It was like blending Italo Brothers, silly Melodi Grand Prix metal and a Rammstein-light aesthetic in a Temu blender without a lid. Everything flew around, but nothing landed. I mostly stood and thought: Who is this really for?
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
Electric Callboy is no longer a niche phenomenon. They've sold out the Royal Arena. They've been standing on Copenhell. They have the internet culture in their backs and merch with flashing LED glasses. thee is something. But what exactly this is was rather unclear at Roskilde Festival.
It was as if the band themselves had forgotten what they wanted. A show that, on paper, was supposed to be a celebration felt like an identity crisis with confetti. They opened with energy, but it was an awkward energy -- like a bachelor party with too many themes. There were genres thrown around, screaming and autotune, and everything was wrapped up in ironic distance, as if they hoped we didn't take them too seriously if things now went wrong. And it did, after all, a little.
Musically, it never became heavy enough to hit the metal audience, nor did it ever become catchy or kitschy enough to become an outright party show. They lay and flowed in the middle, in a strange genre limbo where you just stood and waited for it all to turn into something. They recalled, most of all, a group that amused itself more than the audience did.
The audience was otherwise ready. Horns were honked and thrown up, and you could feel that many in the crowd had rejoiced. But the energy quickly ebbed out. It is difficult to keep the pot on the boil when it is on a hob that is constantly being turned off and on again.
At one point, it was like they were trying some kind of EDM/metal-throwback mashup, but it mostly seemed like a bad joke with no punchline. One number was reminiscent of a Eurodance parody of the 00s, another about Linkin Park with ADHD. The only thing you couldn't call it was the cast.
The stage show? Well, there was light and smoke. But even that seemed uninventive. No wild visuals, no moments of thought wow. It all seemed like a band playing to a TikTok trend that had died two weeks before.
Perhaps it would all have worked better in the Royal Arena, where the crowd coming for them -- and not just dumping by with a draught beer and a “we're going to see something fun” attitude. At Roskilde, the concert just came to feel like a strange interlude. Not enough party, not enough musical bite, and too much attitude with no content.
Reflection:
Electric Callboy is perhaps a symptom of the times: everything is mixed, ironic, over-produced and self-conscious. And that can be great. But not here. Not in this setup. At Roskilde, you need to be able to gather the audience, not confuse them with TikTok core and joke-metal without anchor.
