Warming us up tonight, were the Germans of Future Palace. They already caught our attention last year with the release of their ‘Run‘ album via Arising Empire and proved that they are a band to watch out for, both on record and on stage. Their blend of post-hardcore, extremely catchy melodies and strong lyrics results into a signature sound, that works absolutely great live. We noticed plenty of people getting some merch during or after their show, what usually is a pretty good indicator of how good a band is. Vocalist Maria Lessing has an amazing vocal range and really brings an infectious energy to the stage. Though her musical support Manuel and Johannes are not to be underestimated, the music hits hard and the energy coming from both of them is easily on par with Maria’s. I’ll say it again: Future Palace is going places and is a band you’ll need to keep your eyes on!

By the time Future Palace wrapped up their show, the venue was already filled to the brim with people that were ready for the party of the year that Electric Callboy was about to throw at them. Colorful tracksuits, funky sunglasses, wigs, … you name it. This was also not your usual metal show crowd, with people from all walks of the music spectrum uniting under one cause: have fun and party like there was no tomorrow, even though it was a Monday night. Kicking off properly with some confetti canons blasting shiny bits in the air and quite fittingly for a tour called ‘Tekkno Tour ’23’ with their latest single ‘Tekkno Train’, the party train got moving on full speed and never let down one moment.

The stage production was one of the more impressive ones I’ve seen at this venue, with some proper LED screen action and a second level build for the drumkit and some of the guys to take up a spot from time to time. Sadly, vocalist Kevin had to bow out from the tour because he just became a father, but the guys managed to keep it going without any faltering. Nico did absolutely great as the only main vocalist and the other guys like Daniel and Pascal filled up the gaps. The tracks sounded great, and the setlist was amazing with of course mostly tracks from their ‘TEKKNO‘ album besides popular tracks like ‘Hypa Hypa‘ and ‘MC Thunder II (Dancing Like a Ninja)‘. A drum solo with Darude‘s ‘Sandstorm‘ featuring in it (which probably got the best response ever with the home crowd) and an amazing cover of Backstreet Boys‘ ‘I Want It That Way‘ besides some more confetti being shot in the crowd, and of course their outfit changes for tracks like ‘Hypa Hypa‘ and ‘We Got The Moves‘ made the party complete.

Would it have been better with Kevin there as well? Quite possibly. Could they easily have filled up a bigger venue instead of 2 nights at a (maybe too much) packed Vanha Ylioppilastalo? Probably. But was it still one of the biggest parties I’ve been to in a long time? Most definitely! I can’t wait to catch these guys in even better circumstances and with bigger crowds this festival season!