Oderus Urungus, the character embodied by the late David Brockie in GWAR, was given his final sendoff at this weekend's GWAR B-Q in Richmond, VA, complete with a ceremonial viking funeral.
Brockie died in March from a heroin overdose and had already been laid to rest in an April 1 service.
The ceremony, attended by over a thousand people, began with eulogies from Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), writer/director Adam Green and GWAR publicist Jon Freeman. That was followed by a procession to Hadad Lake where the Oderus Urungus costume was laid on top of a pseudo-Viking ship and sailed out into the lake. A marksman then took a flaming arrow and shot it into the boat, setting it ablaze.
Here are three videos of the ceremony, the first with the full speeches while the others capturing moments during the proceedings.
Later, Randy Blythe wrote of his feelings on his Instagram:
Tonight we sent Oderus home in a fitting manner at the public memorial for Dave Brockie. A blazing Viking ship with Oderus laid out in it, the cuttlefish pointing proudly straight up. 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 & family we had April Fool's Day. I spoke at both of them, as GWAR asked me to, & 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- & 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.
More from
VVN Music