Striking Justice tour report
If there is one hardcore band in The Netherlands that takes the DIY ‘Get In The Van’ attitude to the extreme, it must be Striking Justice. Supporting their latest release ‘De Verharding‘, the past 4 months alone saw them playing 40 shows all over Western and Eastern Europe, in Russia and even South East Asia. Vocalist Rens was kind enough to share some of the band’s experiences.
I was about 15 years old when I first fantasized about touring. I think it was at a XtimX and the Alcoholix show, together with Antillectual. Both bands had been playing all over and Antillectual had even been across the ocean to the States. It made me realize I didn’t have to be Bon Jovi or Iron Maiden to tour the world. It could be done DIY.
Here we are, 9 years later. Getting in a van ourselves. In the past 4 months we saw about everything in between shady nightclubs and warm hosptality of local families’ homes. And a lot of asphalt, needless to say.
I’d like to say to every 15 year old: ‘It’s worth it’. Get your friends together and start a band. Because wether people think you are good enough, or not, touring is about more than just playing your music night in, night out. It’s about the interesting discussions you’ll have till deep in the night, with people that are from a totally different background than you.
It could be just an hour away, getting some misconceptions out of the way with our German neighbors, or talking about equality between men and women in Asia or about homosexuality in Russia.
Bottom line: touring and meeting all those new people gets you in touch with the real locals, not the tourist information nor the hotel cashier. It helped us broaden our horizons.
Here’s a selection of photos and videos we made during the past months. Enjoy!
Europe, April 18th – May 5th 2013
Intense shot of the tour kick-off at Innocent, Hengelo.
Floating beard mediation in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic.
Slash Bar in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
Great hangout with owner Pawel and the best beer of tour: Pilsner Urquell on draft.
Idyllic Hansel and Gretel view from the venue in Bludenz, Austria.
South East Asia, May 26th – June 10th 2013
Gap (Holding On Records) and Micheal (Monument X) and friends showing us around in Bangkok, Thailand.
Holding On Records Showcase 2013.
Don’t feed us Wifi in case you’d actually like to talk to us… Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Medan Hardcore fest, Indonesia.
4 by 4 Custom Backdrop, just for one show!
SOLD OUT SHOW! Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
You don’t wanna know what that smelled like.
Freshly picked coconuts!
Another day at the office.
Our bassplayer Joost was crippled during all of the SE Asia tour.
Together with “Unite the Answers” crew at the waterfalls in Padang, Indonesia.
Way better than a shower.
We ended our SE Asia tour at the beautiful Trikora beach, Indonesia.
Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, July 28th – August 11th 2013
Moscow’s insane show.
Dimitrovgrad, RU show crew w/ History of Victory, Blades, Vaginal Jack, Holehead.
About half the roads in Russia are like this. Most of our 12 hrs drives ended up about 16-20 hrs.
Kovrov, RU soviet statue. Every city, big or small, has a thing like this.
Kovrov show crew w/ PartyBreaker, History of Victory, OUTxSET, Surrounded By, Circular Saw.
Food makes us very happy, as you can see…
Saying goodbye to our tour buddies in History of Victory and a bunch of friends.
Self explanatory, Belgorod, RU.
Hangar 666 in Kharkiv, UA. Got dejavu from a Your Demise video. Remember when they were still hardcore?
FOOOD! Vegan catering at the show in Kiev, UA. Perfect!
From Russia with Love.
For more of Striking Justice’s epic adventures, visit their YouTube channel.
Be sure to check them out live at one of their upcoming shows, listed below.
Before you know it, they’ll be playing their guts out again at the other end of the world somewhere.
25-09-2013, Romein, Leeuwarden (NL)
28-09-2013, Rock Am Brink, Emsdeathen (DE)
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