On November 3rd Holding Absence kicked off the tour for their new album; The Noble Art Of Self Destruction, in Eindhoven. Their tour was off to a good start, with the first night being sold out. To support them they brought along Floya from Germany and Thornhill all the way from Australia.
Everyone showed up nice and early, giving the supporting bands a great crowd to play for. Both bands did what was expected of them, warming up the audience and getting them hyped for what’s to come. Hands were waving in the air and you could not escape the mosh pits that formed.
Holding Absence started their set with ‘Head Prison Blues’, the opening song from their latest album The Noble Art Of Self Destruction. Lead singer Lucas Woodland’s energy was high and he could be seen jumping around and kicking his legs in the air. Crowdsurfers appeared when they played ‘False Dawn’, making their way onto the stage and occasionally receiving a hug from Lucas.
The band has toured the world at this point, which means they have played a few songs many times already. To change it up a bit they decided to do the next song acoustic. Only Lucas and guitarist Scott Carey stayed on stage for this one. They started playing ‘Like A Shadow’ and the crowd quickly caught on, singing along to the lyrics from the bottom of their hearts. Staying in the calm and acoustic vibes, Lucas decided to do something he has never done before. A second acoustic guitar was brought on stage, this one being for Lucas himself. He had never played guitar in front of a crowd before, but for this night Lucas and Scott played ‘Honey Moon’ together. The rest of the band came back on stage and before starting the next song Lucas said this is their favorite song of all time, this song being ‘Wilt’. They gave it their all and the crowd loved every second of it.
After leaving the stage for the encore, Holding Absence came back wearing a whole new outfit. Both outfits they wore for the night beautifully represented their new album cover, with the colors matching to the ones of the album. Before starting their most famous song ‘Afterlife’ the crowd got split in the middle, making room for a wall of death. The room split into two halves and when the music hit they all ran to the middle, jumping and bouncing around. Their set ended with ‘The Angel In The Marble’, which is also the closing song off the album.
It was a wonderful night that kicked off their tour and if you haven’t seen Holding Absence yet, you should definitely check if they are coming to play near you. The tour goes on until the end of November and you can find the remaining dates here!
