DI-RECT

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Di-rect (stylised in uppercase) is a Dutch rock band from The Hague, formed in 1999. The band's current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitar), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Paul Jan Bakker (guitar) and Marcel Veenendaal (lead vocals). From 1999 to 2009, Tim Akkerman was the band's lead vocalist. The band was commercially successful, scoring seven top ten singles on the Dutch Top 40 with Akkerman, but he left the band after four albums. The band held a televised reality show contest in search of the band's new singer, which Veenendaal won. The band did not have the same success with Veenendaal originally until 2020, when the single "Soldier On" achieved widespread popularity in the Netherlands associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. It became the band's first top ten single in 13 years. In 2025, the band played the last three shows held at De Kuip in Rotterdam, to a total of 145,000 people.