A public funeral was held for the late iconic frontman Oderus Urungus (a.k.a. Dave Brockie) of shock-rockers GWAR, and it wouldn’t be Oderus without a massive public display. The character was retired in style with a viking funeral.
The band, despite Brockie’s death earlier this year decided to go ahead with their annual GWAR-B-Q and perform in memorium of Oderus Urungus. The band took the opportunity to send Oderus out in style by placing him in a Viking ship at the centre of Hadad’s Lake, and firing a flaming arrow to set him ablaze and back to his ‘home planet’.
Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe posted a touching tribute to Oderus:
“Watching my friend Dave’s costume go up in flames in front of a thousand fans was so much more intense for me than the private memorial for friends and family we had April Fool’s Day.
“I spoke at both of them, as GWAR asked me to, and both times as I spoke I was sad. But watching his alter ego burn tore me up way more than the first memorial, maybe because there was Dave, the human who was my friend who just ‘left us’ — I never saw his body — and then there was Oderus, who was something entirely else. To watch his stage gear burn was like watching part of my life literally go up in flames.
“I was sobbing my eyes out as I took this photo. It was just a super-intense moment. Very beautiful, but overwhelming.
“Fly free, Oderus — you are missed.”
Watch the report of the event below:
