Back in 2023, Partycore pioneers Electric Callboy made their debut tour in the United States while riding high off the release of Tekkno. The tour was such an overwhelming success that next year, they decided “Let’s do it again!” and announced another US tour featuring bigger venues and better production values. At its core, though, it was still the same show, right down to the same exact setlist. Still an amazing time for attendees and the band alike, but fans were becoming more ready for something new. This time around, the band had plenty of new material to dole out when they announced a 2026 tour back in October of last year. “Tanzneid World Tour” wasn’t just a namesake but centered around the band’s next full release. Music videos were already dropping, starting with a collaboration with Babymetal, before releasing new hits in “Elevator Operator” and “Revery,” and the tour’s namesake was revealed to the world in November.
The band also changed their personnel a little as drummer David-Karl Friedrich left the band to pursue other projects, with Sum 41’s Frank Zummo taking over the spot. The drummer had helped the band previously when illness caused Friedrich to miss a set of Australian festivals. As fate would have it, the festival was supposed to be headlined by Sum 41, who also had to back out due to illness, prompting Zummo to unite with Electric Callboy. He agreed to help only five hours before the set time, with no drum kit to practice on or rehearsal with the band. As Electric Callboy’s touring manager, Tank went on to say on his YouTube channel that when the band opened up, Tank had completely forgotten Frank was on drums because it sounded so good. Within a short time after that, Friedrich had left Electric Callboy, and Sum 41 had disbanded. The choice was obvious before the search for a new drummer had even begun.
Now with a bit of a new look and plenty of new music to show off, Electric Callboy returned to the States. Once again, the venues were larger but still selling out. By the time the tour reached the Brooklyn Paramount, the band had toured throughout the States and Canada, with only a stop in Boston remaining after the North American leg of the worldwide tour wrapped up. Fans were lined up around the block well in advance, many donning fun outfits, goofy mullets, and other nods to the band’s music videos. The Tanzneid World Tour had officially arrived in Brooklyn.
Doors opened at 6 PM, and by 7 PM, when the self-proclaimed Bimbocore singer Scene Queen was set to start, the sellout crowd was already filling the gorgeous venue. The New York native returned home eager to get the show started. Hannah Rose Collins, better known as Scene Queen, hit the stage with her touring band members (Boy Hero on guitar and Jonathan Schwartz on drums) to the backing track of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” before opening with “Manicure.” A couple of tracks later, she invited real-life boyfriend and In Her Own Words vocalist Joey Fleming to help with “Barbie & Ken.” Between tracks, Scene Queen showed off her personality by joking with fans, even telling them that the barcode on stage directed fans to a poll on whether she should keep her touring members or not. True to her word, that’s exactly where it does lead, humorously.
By the time Scene Queen wrapped her set with “18+,” the venue had filled up with fans giving her a loud ovation. In many ways, Scene Queen is the perfect opening band for Electric Callboy, giving the female perspective with similarly hypersexualized, humorous tracks that can catch you off guard if you’re not ready for it, but will get you up and moving. Dig deeper than that though, and you’ll find Scene Queen’s lyrics do not pull any punches and tackle major issues plaguing the metal scene. Whether you just want to jam or take a deep dive, there’s something to enjoy with Scene Queen’s live show. Let’s hope the vote stays in favor of Hero and Schwartz, as they delivered on stage alongside Scene Queen.
Scene Queen
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
Up next was Polaris, a band that on any night would be worth the price of admission themselves. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, this was Polaris’s first American tour since 2024. Jamie Hails (Vocals), Rick Schneider (Lead Guitar), Daniel Furnari (Drums), and touring musicians Jessie Crofts (Guitar) and Miss May I’s Ryan Neff (Bass) came to the stage on a mission that opened with “Dissipate”. It didn’t take long for the crowdsurfers to start up, and throughout hits like “The Remedy” and “Masochist” had fans banging their heads while the mosh pits were in full swing.
The band continued to blast through tracks until they closed out with “Nightmare” and thanked the crowd. There are some bands that are just so much better live, and Polaris easily fits into that category. It’s not that their albums aren’t good. They’re great, but the band’s live energy takes everything to another level. Polaris might not have had the same vibe as Scene Queen before them or Electric Callboy after them, being far more straightforward in their metalcore, but they had heads banging throughout their set from the sellout crowd. The band let fans know earlier in April that a new album is in the works, with Furnari quoted as saying it will feature some of the band’s least and most metal moments.
Polaris
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
All that was left was the headliner, Electric Callboy. The intro to “TANZNEID” began playing, the bass beat slowly thumping, and soon the banner that had been up all night dropped, revealing the band. After the new title track, the band led right into a cover of Sum 41’s “Still Waiting” with the first of many confetti shots blasting off into the crowd. Afterward, Nico and Kevin started pumping up the crowd, getting them ready for “Tekkno Train”.
The band left the stage for the first of a few costume changes, returning in mullets and neon outfits for “Hypa Hypa.” A few tracks later, they removed their pants, revealing shorts under for “Pump It.” Shortly after, the band mixed it up by bringing in a DJ booth to center stage. The band kicked into an “Electric Bassboy” medley including techno-infused covers of Blink 182’s “All The Small Things” and Drowning Pool’s “Bodies.”
The band bounced from the fun dance tracks to their horror–themed track “Revery.” Over the course of the night, the band made sure to give props to the opening acts (having everyone scream “YEAH!” instead of cheering them), their touring crew, security, and, of course, the fans. After “Mindreader,” the band questioned how many fans have been around for at least 10 years before celebrating Electric Callboy’s older tracks with a medley of “Monsier Moustache,” “Muffin Purper-Gurk,” “We Are The Mess” and “Crystals” with the medley leading right into an amazing drum solo by Zummo with hints of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” thrown into it.
As Zummo was finishing up his solo, the band was busy making their way deep into the crowd for an intimate acoustic set in the middle of the dance floor. The band asked fans up close to sit down to create a campfire mood. When the band followed up by asking people to ditch their phones for this part, most fans surprisingly put down their screens. The band started the mid-audience performance with “Fuckboi.” As the song concluded, the houselights came up, and the band quickly informed them that there had been a medical issue. The problem seemed to be handled real quick, and the lights dropped back down soon. The band then asked people to light up the venue with their phone lights as the acoustic set continued with their cover of Maggie Reilly’s “Everytime We Touch“.
Halfway through the song, fans were asked to split so the band could make its way back to the stage, where they concluded the track during the song’s breakdown. A couple of songs later, the band expressed their concerns for a stalker that had been following them to events. That stalker was on the balcony earlier. He could even be anywhere. What was sounding like a cause for concern turned out to be the band’s cheeky way of introducing the final track of their main set with “Elevator Operator” before the band left the stage for a quick recess.
The three-song encore began with the band donning the mirror-ball helmets for “Ratata,” with videos of Babymetal’s Su-Metal, Moametal, and Momometal interspersed with the lyrics on the screen behind the band. The band followed up with “Spaceman” before their last wardrobe change of the night, leading to the band closing out with “We Got The Moves”. The band concluded their set by gathering at center stage for a photo with everyone before sending fans back into the Brooklyn night, many chanting the “Dop-död-död-dop” breakdown of the final track as they made their way to the trains and parking garages.
With three American tours now in the books, it’s clear to see the direction Electric Callboy’s live show is heading. Each round has been bigger, better, and more interactive with fans than the one before it. The Tanzneid World Tour now takes a short break so the band can recharge their batteries before heading to Japan in August and Australia in September. TANZNEID is releasing on August 7th and is shaping up to be another step towards Electric Callboy’s dancecore dominance. Preorders are available for the album, with a special edition including a brick set of the band’s live stage setup among other goodies.
Electric Callboy
Photo Credit: Andrew Fiero
