was about to leave with destination set to maximum pleasure. The band hit the stage to “Tekkno Train,” and the crowd completely lost it. I mean it. I haven’t seen a pit like this in years. It was intense and full of smiles.

Dual vocalists Kevin Ratjczak and Nico Sallach shared a hug that turned into a stolen kiss as they joked, “sorry, got lost in the enthusiasm of the crowd.” Merriam-Webster defines “bromance” as a close non-sexual relationship between men, but honestly, it should add see: Kevin and Nico from Electric Callboy. They also have a gift for bantering with the crowd, playing off of each other.

I mean, look at these two when they’re singing their cover of “Everytime We Touch,” and you’ll know what true bro love is. And the crowd loved it too, singing along as loud as the band. The band was here only a few months ago at MTelus, but honestly, if you skipped this cause you were at that show, you missed out. This band was built for arenas. Circle pits, walls of death, people even dancing in the seated section.

Midway through the set the crowd were treated to a drum solo by David Friedrich, which turned into Darude’s Sandstorm. Normally the drum solo is the part of the show where the crowd just bops along and catches their breath, but this had them dancing as hard as anything in the set.

The rest of the band came out in their aerobics gear for their smash hit “Hypa Hypa.” They did their best to replicate the video onstage. If this was a jazzercise class, this was the part where you go as hard as you can for 3 minutes straight and leave it all on the floor.
Then it was time to take a breather, so Kevin sat at a tiny keyboard. As he tickled the ivories to a familiar tune, Nico put on his most whimsical smile to belt out “Let It Go” and then led that into an accapella sing along to “I Want It That Way”. Yes, a couple of thousand metalheads singing every word to a Backstreet Boys classic out loud. It was a beautiful scene.

The encore started with another workout to the tune of “Pump It.” Again, the band were dressed in the gear from the video. And then the “duh-duh-duh–duh’s” grew deafening. The band walked out and came back in their bowl-cut wigs, and it was time to celebrate summer with the anthemic “We Got The Moves.”. The breakdown is something to behold live. The crowd went into a next-level frenzy. So much so that they were still chanting after the song ended. With most of the band offstage, Nico gave the crowd another verse and chorus acapella since they wouldn’t stop.

Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end. Kinda. There was still a dance party to “Vamos La Playa” that played after the lights went up. Honestly, sitting here writing, I can’t tell you for certain there aren’t still people dancing on the floor at Place Bell right now. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a security guard in charge of telling people they have to go home.
Those who did leave were chanting out onto the streets. It was German Mardi Gras (Fett Dienstag?) in the streets of Laval. I even heard them while stuck in traffic trying to get on the 15. Anyone who tells you metal can’t be fun, tell them they’re wrong, and Electric Callboy is your scientific method-verified proof.
Setlist:
- Tekkno Train
- MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)
- Spaceman
- Hate/Love
- Everytime We Touch (Maggie Reilly cover)
- The Scene
- Castrop X Spandau
- Arrow of Love
- Drum Solo/Kurwa Song (Darude cover)
- Hypa Hypa
- Parasite
- Let It Go / I Want It That Way
- Hurrikan
- Fuckboi
- MC Thunder
Encore:
- Pump It
- Mindreader
Encore 2:
- We Got the Moves










Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Ryan Rumpel











