• THE PYRE PARADE - WEST

• (2021)

Rough Band • Death Walk  • Community • Ritual

ALL, TOGETHER

It had certainly been a difficult couple of years. The Rough Band therefore invited people to join them in burning their woes and clearing space for a more gentle winter. In the week leading up to the event, Pyre Parade effigies stood at The Hold and Ipswich Town Hall, where people could take a private moment to write down their bad news before placing it in the bad news boxes beside the effigies.

On the day of the parade, around 750 people gathered outside The Hold to noisily carry the effigy and bad news boxes through the town towards Christchurch Park. Everyone was invited to bring something loud to bang and encouraged to wear black. As the parade made its way through Ipswich, more people joined the procession, with more than 1,000 eventually gathering in Christchurch Park to witness the burning.

AFTER BURN

The burning was followed by After Burn, where hot soup, ginger cake and a special programme of live music provided a chance to gather together once more. The evening featured very special guests David Coulter, Seb Rochford and Otis Coulter.

A renowned multi-instrumentalist and performer, David Coulter has, since the 1980s, directed, recorded, produced and performed with artists including The Pogues, Tom Waits, Kronos Quartet, Laurie Anderson, Yoko Ono and Gorillaz.

After Burn opened with Sad Songs, a short collection of song-based material performed by David’s son, Otis Coulter, accompanied by his father. It marked the first time father and son had performed together in public, providing a particularly special element to the evening.

David then premiered The Walker, a new piece composed during the Covid lockdowns from his home in Oakland, California. He was joined live by his long-time friend and collaborator Seb Rochford, best known as the leader of the post-jazz group Polar Bear and an in-demand session drummer who has performed with artists ranging from Pete Doherty to Adele and Brian Eno. The Walker also featured virtual performances by cellist Julia Kent and composer Simon Fisher Turner. A sonic meditation on the burning of bad news, The Walker was an immediate response to the Pyre Parade that had taken place a couple of hours before.