Tanzneid World Tour: Electric Callboy, Polaris, Scene Queen
- Phantom Light Media
- May 7
- 6 min read
I feel like Germany’s legacy of producing incredible artists in both the electronic and metal realms goes untalked-about so often these days. On the one hand you have artists like Kraftwerk, Boys Noize, and Cascada - on the other hand are artists like Rammstein, Caliban, and Annisokay. It therefore makes perfect sense (at least in my mind) that the small city of Castrop-Rauxel has produced one of the most chaotic and entertaining metal acts to date in the form of Electric Callboy, a six-man electronicore wrecking crew whose popularity has absolutely exploded in the last couple of years. Their last visit to the PNW was in 2023 while touring their incredibly well-received album TEKKNO, and they’re preparing to release a new project this fall, which meant another round of US headlining tour dates (at significantly bigger venues this time). With Polaris and Scene Queen in tow, the TANZNEID World Tour blasted into Seattle’s historic Paramount Theater for a night of comedic chaos that I was lucky enough to attend and witness. And let me tell you - there’s absolutely nothing like German ravecore in a marble-and-brass performing arts theater.
When Scene Queen was announced as the opening act for this tour, it made perfect sense to me even though I’d never actually listened to her before. My awareness of her style came through social media presence and general “rumors” alone, but her bizarre blend of scene pop and metalcore proved to be really freaking good in the live setting. Much of her music focuses on comedic but poignant commentary about the state of misogyny and gender discrimination in the music industry, backed by 2010s-esque club beats and breakdowns that would make even Knocked Loose proud (or so I’d like to think). I can only wonder at the state of shock that some parents I saw in the audience must have been in during set opener “Manicure” and its call-and-response “You fucked up my nails!!”, but it certainly served to get the crowd moving nice and early. There was also great interplay between her and her guitarist during “Barbie & Ken,” a fast-paced pit-starter with an on-record collaboration from Set It Off. Despite knowing nothing about her musical style before the show, seeing Scene Queen live left me thinking that her presence on this tour makes perfect sense and that’s very much a compliment. She’s carving out a fresh and interesting niche in the scene for herself and using the attention it draws to speak on incredibly important issues, while advocating for greater representation of female and queer voices in metal - and doing it all with the brightest pink stage visuals and spiky logos I have ever seen.
Playing main support and second in line after Scene Queen are Australian metalcore veterans Polaris, a storied act back with a vengeance following the tragic and untimely passing of lead guitarist Ryan Siew in 2023. Their excellent 2023 release Fatalism has seen the band reaching incredible new heights like performing at Knotfest 2025, headlining Australian arenas, and even opening for Linkin Park this past winter. I last saw them in 2023 at Portland’s Hawthorne Theater when they toured Fatalism’s release cycle, so the 3 year gap had me frothing at the mouth as their gigantic stage curtain fell into place. When the quintet made their way onstage and kicked into “Dissipate”, crowdsurfers wasted no time getting up and over the barricade to shake hands with Jamie Hails, one of the best live vocalists I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Their music is raw and incredibly emotional, and the general sense of crowd catharsis hit even harder than usual in the grandeur-soaked surroundings of the Paramount as the band tore through a 40-minute set of releases from Fatalism, The Death of Me, and one deeper cut from The Mortal Coil (“The Remedy”) that set tears flowing freely in what I could see of the crowd from the photo pit. It was clear that Polaris were thrilled to be back in the PNW after their long absence, and the crowd was eager to appease that hunger as the mosh pit grew bigger and bigger. About halfway through the set, the first wall of death of the night appeared for the colossal breakdown to “Masochist,” which looked insane from the higher reaches of the Paramount’s seating levels. At some point during this set, it dawned on me that this was one of the smaller venues that the TANZNEID Tour was stopping at, and that completely reframed the energy for me as guitarist Rick Schneider and fill-in bassist Ryan Neff (of Miss May I) led the crowd through the beautiful chorus to “All Of This Is Fleeting,” one of my personal favorites. Then “Nightmare” brought it home with a thundering final breakdown, Polaris professed their love for Seattle and their regret for not being back sooner, and that was it. The time for TANZNEID was drawing nearer.
It goes without saying that being who they are, Electric Callboy don’t do absolutely anything by halves.. If only I knew exactly what I was in for as the TANZNEID-emblazoned curtain began to slowly fall away to the sound of raucous applause and thunderous 808s, revealing six hooded and robed figures perched ceremoniously on the drum risers. The deafening chant of “TANZNEID! TANZNEID!” of the titular song turned the crowd into a sea of pumping fists as the band members then cavorted around the stage and discarded their ominous getup in ridiculous manners revealing, of course, six German men with gigantic smiles and sparkly instruments. They then tore into a fantastic cover of Sum-41’s “Still Waiting” that was accompanied by the first confetti blast of the night (there were five, I counted). Before I had time to blink, they shifted gears into “TEKKNO TRAIN,” and the strobe lights returned amidst imagery of a thundering steam locomotive and chants of “CHOO CHOO, WE’RE RIDING ON THE TEKKNO TRAIN” from all in attendance. And that was only what I was in the photo pit for - there was so, SO much more to come. After four more intense tracks full of two-stepping and headbanging (“Hypa Hypa,” “MC Thunder,” “Neon,” “Pump It”), dual vocalists Nico Sallach and Kevin Ratajczak decided the time was appropriate for an “Electric Bassboy” set. This consisted of the back half of their Schlagercore-inspired track “Hurrikan” plus a couple hardbass remixes of popular 2000s tracks (“Bodies” by Drowning Pool and “All the Small Things” by Blink-182) and featured guitarist Pascal Schillo on the mixing board, complete with a cat-eared headset and a Master-Chief-esque helmet mask. Trust me on this when I say that the “Bodies” bass drops made people absolutely lose their minds. The rest of the show was equally as entertaining and included cuts from the upcoming TANZNEID album, a medley of classic 2015-era Electric Callboy tracks, and a relentless five-song sequence of the highest-energy tracks in their catalog (three of which served as the encore). I really cannot do this justice purely through a review and a photo gallery - it’s something that has to be experienced live to understand how amazing it is. Between the great music and the seamless production design, it makes perfect sense that this band have been headlining bigger and bigger venues and festivals around the world, including their own hand-curated Escalation Fest in their home country. I feel like we’re witnessing the rise of one of metal’s next “biggest names” in real time as the clock ticks closer to the release of TANZNEID and it’s so cool to watch this style of music reach bigger and bigger audiences with every new song that Electric Callboy release.
Electric Callboy setlist:
TANZNEID
Still Waiting (Sum-41 cover)
TEKKNO TRAIN
Hypa Hypa
MC Thunder
Neon
Pump It
Hurrikan / Overkill / All the Small Things / Bodies (DJ set)
Revery
Hypercharged
Mindreader
Monsieur Moustache vs. Clitcat / Muffin Purper-Gurk / We Are the Mess / Crystals (old song medley)
Fuckboi
Everytime We Touch (Cascada cover)
MC Thunder II
Elevator Operator
RATATATA
Spaceman
We Got The Moves
Polaris setlist:
Dissipate
Inhumane
The Remedy
Overflow
Masochist
All of This Is Fleeting
Hypermania
Nightmare
Scene Queen setlist:
Manicure
Pink G-string
Barbie & Ken
Mutual Masturbation
MILF
Track Suit
Pink Rover
Pink Panther
18+
Photos & Review By: Ryan Sciorilli
Comments