What We Feel: Last European Tour

Antifascist bands often struggle with restrictions imposed by the state in this country. However, the Russian Antifa hardcore combo What We Feel has been hit much harder. With the enactment of the new "Extremism Law" by the Russian government, it has become increasingly difficult for the band to hold their concerts without interruption. They have now resigned, given in, and are closing the chapter of What We Feel. Their final tour will take them to Europe, with proceeds going directly to the antifascist scene in Moscow and the post-USSR.

19.5CCL/Lille (FR) + Anxiety Attack (FR)
21.05 Le Parvis/Paris (FR) + The Snobs (HU)
23.05 AK47/Dusseldorf (DE) + My terror (DE)
24.05 Exzess/Frankfurt M.(DE) + Stage Bottles (DE)
25.05 K19/Kassel (DE) + United&Strong (DE), My terror (DE)
26.05 VL/Halle (DE) + Chemieverseucht (DE)
27.05 Hafenklang/Hamburg (DE) + Hausvabot (DE), Lokators (D)
28.05 Archive/Potsdam (DE) - Ultrash Festival
29.05 Desi/Nurnberg (DE) - Fight Back Festival
30.05 JZ/Dorfen (DE) + Hausvabot (DE)
31.05 EKH/Wien (A) + Hausvabot (DE)
01.06 Obluda/Bratislava (SK) + Hausvabot (DE)
02.06 Ultima/Jihlava (CZ) + Hausvabot (DE)
03.06 007/Prague (CZ) + Hausvabot (DE)
04.06 Chemiefabrik/Dresden (DE) + Hausvabot (DE), Tackleberry (DE)
05.06 Suppamolly/Berlin (DE) + Hausvabot (DE), Tackleberry (DE)

Official Statement from What We FeelHello to all friends, fans, and antifascists!

Unfortunately, we must inform you that WHAT WE FEEL will dissolve this year. We did not make this decision lightly. The past five years have certainly not always been easy. We would like to thank everyone who supported us on our journey from conspiratorial shows to concerts with more than 500 and 600 spectators and tours through Europe. Along the way, we found and lost friends and were threatened by Nazis and the government. But we also met many new people, bands, and groups who share our views and our fight against fascism. For that, we are very grateful. Even though we live in a country where speaking the truth and fighting for justice brings danger to freedom and life, we have never held back our words.

Unfortunately, the circumstances for WHAT WE FEEL have completely turned negative since the Russian government passed its "Extremism Law." This "Extremism Law" targets not only neo-Nazis and terrorists but also any opposition movements, including the antifascist movement. Since WHAT WE FEEL was among the most well-known bands fighting against fascism and oppression, we are now seen by the state as a band that supports "extremists." This has far-reaching consequences for us and for those who supported us. At almost all of our recent concerts, including those not publicly advertised, the concert organizers, the concertgoers, and we ourselves faced massive repression from the state, even though we have never done anything wrong. Starting from police presence due to anonymous bomb threats at the venue, leading to the evacuation of the entire area and cancellation of the event, to direct threats from the police against the organizers, and even identification measures against fans and visitors who ended up in the new "extremist" database. Some clubs were closed. Some people who organized or attended our concerts faced serious problems with the police and the secret service. Since we founded the band, we have constantly faced stress from Nazis, and we had to always be on guard against them. However, the hardcore scene managed to defend itself against Nazi terror and became increasingly confident in organizing events and not letting themselves be intimidated. Due to the current state repression, we see absolutely no possibility of remaining active; we feel deprived of any musical basis.

We have always tried to spread our viewpoint that hardcore is more than "just" music. We often received offers from apolitical, commercial concert organizers, but we would have had to work with people who did not share our life philosophy. We turned down those offers. All our concerts were benefit and informational events. Now that we can practically no longer play concerts, we are losing our main endeavor, which is to make a difference by playing music. This is the point at which we as a band can no longer achieve anything. This is the main reason why we are dissolving and ceasing our activities as WHAT WE FEEL.

Another reason is that we believe we have musically achieved everything we dreamed of. We have contributed to the development and politicization of the Russian punk and hardcore scene. We played more than 150 benefit concerts for the antifascist movement in our country and received respect and recognition for it. Looking back, it is always better to stop at the peak than during the subsequent fall. We preserve our friendship within the band. Everything we accomplished brought us closer together... We feel that we did a good job. It is now time to end this chapter.

But this will ultimately not be the end. We will continue to strive to support the antifascist movement as much as possible. We will continue to make political music - perhaps in other bands. This year we will do one last benefit tour through Europe and hold some farewell concerts. Additionally, we will release a compilation in memory of our good friend Ivan Khutorskoy, who was murdered on November 16, 2009, by two shots to the back of the head from Nazis, to support his family.

We want to thank and pay respect to everyone in Germany who has supported us throughout this time. We always felt here that we were never left alone, but that we were fighting a common battle side by side. We will continue our work with the benefit groups that support the antifascist movement in Russia.

We also thank our friends in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria, and all countries for their friendship and support.

We are very proud that we had the opportunity to perform in all these countries.

Sometimes Antisocial, Always Antifascist
Bob,
Max,
Dima,
Mitia,
Igor,
Ches