Electric Callboy & Annisokay, Manchester Academy, 23.11.22
There’s something about a condom being passed around that makes you feel alive, no it’s not an orgy which is probably a relief for the inflatable sheep. It’s the seemingly forgotten tradition of batting an inflated condom around an eager audience, the boos and cheers when one “balloon” pops and a few more take its place.The crowd at The Manchester Academy are in a playful mood tonight as we eagerly await the arrival on stage of support act Annisokay and of course the main attraction Electric Callboy. This is the rescheduled gig from October, postponed due to vocalist Nico Sallach suffering from an ear and throat infection.
Around me as I stand left of the sound booth are a throng of fans all dressed as various characters from Electric Callboy’s more recent videos, the mullets and bowl haircuts from Pump It and We Got The Moves, matched with the rather garish outfits seen in the videos just add more delight to the already buoyant atmosphere. Support comes from Annisokay and they do a great job of warming up the crowd; whilst I’m not a fan of the more scream style of vocals there are a few occasions where it blends with the cleaner edge of the second vocalist/guitarist. Amidst a set of tracks taken from their 15 year career is their cover of Duality, the crowd eagerly singing along to the Nu Metal anthem.
It’s a great start to the night and the vibe continues in earnest with the arrival of Electric Callboy, as they open their set with Pump It, the band adorned with outfits from the music video. Arrow Of Love, Hate/Love and The Scene follow alongside a track I didn’t recognise, sang purely in German, however the change in language does little to dampen the level of enthusiasm from the fans here tonight. Keeping up the frenetic pace are Super Nova, MC Thunder 2, Tekkno Train and Hypa Hypa.
The hits just keep coming with tracks from the recent album blended in with older material and there’s a great sense of camaraderie here as the band play up to the audience before introducing one of my favourite tracks and WTF moment videos in the form of Hurrikan. We are treated to a few more tracks before the final blast of Metal/Electronicore brings us We Got The Moves. This is my first time seeing Electric Callboy and I am far from disappointed, admittedly they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but as a band to catch live, I can’t recommend them enough and will definitely catch them again in the future.
The drive to Manchester from my hometown 80 miles away wasn’t without its numerous and often self inflicted problems, but ultimately it was worth the journey. 10/10